Following the most recent water watch reports, the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has filed criminal charges against some municipalities while directing others to inform their inhabitants that the water may not be safe to drink.
90 municipalities have received non-compliance notifications from the DWS urging them to address the issues mentioned in the Green Drop Report.
The department’s Green, Blue, and No Drop Watch Reports, which were released on Tuesday (6 June), show that since the previous reports were published, the quality of the drinking water has decreased and the amount of non-revenue water has increased.
The 2022 Green Drop indicated that 50% of municipalities’ wastewater treatment systems were in a critical status, according to the Green Drop Watch Report.
The Green, Blue, and No Drop Certification programs serve as means for disseminating regulatory information on water services, which are essentially the province of municipalities under the Constitution. The reports provide reliable data and information regarding the nation’s water and sanitation systems, keeping the general public and stakeholders informed.
Additionally, they honor water service organizations who deliver these services with excellence and compliance. 334 out of 850 municipal wastewater systems in 90 towns were judged to be in critical condition, obtaining Green Drop scores of 30% or below, according to the 2022 full Green Drop Report, which was published in April 2022.
On Tuesday, DWS Director-General Dr. Sean Phillips delivered a presentation on the studies. He said that in 2013, when the most recent Green Drop assessment report was completed, 248 out of 824 municipal wastewater systems were in critical condition.
“By March 2023, only 34 of the 168 plans submitted to the department were being implemented, with the balance being in the planning phase or no progress reported,” said Phillips.
For municipalities that did not submit corrective action plans, the DWS has issued directives regarding the National Water Act, compelling them to submit such plans.
“Criminal charges have been laid against some of the municipalities which have not submitted corrective action plans,” Phillips added.
“During the audit period, 11 municipalities did not report water quality data to the department or provide any other evidence that they have been testing their water quality.
“The department has issued non-compliance notices to those municipalities, instructing them to issue advisory notices to their residents that their water might not be safe to drink if it has not been properly tested,” Phillips said.
The department said the interim Green Drop and complete Blue Drop Reports would be released in July, while the full No Drop Report will be released in September 2023. businesstech
