Community testing reveals unsafe drinking water across South Africa - WaterCAN report

Unsafe drinking-water sources, including contaminated tap water has been found among several municipalities nationwide following a citizen-led water quality survey that found widespread contamination across South Africa.

The findings are contained in the Annual WaterCAN Citizen Science Water Testing Week, conducted in September, which confirmed that unsafe water is not a localised or rural problem but a national risk affecting all nine provinces.

Using WaterCAN citizen science test kits, more than 500 kits were distributed to community volunteers, who sampled water from taps, household storage tanks, rivers, dams and other local sources. In most provinces, 66% of tested water sources were unsafe for human consumption, with contamination patterns pointing to failing wastewater and sewage treatment systems rather than isolated incidents.

“The most alarming results come from drinking-water sources that should be safe at the point of use,” said Nomsa Daele, WaterCAN’s Citizen Science and Training Coordinator. “South Africans should not have to second-guess whether the water from their taps and tanks is safe to drink.”

Daele said E. Coli was detected in household drinking water in eight municipalities, including King Cetshwayo District Municipality in northern KwaZulu-Natal.

“When our community testers are picking up E. Coli in household drinking water in eight municipalities, it is deeply concerning. This is just a sample by committed volunteers. The true extent of this crisis is likely much worse,” she said.

Besides King Cetshwayo, WaterCAN identified unsafe drinking-water sources in the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality and Sedibeng District Municipality in Gauteng, Gert Sibande District Municipality in Mpumalanga, Waterberg and Mopani district municipalities in Limpopo, Bojanala Platinum District Municipality in North West, and Pixley ka Seme District Municipality in the Northern Cape. Contamination was detected in tap water, JoJo tanks and other domestic sources.

Regarding King Cetshwayo, the report said a tap water sample had tested positive for E.Coli and Coliform which is an “urgent health issue”.

The report recommendation's included that a letter be sent to the municipality to request that it test its tap water and that WaterCAN meet with it to discuss processes to ensure that residents have access to safe drinking water.

In Limpopo, all four sampled sources including a tap, a river and two domestic sources in Waterberg and Mopani tested unsafe. “In Limpopo, for example, all four sampled sources … were unsafe,” said Daele.

Professor Anja du Plessis, an associate professor at Unisa who analysed the data, said: “The data shows that no province is spared, with almost all tested surface water resources having unsafe water quality,” she said. “Our rivers and dams have become open sewers, contaminated with both chemical pollutants and sewage.”

Du Plessis said the findings indicate a sustained system failure rather than once-off pollution events. “We are seeing the same pattern across provinces: sewage and wastewater consistently leaking into our rivers and dams, phosphate ‘hotspots’, and even in some cases contaminated taps and tanks, at the point where families drink and cook,” she said.

WaterCAN has called for urgent municipal and provincial interventions in affected areas, routine and transparent water quality monitoring, emergency provision of safe water where domestic sources are unsafe, and sustained public awareness about the health risks posed by water contaminated with faecal bacteria.

King Cetshwayo District Municipality had not responded to a request for comment by the time of publication.

THE MERCURY