Tap water no longer the same
WaterCan calls for water to be taken more seriously after the No Drop report indicates a drop in quality.
WaterCan has called for urgent action against incompetent water service providers.
WaterCAN Executive Manager, Dr Ferrial Adam believes the Blue Drop, Green Drop, and No Drop reports show that water service providers do not care about the quality of water they provide to the people and whether they get ill or not.
The report which was released on June 6, was presented by the Department of Water and Sanitation Director-General, Dr Sean Phillips, and it indicated that drinking water produced from some municipal water treatment systems during the 2021/22 municipal financial year did not meet the South African National Standard 241 standard. The current indications of the current status of water quality are yet to be provided.
Phillips emphasised that in terms, norms, and standards issued by the department, under the Water Services Act, indicate that the water supplied poses a health risk, and the municipality must inform its consumers that the quality of the water that it supplies poses a health risk.
According to Adam, the reports show the horrifying state of South Africa’s drinking water and the apparent acceptance of this situation by water service authorities and water service providers.
“The statistics in these reports are not new, they do not give us an updated or informed view of any progress or decline. However, these reports are a way for the department to show its intent on compliance and highlight the extent of non-compliance by water service authorities. These reports emphasise the challenges we face as only 50% of non-compliant water service authorities reached out to DWS. The rest seem not to care that our water is not fit for human consumption,” said Adam.
The No Drop report states that 4.3 million m3/pa of water is being treated for municipal use but almost half is being lost to leaks, poor billing, and lack of metering. The department will in July release the full 2023 Blue Drop Report, which will be a complete assessment of the state of all drinking water systems in the country, whilst a full 2023 No Drop Report will be released in September 2023.
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