Water supply and sanitation in South Africa is characterised by both achievements and challenges. After the end of Apartheid South Africa's newly elected government struggled with the then growing service and backlogs with respect to access to water supply and sanitation developed. The government thus made a strong commitment to high service standards and to high levels of investment subsidies to achieve those standards. Since then, the country has made some progress with regard to improving access to water supply: It reached universal access to an improved water source in urban areas, and in rural areas the share of those with access increased from 66% to 79% from 1990 to 2010.WHO/UNICEF:Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation:Data table South Africa , 2010. Retrieved 3 November 2012
South Africa also has a strong water industry with a track record in innovation. However, much less progress has been achieved on sanitation: Access increased only from 71% to 79% during the same period. Significant problems remain concerning the financial sustainability of service providers, leading to a lack of attention to maintenance. The uncertainty about the government's ability to sustain funding levels in the sector is also a concern. Two distinctive features of the South African water sector are the policy of free basic water and the existence of water boards, which are bulk water supply agencies that operate pipelines and sell water from reservoirs to municipalities.
In May 2014 it was announced that Durban's Water and Sanitation Department won the Stockholm Industry Water Award "for its transformative and inclusive approach", calling it "one of the most progressive utilities in the world". The city has connected 1.3 million additional people to piped water and provided 700,000 people with access to toilets in 14 years. It also was South Africa's first municipality to put free basic water for the poor into practice. Furthermore, it has promoted rainwater harvesting, mini hydropower and urine-diverting dry toilets.
On 13 February 2018, the country declared a national disaster in Cape Town as the city's water supply was predicted to run dry before the end of June. With its dams only 24.9% full, water saving measures were in effect that required each citizen to use less than 50 litres a day. All nine of the country's provinces were effected by what the government characterized as the "magnitude and severity" of a three-year drought. According to UN-endorsed projections, Cape Town is one of eleven major world cities that are expected to run out of water. In 2018, Cape Town rejected an offer from Israel to help it build desalination plants.In drought-hit South Africa, the politics of water, Reuters, January 25, 2018Cape Town May Dry Up Because of an Aversion to Israel, Wall St. Journal, February 21, 2018The Cape Town Water Crisis and Hating Israel, aish, February 11, 2018South African stupidity, Jerusalem Post, February 3, 2018
Water resources and water use
Water availability in South Africa varies greatly in space and time. While the West is dry with rainfall only during the summer and as low as 100 mm, the East and Southeast receive rainfall throughout the year with an average of up to 1,000 mm. Total annual surface runoff is estimated at 43 to 48 km3, depending on the source.FAO Auqastat: South Africa 2005. Retrieved 24 October 2010World Resources Institute: Water Resources and Freshwater Ecosystems – South Africa. Retrieved 24 October 2010
Much of the runoff is lost through flood spillage, so that the available surface water resources are estimated at 14 km3/year only. Although groundwater is limited due to geologic conditions, it is extensively utilised in the rural and more arid areas. Available groundwater is estimated at 1 km3/year. The main rivers of South Africa are fairly small compared to the large rivers of the world: For example, the discharge of the Nile River alone is about six times higher than the available surface water resources from all South African rivers together.Orange-Senqu River Commission. Retrieved 18 June 2011Limpopo Watercourse Commission. Retrieved 18 June 2011
The main rivers are the Orange River draining to the Atlantic Ocean, the Limpopo River, the Incomati River, the Maputo River, the Tugela River, the Olifants River (Limpopo), and the Breede River. The uMkhomazi, Maputo, Thukela and Limpopo all drain to the Indian Ocean. South Africa's most important rivers are transboundary: The Orange River is shared with Botswana, Namibia and Lesotho, the "water tower" of Southern Africa. The Limpopo-Olifants river basin is shared with Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, which lies the furthest downstream. International commissions of all riparian countries have been set up to manage these transboundary water resources. Potential future water resources are seawater desalination or the transfer of water from the Zambezi River.
Total annual water withdrawal was estimated at 12.5 km3 in 2000, of which about 17% was for municipal water use. In the northern parts of the country, both surface water and groundwater resources are nearly fully developed and utilised. In the well-watered southeastern regions of the country significant undeveloped and used resources exist. The Gauteng area around Johannesburg, which is very water scarce, receives water from various dams in the area such as the Vaal Dam and imports water from the Orange River system through the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, in particular from the Katse Dam.Rand Water:Background . Retrieved 24 October 2010 Cape Town receives its drinking water from an extensive system of rivers and dams, including the Berg River Dam.
Cape Town has 26 treatment plants, some of which are ineffective and date back to the 1950s, making clean water access and wastewater management major difficulties.
Cape Town will receive an €80 million loan from KfW to assist the city in improving and expanding different municipal wastewater treatment plants, a €1.2 million grant for training and a €4.5 million grant for city-supporting measures. The upgrades will allow the city to use recycled water for agricultural or industrial purposes and assist in dealing with droughts.
Wastewater reuse In South Africa, the main driver for wastewater reuse is drought conditions. For example, in Beaufort West, South Africa's a direct wastewater reclamation plant (WRP) for the production of drinking water was constructed in the end of 2010, as a result of acute water scarcity (production of 2,300 m3 per day). The process configuration based on multi-barrier concept and includes the following treatment processes: sand filtration, UF, two-stage RO, and permeate disinfected by ultraviolet light (UV).
The town George faced water shortages and had decided on an IPR strategy (2009/2010), where final effluents from its Outeniqua WWTP are treated to a very high quality through UF and disinfection prior to being returned to the main storage facility, the Garden Route Dam, where they are combined with current raw water supplies. This initiative augments the existing supply by 10,000 m3 per day, approximately one third of the drinking water demand. The process configuration includes the following treatment processes: drum screen, UF, and chlorine disinfection. Provision has been made for powdered activated carbon (PAC) addition at George WTW, if required as an additional operational barrier.
Another example of DPR is the reuse plant constructed and operated in the town Hermanus (Overberg) in South Africa, where now 2,500 m3 per day of effluent reused, with a future plan to increase the capacity to 5,000 m3 per day. The treatment processes applied include UF pre-treatment, RO desalination, as well as advanced oxidation and carbon filtration. The product from the reuse plant is fed directly into the drinking water reticulation system.
Access to water by SA citizens
South Africa is one of the few countries in the world that enshrines the basic right to sufficient water in its Constitution, stating that "Everyone has the right to have access to [...] sufficient food and water." However, much remains to be done to fulfill that right.
After the end of Apartheid South Africa's newly elected government inherited highly functional services with respect to access to water supply and sanitation.BUSARI, Ola and JACKSON, Barry: Reinforcing water and sanitation sector reform in South Africa, Water Policy, 2006, vol. 8, no 4, pp. 303–312.
However, as of 2017, owing to a lack of maintenance resulting from corruption, provision of water and sanitation has largely collapsed. In 2015, the Department of Water and Sanitation said it would require R293-billion to fix and upgrade all water and sewage infrastructure in the country.
While there has been a growth in the overall number of water-supplied dwellings, the percentage of houses with running water has decreased since 1994.
Water In 2015, the total number of people in South Africa lacking access to an "improved" water supply was 3.64 million.WHO/UNICEF (2015) Progress on sanitation and drinking water – 2015 update and MDG assessment , Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation 93% of the population had access to an improved water source in that year.
In his State of the Union address in May 2004 President Thabo Mbeki had promised "all households will have running water within five years".Mbeki State of the Union 2004 Despite substantial progress, this goal was not fully achieved. In some rural areas, women spend up to one-third of their time fetching water from streams and wells.Itana, Nicole:For Many Women, Clean Water Means Safety, Freedom. WEnews 6 September 2002. Retrieved 16 March 2010. They are also responsible for using it to cook meals, wash laundry and bathe children.
Sanitation With respect to sanitation, progress has been slower. The total number of people in South Africa lacking access to "improved" sanitation was 18 million in 2015. This means that only 66% of the total population had access to improved sanitation in that year.
According to estimates by the WHO/UNICEF global Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation based on survey and census data, the share of South Africans with access to improved sanitation increased slowly from 71% in 1990 to 75% in 2000 and 79% in 2010. In 2010, an estimated 11 million South Africans still did not have access to improved sanitation: They and used shared facilities (4 million), bucket toilets (3 million) or practiced open defecation (4 million).
According to Statistics South Africa, access is higher, partially because it includes shared facilities in its definition of sanitation. According to the 2011 census figures, access to sanitation increased from 83% in 2001 to 91% in 2011, including shared and individual pit latrines as well as chemical toilets. The share of households with access to flush toilets increased from 53% in 2001 to 60% in 2011. The health impacts of inadequate sanitation can be serious, as evidenced by the estimated 1.5 million cases of diarrhoea in children under five and the 2001 outbreak of cholera.2001 basic household sanitation White Paper While most coliforms are harmless to human health, the presence of E. coli, which covers approximately 97% of coliform bacteria found in the intestines of animals and in faeces, underlines the presence of more harmful pathogens in the water system (DWAF 1996b).
South Africa's sewage system has largely collapsed. Globally, on average, annual maintenance to plants amounts to 15% of the plant's value but in South Africa only 1% of the plant's value is spent on annual maintenance. Of 824 water treatment plants, only around 60 release clean water. Every second, 50 000 litres of untreated sewage flows into rivers throughout the country.
Service quality Water quality and continuity of supply