The Department of Water Affairs has officially announced the roll-out of the “No Drop” report Assessments that are part of efforts to increase water use efficiency and to reduce leakages from the water supply networks. According to a statement released on 10 October 2013, the “No Drop” assessments are being implemented across all municipalities in South Africa from October 2013 to March 2014 and the results will be released every 2 years.

Results of this first assessment period will be published in the Blue Drop / No Drop Report in 2014.

“According to research data from 132 (of 237 municipalities) representing 75% of the total volume of municipal water supply, the current level of non-revenue water is estimated at

36.7%, of which 25.4% is considered to be losses through physical leakages. The “No Drop” assessments will provide verified data to support and build on these research results.,” said the statement, adding that it is expected that the No Drop assessments will provide the public and the water sector with information on water use, water loss and efficiency of water used within a municipality.

Similar to the Blue Drop- and Green Drop reporting, the “No Drop” Report will publish audited and verified values pertaining to water use and management thereof in each local municipality, and will report such figures as part of the Blue Drop scorecard. This will allow the public to view the performance and rating of a municipality in terms of its drinking water quality and management of its water volumes.

The “No Drop” assessment deals with water loss (quantity) aspects, whilst the Blue Drop assessment deals with drinking water quality aspects. Ageing infrastructure, inadequate maintenance and repairs of existing infrastructure, long response time to water leaks/bursts, technical competency shortcomings in municipalities and a culture of water wastage are some of the challenges facing the SA water sector.

“South Africa is a water scarce country and supply-demand curve shows that SA will face a supply-demand deficit of around 17% 3.8 billion kilolitres of water by the year 2030,” said the statement, released by Chief Director: Communication Services, Mava Scott.

The Minister of Water Affairs has prioritized the implementation of measures to reduce water losses and increase water efficiency, as well as tackling water leaks and raising water demand awareness. She further urged private sector to work closely with the public sector to “close the water gap by 2030’.

“This new initiative builds on the success of the Blue and Green Drop Certification

Programmes, the Department of Water Affairs innovative means of regulation, designed and implemented with the objective of improved water management,” concluded Scott.