Over 198 wastewater treatment plants in municipalities around the country have improved their waste water management skills by taking up lower risk positions during their assessment through the Green Drop system.

The 2014 Green Drop Progress report is based on a self-assessment by municipalities and is confirmed by the Department of Water and Sanitation to ensure credibility and verified information is reported to the public.

In the report the department says it has assessed and verified 824 waste water treatment plants and 152 municipalities throughout the country.

The report presents the current risk profile and a 6-year trend analysis of wastewater treatment plants on three levels which reflects a national overview that collate and elevate the detailed findings on system level to that of a provincial overview, which can then be compared and inculcated as a national view of wastewater treatment performance.

The majority of plants are in high risk (259 plants) and medium risk (218 plants), with 212 plants in critical risk and 135 plants in low a risk space.

Pollution by industry

According to Noxolo Ncapayi, a Manager in the Water Services unit of the department, there are various factors that contribute to the mismanagement of waste water treatment plants.

Industries that dump their effluent on river catchments and farmers and abattoirs dispose of their pesticides and carcasses within the catchments contribute enormously to the pollution problem.

“Hartbeestpoort Dam in Brits, North West, is a classical example of a downstream water resource that is subjected to heavy pollution by industries. The dam receives water from Crocodile River whose main tributary is Jukskei River. Jukskei, which runs through Johannesburg and Alexandra township, is one of the worst polluted rivers in the country.”

Ncapayi says the nutrients that are found in the dam are so toxic they result in the prevalence of heavy algae, making it expensive and difficult to clean.

This is exacerbated by a host of residential areas around the dam itself who toxic waste flows into the dam.

Ideally, the department does not encourage any property development on river or dam catchments because quite often this spells an environmental disaster for water resources, Ncapayi says.