Quality Reports Reveal the True State of SA’s Dirty Water

The true state of the quality of South Africa’s water is revealed in the 2023 Blue Drop Report and the full No Drop Report recently released. The Blue Drop Report provides an assessment of drinking water quality and the No Drop Report focuses on water losses and non-revenue water in all municipalities. A third report, the Green Drop Progress Assessment Report, provides an update on the performance of waste water management systems at municipal level.

There is no doubt there is a marked deterioration of water and sanitation services since 2008. Instead of it being a matter of municipal pride, incentive based regulation programmes were reintroduced last year (2022) by the Department of Water and Sanitation. But in most cases even an incentive does not seem to have had the desired effect. Scroll down to find out which municipalities are the winners…