Water crisis looms: 81% of sewage discharge not adequately treated
15 November 2023
South Africa is – especially with regard to treated sewage wastewater – on the brink of a severe water crisis. From the outflow of 140 sewage wastewater treatment works (SWWTWs) that were tested this year, only 19% of these met the minimum standards. This means that in an alarming 81% of cases the water that SWWTWs dump into rivers has not been adequately treated.
This is one of the most worrying conclusions drawn in AfriForum’s latest blue and green drop report. This annual, independent report was launched today in Vereeniging at a broken sewage pump station to showcase the complete decay of municipal sewage infrastructure. This is one of hundreds of locations nationwide where fresh water sources (such as the Vaal River) that supply drinking water to communities, are polluted with raw sewage.
The 2023 report contains the complete results of water quality samples that AfriForum’s network of 161 branches across the country took of municipal drinking water (blue drop) and the outflow of processed sewage water (green drop) from local SWWTWs during August.
The report points out that South Africa’s drinking water still largely meets the minimum requirements. Out of the 193 tests in which drinking water was tested, it was tested as unsafe for human consumption in eight cases.