The Annual WaterCAN Citizen Science Water Testing Week held in September has confirmed that unsafe water is not an isolated rural problem but a widespread national risk affecting communities across all nine provinces.
The most alarming results come from drinking-water sources that should be safe at the point of use.
“South Africans should not have to second-guess whether the water from their taps and tanks is safe to drink,” said Ms Nomsa Daele, Citizen Science and Training Coordinator of WaterCAN.
“When our community testers, are picking up E.coli in household drinking water in eight municipalities, it is deeply concerning. This is just a sample by committed volunteers. The true extent of this crisis is likely much worse,” said Daele.
Using the WaterCAN Citizen Science Test Kits, over 500 kits were distributed to community volunteers who sampled multiple water sources comprising of taps, household storage tanks, rivers, dams and other local supplies – across all nine provinces.
In most provinces, the majority of tested sources, sitting at 66%, were unsafe for human consumption, with contamination patterns pointing strongly to poorly treated sewage and failing wastewater systems rather than isolated incidents.
“In Limpopo, for example, all four sampled sources – a tap, a river and two other domestic sources in Waterberg and Mopani – were unsafe,” said Daele.
WaterCAN identified at least eight municipalities where drinking-water sources tested positive for E.coli or total coliforms. These are:
- City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality (Gauteng) – unsafe JoJo tank water, plus a warning-level JoJo tank
- Sedibeng District Municipality (Gauteng) – unsafe tap water
- King Cetshwayo District Municipality (KwaZulu-Natal) – unsafe tap water
- Gert Sibande District Municipality (Mpumalanga) – unsafe tap water and other unsafe domestic sources
- Waterberg District Municipality (Limpopo) – unsafe tap and other domestic sources
- Mopani District Municipality (Limpopo) – unsafe other domestic water source
- Bojanala Platinum District Municipality (North West) – unsafe tap water
- Pixley ka Seme District Municipality (Northern Cape) – unsafe JoJo tank water
According to Professor Anja du Plessis, a water management expert and Associate Professor at Unisa who analysed the data, clear water quality patterns and trends can be identified across the country, in all provinces.
“The data shows that no province is spared, with almost all tested surface water resources having unsafe water quality, supporting what we have been warning about for decades - our rivers and dams have become open sewers, contaminated with chemical pollutants and sewage,” said du Plessis.
Du Plessis said what is of concern is that is that the poor water quality is not a once-off pollution event.
“We are seeing the same pattern across provinces: sewage and wastewater consistently leaking into our rivers and dams, phosphate ‘hotspots’, and even in some cases contaminated taps and tanks, at the point where families drink and cook. Until there is routine testing, public reporting and real consequences for polluters, residents will continue to carry the risk.”
“The more we test, the more informed decisions can be made and we can start to hold those who pollute our already scarce water resources to account as a collective,” said du Plessis.
WaterCAN is calling for urgent municipal and provincial interventions in affected municipalities; routine, transparent water quality monitoring; emergency safe water provision where domestic sources are unsafe; and sustained community awareness so residents understand that rivers, dams and any tap or tank testing positive for faecal bacteria cannot be considered safe for drinking.
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For Media Enquiries contact WaterCAN Communications Manager on Jonathan Erasmus 073 227 6075 or email media@watercan.org.za.
