Nearly half of South Africa’s treated water is being lost before it even reaches consumers, highlighting a deepening crisis in the country’s water infrastructure.
This is one of the key findings from the latest Green Drop, Blue Drop and No Drop reports released yesterday by Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina, which offer a detailed picture of the state of water quality, wastewater management, and system efficiency.
According to the reports, non-revenue water, which includes leaks, theft, and billing failures, remains alarmingly high at 47.3% nationally, meaning almost half of all treated water is not generating any revenue.
Closely linked to this is the level of physical water losses, with about 32% of water lost through leaks in pipes, reservoirs, and other infrastructure, pointing to widespread maintenance failures across municipalities.…