46% of South Africa’s water is undrinkable

South Africa’s water infrastructure is rapidly deteriorating, with experts estimating that around R1 trillion is needed to avert a complete collapse. 

Nowhere is this more prevalent than in the rapid decline in safe drinking water in South Africa, where wastewater treatment plants fail to perform to their required level. 

The Department of Water and Sanitation’s Blue Drop report revealed alarming statistics regarding wastewater processing in South Africa. 

The report showed that 68% of South African wastewater facilities are performing at inadequate levels, releasing millions of litres of unsafe water into rivers. 

This has resulted in 46% of the country’s water being undrinkable as it is not safe for human consumption and would need to be boiled prior to use. 

South Africa produces around 7 billion litres of wastewater a day. If this is not treated properly, large amounts of untreated wastewater are expelled into the country’s river systems, increasing the bacteria present in key water catchment areas. 

As a result, there have been numerous outbreaks of cholera and E.coli in parts of South Africa, ranging from Hammanskraal in Gauteng to Durban. 

Wastewater treatment is particularly important in South Africa, a water-scarce country. Climate specialist Professor David Walwyn said it relies heavily on reticulation to meet growing demand. 

“We are rapidly approaching a point at which the total rainfall in South Africa is insufficient to meet demand,” Walwyn said. 

“If everyone were to have adequate access to the resources, there would not be enough resources to meet the current demand.”

This will make South Africa increasingly reliant on proper water treatment and its release into freshwater sources for future use in the water system. 

Unfortunately, Walwyn explained, solutions such as desalination are very expensive, and South Africa does not have the capital or time to use these methods to fix its immediate shortfall. 

By 2030, he estimates the supply deficit will reach around 17%.

Executive manager of WaterCAN, Dr Ferrial Adam, said this is a very real crisis, with South Africa potentially running out of safe drinking water in less than a decade. 

Reports from the Department of Water and Sanitation indicate that 51% of water supplied to consumers in South Africa does not meet all microbiological standards. 

This water, supplied by water boards and municipalities, is unsafe for humans as it contains high levels of bacteria. 

“This is a crisis. People have to work with urgency and do everything in their power to make sure things change,” she said. 

Over the last decade, the proportion of unsafe drinking water has skyrocketed from only 5% of water supply in 2014 to 46%. 

If this trend continues, South Africa may have close to no safe drinking water in the next ten years. Dr Adam thinks this could happen even sooner. 

“If we carry on like this, I do not even think we will have to wait ten years – it will be about five years before we have no safe drinking water.”

She said this is entirely possible as with complex systems, such as a country’s water supply, things will often hit a tipping point, and the decline will be accelerated. 

The rapid increase in unsafe drinking water has been caused by a lack of maintenance and investment in the country’s wastewater treatment plants. 

Fellow water scientist Dr Anthony Turton placed the blame for this squarely on institutional failure at the municipal level. 

“Let the facts speak for themselves. The ANC has been in power for over a quarter of a century. The population has doubled, so what have they done about upgrading infrastructure? To blame something else is disingenuous,” Turton said. 

“The simple fact of the matter is that your infrastructure has deteriorated, and your institutions have failed. That is the important thing. Institutional failure is far more significant than ageing infrastructure.”