The Department of Water and Sanitation has expressed concern about the poor condition of municipal infrastructure for water reticulation, which has adverse consequences on the quality of service delivery.

The performance of reticulation infrastructure has a bearing on the quality of water and services that are delivered to communities and is the sole responsibility of municipalities.

A high percentage of water supplied to municipalities is often lost due to leakages in municipal water systems, and this has resulted in the country losing about R7,2 billion a year, which has a negative impact on the economy.

“Leakage of water, which is the most common problem experienced with water reticulation is as a result of ageing of pipes, faulty operating procedures of water treatment plants and lack of their routine maintenance,” the DWS said in a statement.

“Illegal connections to water resources also exacerbate the situation.”

The Department of Water and Sanitation has in the past provided support to municipalities with regard to maintenance of reticulation systems.

“This can only happen in times of emergencies, but the sole responsibility lies with municipalities,” the statement added.

“Municipalities are also responsible for maintaining the waterborne sanitation network as well as the wastewater treatment plants. The country has also experienced a challenge of spillages of the sewers as a result of overloading of the system and blockages caused by foreign objects found in the system. Breakages and deterioration of the networks also contributes to the spillages of sewers in communities.”

The Department has also provided support to municipalities which have little or no capacity to effectively maintain waterborne sanitation systems.

An example of this would be the services provided by ERWAT, a Bulk Wastewater Management company, which is providing the services of unblocking stoppages and eradicating the problem of spillages in the Vaal area.

Municipalities are encouraged to effect a turn around, especially in the critical area of water reticulation.

“Sanitation and related issues which have an impact on water quality should be prioritised. There should also be an increase of the corresponding skills to manage these complex infrastructures which contribute to debilitating service delivery to communities if not performing optimally.”