Civil Engineering December 2022 | Vol 30 No 11

10 December 2022 Civil Engineering 8 The scores and an abbreviated commentary  Water D- Bulk water resources South Africa has an average rainfall of 465 mm, which is half the world average, and water scarcity is a serious threat. The national bulk water resources infrastructure system includes dams, abstraction works and water transfer schemes. Although ageing and in need of more maintenance, the system has been reasonably e ective in meeting demand. There have been no major structural, mechanical or electrical failures. Dam safety reports have not been published since 2016/17. It is therefore unclear whether all major dams conform to safety regulations, or if all the electrical-mechanical components for operation of the dams are in sound working order. The quality and reliability of water supply systems continue to decline in small towns and rural areas. In some urban areas the water supply systems have been operated at full capacity and will not be able to meet growing demands unless proactive measures are taken to decrease consumption, refurbish critical components of the systems, and expedite key bulk water augmentation projects that have been delayed. In 2022 the Department of Water and Sanitation rated 34% of 1 186 water supply systems as being at high to critical risk of failure. Regarding water quality, just 40% of systems achieved microbiological compliance and only 23% chemical compliance. Slightly less than 41% of treated water is lost to leaks and illegal connections. Spending on repair, maintenance and rehabilitation of water supply systems remains inadequate. Damage due to increased theft, vandalism and service delivery protests diverts funding from maintenance and expansion budgets, exacerbating the problem. Given this, as well as continually growing consumption, supply reliability is decreasing. C+ Supply in the major urban areas D- Supply for all other areas Sanitation (including wastewater) C- For major urban areas Access to improved sanitation ( ush toilets and on-site sanitation) has increased from 61.7% of households in 2002 to 84.1% in 2021. However, the quality of wastewater treatment is declining. In 2022 the Department of Water and Sanitation published the rst Green Drop assessment of every wastewater system (excluding on-site sanitation) in nearly a decade. The results clearly indicate that standards have dropped during the period of slackened regulatory supervision. Of the greatest concern is the extent to which substandard nal e uent is discharged, raising the risk of disease transmission to communities downstream. Out of 995 sanitation systems, only 22 Green Drops were awarded, compared to 60 in 2013. Municipal systems rated to be in a critical state have increased from 29% to 39% over the same period. Some 16% of households still do not have access to improved sanitation, but make use of simple pits, convenient open spaces or other ad hoc arrangements. E All other areas Solid waste management C- Waste collection in the major urban areas The collection, processing and disposal of solid waste material is an important local government task. A lack of solid waste collection services may lead to disease, blockage of drainage systems and a general unsanitary appearance of the urban and rural landscapes. There has been a slight reduction in the provision of refuse collection services in metropolitan and larger urban areas, while rural and smaller municipal areas have experienced a large increase in indiscriminate dumping. Signi cant di erences in service levels were also noted between the nine provinces. Less than 45% of general land ll sites for disposal of solid waste are estimated to be licensed, and there is insu cient planning or construction of urgently required land ll capacity in most areas of the country. The situation with hazardous waste land ll sites is somewhat better – these are mainly operated by the private sector. Although there are good industry recycling e orts in some sectors (e.g. paper, glass and metals), there is limited progress in others (e.g. e-waste and tyres). Excellent legislation and policy documents are in place; however there are still many challenges in the implementation and policing thereof. D- Waste collection in other areas C- Waste disposal in the major urban areas D- Waste disposal in other areas The scores and an abbreviated commentary