Civil Engineering nOVEMBER 2021 | Vol 29 No 10

Civil Engineering November 2021 11 Water Eng i neer i ng T he 2021 South African IWA Water Loss Specialist Group Regional Summit was held recently, with almost 200 delegates from around South Africa, as well as a number of interna- tional delegates in attendance. The event identified and discussed key water loss management issues facing South Africa and surrounding countries. This year’s two-day event, which is the first such event jointly organised by the SAICE Academy, was supported by various organisations including IWA WLSG, WISA, IMESA, WRC, Rockblue, and WRP. Each year, the organising team, led by Dr Ronnie Mckenzie and Niel Meyer, identify strategic issues for the summit and select local and international specialist speakers to present solutions to South African water managers. The event has become very popular and is now also sanctioned by the IWA Water Loss Specialist Group. STATE OF WATER INFRASTRUCTURE Water loss in South Africa from potable water distribution systems has risen from around 37% in 2010 to more than 41% in 2016, which is the most recent year for which official water loss figures are cur- rently available. “This is a concern as the losses show no signs of stabilising and appear to be growing worse rather than better,” stated Jay Bhagwan, Executive Manager: Water Use and Waste management at the Water Research Commission (WRC). He opened the event with a summary of the status quo of water losses in the country and discussed the trends over the past 20 years. Having worked in the sector for more than 30 years, Bhagwan’s view is that water services in general is a growing national crisis that poses a significant risk to the growth of our economy. The problem, if it worsens, particularly in the metros, will have a significant impact on public and environmental health and, if it persists, South Africa could face more than a Day Zero, he warned. Bhagwan went on to present several concerning statistics about the state of our water services authorities (WSAs). Based on a business health vulner- ability assessment, 40% of WSAs reflect extreme business vulnerability while a further 38% reflect high business vulner- ability. Extreme and high vulnerability WSAs tend toward dysfunctionality in meeting their water and sanitation services mandate. The key vulnerabilities in these WSAs are weak finances, including financial asset management and revenue collec- tion, poor operations and maintenance of assets, and weak technical capacity, both in terms of technical skills and staffing numbers. Taking a deeper look, the assess- ment found that 64% of WSAs are not implementing an appropriate water and sanitation services plan and 58% have not developed a suitable water conservation and water demand management strategy or plan. In addition, 53% and 51% indicate that wastewater and water treatment works respectively are fast approaching capacity. 44% of WSAs also indicate a water shortage greater than 20% of current needs. STATE OF NON-REVENUE WATER Bhagwan also unpacked the 2011 National Non-revenue Water Assessment, which is Unpacking the dire state of non-revenue water in SA South Africa’s non-revenue water (NRW) losses have continued to climb over the last decade. National water losses of 41% paired with the declining state of the country’s water infrastructure pose a serious concern for future water security.