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Water is an important resource. Life on Earth, as we know it, is impossible without access to safe drinking water. Concerns have been growing for a long time over the deterioration in the quality and sustainability of municipal drinking water supplied to consumers.
In South Africa, widespread problems with the availability and quality of drinking water in urban areas have been well documented and have often given rise to protests.
For example, power and water outages as well as service delivery protests have occurred in the eThekwini Municipality, an important port city, in Johannesburg, the country’s economic hub.
There are many types of contaminants that can threaten the safety and quality of drinking water. The major water pollutants are disease-causing organisms (pathogens) and toxic chemicals.
Drinking water means much more than the relatively small quantity used for direct drinking. When clean, safe water is scarce, water used for brushing teeth, washing food, washing hands (especially when handling infants or young children), and washing tableware during meals should receive priority.
As a researcher working on water issues, health and water and water quality for decades, I can offer some suggestions on how people can purify their water and deal with water disruptions.
It is not possible for the general public to purify all the water supplied to them daily using household methods. It is very expensive and laborious. Therefore, the advice below focuses on situations when disasters or emergencies force residents to temporarily purify drinking water for themselves and their families.
making water safe to drink
a simple filter: If the only available water has not been purified by an official system, pour the water through a strainer lined with one or more layers of paper towel or dishcloth. When the “filter” is clogged, replace it with a clean layer. Do not reuse a dirty dishcloth without thoroughly washing it with hot water and soap and drying it in the sun.
boil: Boil filtered water for at least 3 minutes. Boiling filtered water will get rid of disease-causing organisms. This will not remove any harmful chemicals present, but may reduce the concentrations of some of them.
bleach: To treat drinking water, mix one teaspoon of unscented household bleach (5 ml of 3.5% sodium hypochlorite solution) in 25 liters of water. Mix well, cover the container and let the water stand for at least two hours before using.
This will disinfect most disease-causing organisms and make the water safer for use. IMPORTANT: Do not use any cleaning solution containing bleach that also contains other soaps or cleaning compounds. Use only unscented chlorinated household bleach.
solar disinfection of water: Nicknamed SODIS, it can be used to disinfect water by killing disease-causing organisms using sunlight. Fill contaminated water in glass (preferably) or plastic bottles and keep them in direct sunlight for at least six hours on a sunny day or up to two days if the weather is cloudy. The sun’s heat and ultraviolet radiation disinfect water by killing most disease-causing organisms.
a problem that is growing
The quality of water supplied to South African residents continues to deteriorate. This is due to aging or broken infrastructure, inadequate water and sewage treatment, poorly trained workers, and widespread, uncontrolled sources of pollution.
The 2023 Blue Drop Report is the latest official data from the Department of Water and Sanitation. If found that only 26 water supply systems achieved a Blue Drop score of approximately 95%. This was down from 44 water supply systems that achieved this distinction in 2014. Nationwide, 29% of water supply systems were identified as being in critical condition.
NGO AfriForum tested municipal drinking water quality in 210 towns and cities across South Africa in 2024 (17 places higher than in 2023).
About the author
Jo Barnes is a Senior Lecturer Emeritus at Stellenbosch University. This article is republished from Conversation Under Creative Commons license. read the original article,
Tests showed that 87% of municipal drinking water was safe for human consumption and met minimum requirements. This represents a decrease of nine percentage points from the 96% that was reported as safe last year.
Water quality is not the only aspect of water provision that affects the health and safety of citizens. Availability of water is important for sanitation and safe living standards. For years, parts of the country have been facing massive water shortages due to a combination of climate change-induced drought, aging and under-maintained infrastructure, population growth and poor management. There have been frequent and prolonged disruptions, particularly in the Johannesburg area.
This forced municipalities to implement water shedding, water throttling, and water rationing. Water shortages typically occur when demand for water exceeds the available supply, forcing authorities to ration water. This may mean scheduled water cuts, reduced water pressure, or even a complete cut in supply to some areas for a specific period. Water throttling refers to reducing water pressure to reduce water usage, while water rationing refers to only having a certain amount of water available per day or week.
A new report from the Department of Water and Sanitation warns that Gauteng and especially the Western Cape provinces are facing increasing water shortages due to population growth due to migration.