The Collection, Purification, Testing and Distribution of Water in South Africa 2023

Challenges

Continued decline in quality and reliability of water supply systems in small towns and rural areas. High levels of deteriorating water quality caused by infrastructure failure. High unauthorised, irregular fruitless and wasteful expenditure by water boards. Inadequate spending on repair, maintenance, rehabilitation and expansion of water supply systems. Infrastructure damage due to increased theft, vandalism and service delivery protests diverts funding from maintenance, refurbishment and expansion budgets. Non-revenue water and non-payment for water services. Water supply systems operated at full capacity will not be able to meet growing demand unless measures are taken to decrease consumption and expedite delayed bulk water projects.

Introduction

Government has identified water provision, management and the state of wastewater systems as one of the most pressing issues facing South Africa. Poor water management has led to polluted water sources and limited access to clean water. Water is ranked as the second highest risk for business activities after energy. Water and sanitation challenges have social, economic, and environmental implications. While access to water services is growing, the services being provided are not reliable, with major disruptions to the provision of piped water to households. Challenges affecting water provision include population growth, increasing economic activity and climate change, exacerbated by underperforming local governments. A significant number of households still use pit latrines and bucket toilets and some have no toilet facilities.

Opportunities

Allocation of over R14bn in 2023/24 to municipalities to address water infrastructure backlogs. Amalgamation of Water Trading Entity and Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority to form National Water Resources infrastructure Agency. DWS ‘s Hydropower Independent Producer Programme to use water infrastructure and water courses for renewable energy. Establishment of the Water Partnership Office to support municipalities to partner with the private sector to accelerate water and sanitation infrastructure delivery. Implementation of DWS turnaround plan. Opportunities for SMEs in decentralised modular and mobile water and wastewater systems and non-sewered sanitation. Reconfiguration of water boards The Water Research Commission’s call for new research project proposals.

Outlook

South Africa needs to move from developing and talking about strategies and plans to actual implementation, according to an industry expert. Local authorities should investigate more public-private partnerships to guarantee water supply to residents. Water demands of the economic sectors (energy, mining and agriculture), increasing urbanisation and industrialisation place enormous pressure on the country’s scarce water resource. The industry needs to find new ways to reduce water demand and increase availability. There is systemic collapse of water delivery systems in some cities and forecasts are not positive.

Report coverage

This report focuses on the South African water sector and covers the collection, distribution and purification of water to household, agricultural, industrial, commercial and other users. Water testing laboratories are also covered. It includes information on municipalities, water boards and catchment management agencies, water use per industrial sector, access to water, infrastructure development, maintenance and problems, notable players and corporate actions. There are 32 company profiles which include water boards such as Rand Water, Amatola, Lepelle and Gamtoos, bulk water infrastructure provider Trans Caledon Tunnel Authority and testing labs such as Waterlab and Michrochem Lab Services.

Trends

Decentralised modular and mobile water and wastewater systems. Diversification of the water resource mix to have less reliance on surface water. Move towards non-sewered sanitation systems. Public private partnerships for infrastructure projects. Stronger local and international partnerships and stakeholder engagement.