SA’s water economy quantified

SOUTH Africa’s water economy has faced severe hazards in recent years: unprecedented droughts, raw water scarcity in most parts of the country, particularly the Western Cape, water pollution, too many nutrients from runoff in major dams and ageing water infrastructure.

“In the face of such hazards, the increasing uncertainty of climate change-related rainfall patterns and the extreme consequences of water supply systems failing, it’s non-negotiable to have reliable management information regarding the water economy,” reads a new Water Accounts report by the Water Research Commission and Statistics SA, which tracks how water is distributed and used, what the monetary size of the water sector is and what the weighted average water tariffs are.

The report notes how there has been a lack of empirical data and knowledge over how the application of different tariff structures affect water use for different economic sectors as well as how much water contributes to the economy.

The report reveals that the total water supply in 2016 was estimated at 14.7 billion m3/a, with the bulk sourced from surface water, which includes imports from the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, and the remainder sourced from groundwater.

Although the Department of Water and Sanitation governs all water use through water use licences, most licence holders abstract and manage their own water, and thus pay for their own water distribution.

“Such ‘own water’ supply is estimated at 7.8 billion m3/a, with the balance of 6.9 billion m3/a distributed by municipalities and other service providers. Water boards and other bulk water users are authorised to extract water (2.8 billion m3/a and 0.8 million m3/a respectively.”

Municipalities source most of their water from water boards, with the remainder being “own sources” through DWS authorisations (5.9 billion m3/a). Return flows from electricity producers, domestic users and other users are supplied to municipalities as returned effluent for treatment (1.8 billion m3/a).

Agriculture is the largest total user of water (with an annual allocation of 6.9 billion m3/a) followed by households, the mining, manufacture and energy sectors.