The City of Joburg has managed to maintain its blue drop status despite its aging infrastructure and rapidly rising population that has led to demand for water far exceeding supply. The 98 percent blue drop status means tap water in and around Johannesburg is of the best quality possible. Mayor Dada Morero addressed the media alongside Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi as well as Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina on Monday to announce an intervention aimed at averting a full blown water crisis in South Africa’s most populous city ( just under 6 million people) and the rest of the province.
The Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation urged the city to maintain the good quality, also indicating that South Africa is a trendsetter on the African continent in terms of water quality assurance.
“We are probably one of the few countries on the African continent that has standards. When you look at the matter of water quality you must also look at infrastructure. don’t lose the infrastructure which is your non revenue component. even the water that comes from Rand Water which is so good when it gets into a municipal system that is not in the right condition the water can come out of the tap looking brackish and this does not mean it is Rand Water but because someone has not done maintenance,” said Mahlobo.
While happy with the quality of water supplied by the City of Joburg, Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation said the government was concerned that elsewhere in the country the quality was deteriorating and said it was a result of pollution by various industries and municipalities.
“In the main the reports in South Africa indicate that there’s been a deterioration. There’s a lot of pollution by industries, coming from waste water treatment plants from the municipalities but also from agriculture and the other users that are there. This pollution threatens the ecosystem that is there.
The Water and Sanitation warned the city that it had to upgrade and refurbish its infrastructure in order to maintain the status which essentially makes Johannesburg water the best quality across the African continent and Morero said the municipality will use not less than 30 percent of its Urban Settlements Development Grant ( received annually from the National Treasury) to rehabilitate its aging infrastructure while building new reservoirs and pump stations.
” we are getting 1,9 billion in terms of our USDG and I think part of what we are going to do is what the minister has instructed us to do that we allocate 33 percent of that towards our water infrastructure and in fact water remains one of the key revenue generators for the city so most of our revenue we also get from water surpluses. We also try and ensure that we keep the 98 percent blue drop in terms of our water quality so you can drink Joburg water anywhere you are because we are at 98 percent in terms of our blue drop so our water is the safest in the continent so you can drink it, don’t be scared,” said Morero.
Blue Drop status is a certification that recognizes South African municipalities with the best drinking water quality. The Blue Drop Certification Programme (BDC) is a regulation tool that assesses the quality of a municipality’s water and other aspects of water services. The BDC’s goal is to restore public trust in tap water quality.
Mahlobo said South Africa was a trendsetter in water quality on the African continent.
“We are probably one of few countries on the African continent that have actual standards for water quality in terms of the South African Bureau of Standards,” said the Deputy Minister.