Poorly treated wastewater critical threat to health

The latest citizen-scientist water quality survey shows that South Africa’s water quality problems are deepening, with 66% of tested sources deemed unsafe for human consumption and contamination patterns strongly linked to poorly treated sewage and failing wastewater systems.

By Lloyd Phillips

Using water testing kits provided by the private and non-profit Water Community Action Network (WaterCAN), everyday South Africans took and submitted samples from different water sources across all nine provinces. Although these samples were highly localised and unevenly distributed proverbial snapshots, the results showed worryingly similar trends in terms of the levels of potentially dangerous contaminants in the country’s freshwater resources, including supposedly treated tap water.

WaterCAN’s Citizen Science and Training Coordinator, Nomsa Daele, explains over 500 kits were distributed to community volunteers who sampled multiple water sources comprising taps, household storage tanks, rivers, dams and other local supplies across all nine provinces. Just under a third (132) were uploaded to WaterCAN’s Map My Water Platform.

The kits tested for the presence and levels of total coliform bacteria and particularly Escherichia coli bacteria that indicate faecal contamination and sewage pollution, which pose immediate health threats, as well as chemical compounds such as nitrates and phosphates that can also be harmful to human health.

Prof. Anja du Plessis, a water management expert at the University of South Africa, verified the results. The results showed (click here to view the sampling map):

· Limpopo: 4 of 4 (100%) samples unsafe. (tap water, rivers, unidentified sources)
· KwaZulu-Natal: 16 of 21 (76%) samples unsafe. (rivers, tap water)
· Free State: 5 of 7 (71%) samples unsafe. (rivers)
· Western Cape: 7 of 10 (70%) samples unsafe. (rivers, dams)
· Northern Cape: 2 of 3 (67%) samples unsafe. (storage tank, unidentified source)
· Gauteng: 39 of 59 (66%) samples unsafe. (residential taps, storage tanks)
· Eastern Cape: 7 of 12 (58%) samples unsafe. (rivers, dams, unidentified sources)
· North West: 4 of 9 (44%) samples unsafe. (tap water, rivers, dam)
· Mpumalanga: 3 of 7 (43%) samples unsafe. (tap water, rivers)

Also read: Persistent sewage in Free State rivers should see officials face jail time for neglect

Official reports challenged

“In province after province, official ‘drinking water’ chemistry looks acceptable on paper, but bacterial and phosphate results tell a different story. We found that the most alarming results come from drinking water sources that should be safe at the point of use,” said Du Plessis.

Multiple sources have long warned of the serious risks that dangerously polluted freshwater resources pose to South Africa’s agricultural production and to the consumers of these products. Dr. Loandi Richter-Mouton and Prof. Lise Korsten of the University of Pretoria report in The Conversation that irrigation water sourced from contaminated rivers and dams can potentially transfer the harmful bacteria E. coli (STEC) to fruit and vegetables, which can cause people to become severely ill.

AgriSA highlighted the matter where the Bloemfontein High Court found state officials had failed in their obligation to combat sewage pollution of the Vaal and Wilge rivers, major irrigation sources of agricultural production. Afriforum’s latest annual water watch report states 94 out of the 109 (86%) sewage treatment works assessed in South Africa failed to meet the legal discharge standards.

In the following provinces, none of the sewage plants tested were compliant:

· Eastern Cape: 5 plants tested
· Free State: 13 plants tested
· Gauteng: 19 plants tested
· KwaZulu-Natal: 9 plants tested
· Mpumalanga: 18 plants tested
· Northern Cape: 15 plants tested

In Limpopo 2 out of 11 (18%) of plants tested were compliant, in North West it was 4 out of 18 (22%) and in the Western Cape it was 9 out of 31 (29%).

Du Plessis and WaterCAN call for urgent municipal and provincial interventions in affected municipalities including routine, transparent water quality monitoring, emergency provision of safe water, and sustained community awareness so users can understand that rivers, dams and any tap or tank testing positive for faecal bacteria cannot be considered safe for consumption.