Ndlambe’s handling of water supply improves

Blue Drop score climbs 8% but concerns remain

he department of water and sanitation (DWS) has commended Ndlambe Municipality’s improvement in its Blue Drop score from 49.47% to the current 57.55% and says if the plans and intentions verbally presented during the audit are implemented, it anticipates a significant increase in score by the next audit period.

However, the department’s assessment of the status of Makana Municipality’s water systems indicate a dire situation.

While two Makana technical officials providing the necessary information were “dedicated and enthusiastic”, DWS inspectors believed that lack of support from senior management, especially in terms of planning and finance, had compromised the Blue Drop score for the municipality.

The department said fundamental reform was required to arrest and turn around the decline in municipal water and sanitation services across SA.

The certification programmes are aimed at improving municipal drinking water quality, water conservation and demand management and wastewater management across SA.

The department said that despite all the support being provided to municipalities, the reports indicate that water services continue to decline.

The DWS assessor said that a water safety plan presented by NLM was a manual describing how a plan should be developed and provided minimal site specific information and no indication (photographs or other) that the sites were inspected.

“A separate risk assessment was presented, but this was limited to hazardous events,” the report said.

“No analysis data of any

Tdescription was provided. Inspectors were assured that full SANS analysis will be carried out on all water supplies and that comprehensive water safety planning will be implemented during the current financial year.

“NLM is encouraged to follow through on this intention.”

Ndlambe needed to provide verification of water quality from abstraction to point of use, the report noted.

Evidence of network inspection and maintenance of network infrastructure needed to be provided.

The most recently shared results of tests of Ndlambe Municipality’s drinking water is a report on the microbiological parameter of SANS – the SA National Standard – included in the agenda of the last council meeting (agenda date October 27, meeting held October 31).

The report is dated October 16 and serves as a report on the (microbial) status of the drinking water quality within Ndlambe’s jurisdiction for September 2023.

The report’s main focus is on E.coli – an indicator of faecal contamination – responsible for infectious diseases such as gastroenteritis, cholera, dysentery and typhus. For that period, 20 out of 20 samples taken from across Ndlambe Municipality were 100% compliant.

“It is the objective of the Ndlambe] municipality to have Blue Drop and Green Drop certification. Due to budget challenges, some of the requirements cannot be met at this stage,” the October agenda item states.

However, the infrastructure directorate is conducting activities that don’t require capital budget.

In the report released this week, inspectors emphasise that the Drop assessment of Makana Municipality is an audit of the performance of the entire municipality and needs to be approached with a comprehensive team.

“The regulator notes, with concern, that the Blue Drop score for Makana Local Municipality has deteriorated significantly since 2014.”

In Makana, very little evidence of effective maintenance had been presented.

“Qualified artisans are limited to electricians. No contracts for technical services (chemical supply and so on) or even infrastructure repair invoices or work orders were presented.

“No maintenance plan was available.

“It is likely that this information could have been provided if the team had more support from department heads,” the report said.

According to DWS, the Blue Drop report is a comprehensive assessment of the state of all 958 water supply systems (WSS) in each of the 144 water services authorities (WSA) in the country.

For each WSS, assessments are carried out of the condition of the infrastructure; whether the required maintenance is being done on the infrastructure; whether the infrastructure is operated correctly; whether the proper treatment processes are followed; whether proper monitoring and controls are in place; and whether the staff have the necessary skills and qualifications.

Twenty six water supply systems scored more than 95% and qualified for the prestigious Blue Drop certification. In 2014, 44 WSS were awarded Blue Drop status.

This indicates an overall decline in excellence between 2014 and 2023.

Find the Blue Drop report: Eastern Cape 2023 at:

https://bit.ly/3Ti11G9

Find the department of water and Sanitation’s statement at:

https://bit.ly/3RdxM4z.