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drinking waterlatest news & developments
The findings of the Green Drop 2025 report, released alongside the latest Blue Drop and No Drop progress assessments, highlight mounting strain across the country’s water sector. Photo: Delwyn Verasamy
BLUE DROP

SA is moving backwards with water, says WaterCAN

The latest Green Drop report shows how the country’s rivers are being “turned into sewage channels”

  • Sheree Bega
3 min read
The Blue, Green and No Drop certification programmes are the department’s regulatory mechanisms to improve municipal drinking water quality, wastewater management, water conservation and demand management.
BLUE DROP REPORT

SA’s water crisis deepens: Nearly half of wastewater systems critical

The latest Green, Blue and No Drop reports show widespread deterioration of water and sanitation infrastructure. Nearly half of wastewater systems are critical, drinking water…

  • Sheree Bega
8 min read
Data governance provides evidence-based decision-making that improves the quality of service delivery
DRINKING WATER

Trust in the safety of tap water is waning: survey

Half of respondents treat their municipal water by boiling or filtering it before consumption, while 8% specified that they drink only bottled water This content is restricted to…

  • Sheree Bega
1 min read
Gauteng residents collecting water from a tanker. File photo
BLUE DROP

SA water quality has deteriorated and could pose a health risk – DWS

The Department of Water and Sanitation’s Blue and Green Drop Reports show that microbiological and chemical compliance are lacking in our drinking water

  • Ozayr Patel
4 min read
The RMS system continued to provide erroneous bills, as the metro had passed a credit for water charges totalling R564 641.04 for another residential property in Tongaat in November 2021 after a complaint was lodged. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
COLIFORM BACTERIA

Tap water is safe to drink in most urban areas but more testing is needed: WaterCAN

Raw water sources have high levels of E.Coli and coliform bacteria, posing serious health risks

  • Sheree Bega
7 min read
Everyone in South Africa lives downstream from a sewage discharge point into their drinking water supply, which is why the Blue and Green Drop reports are so important. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
ANTHONY TURTON

Why we need the Blue and Green Drop reports: ‘Everyone in SA lives downstream from a sewage discharge point’

The last reports were in 2014 but were stopped probably because the results were too shocking to be publicised, water experts say

  • Sheree Bega
5 min read