“If you were to base your choice on where to live in South Africa on the quality and safety of drinking water, the Western Cape should be your number 1 choice,” Anton Bredell, Western Cape Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, said.
He was responding to the latest Blue Drop Progress Report. This measures and reports on the quality and safety of drinking water supplied by water management authorities in South Africa.
According to the Blue Drop Report, the Western Cape has the largest percentage of water systems, which comply with microbiological and chemical monitoring compliance. Bredell said the province has 149 water treatment plants with a total capacity of 2 509 ml per day.
Overall, the Western Cape achieved a score of 93,7% for Microbiological Compliance, 91,0% for Chemical Compliance, 82,1% for Microbiological Monitoring Compliance, and 50,4% for Chemical Monitoring Compliance.
The report also evaluates water-supply systems according to a risk profile, calculated as a combination of the plant’s design capacity, operational capacity, water quality, technical skills and the presence of a water safety plan.
Measured against these criteria, the Western Cape has 85% or 108 supply systems, regarded as low-risk.
There are 10 supply systems in the medium-risk category, and four supply systems are in the high-risk category.
The report indicates five supply systems in the province are in the critical-risk category.
It says: “We are proud of our 85% low-risk water systems, but equally concerned about the high-risk and critical-risk systems identified in the report.
The Western Cape Government, together with DWS, is working closely with those local authorities to support them and develop strategies to improve the long-term quality and safety of their water-supply systems.”
