South Africa's drinking water quality exposes a country split between excellence and crisis
Blue Drop score per municipality (%), 2021/22 assessment · scores above 95% qualify for Blue Drop certification · selected municipalities across four provinces
26
water supply systems certified in 2023, down from 44 in 2014
29%
of all 958 systems assessed are in a critical state of performance
South Africa assessed 958 water supply systems nationally and most fall well short of international drinking water benchmarks — certified systems nearly halved from 44 in 2014 to just 26 in 2023. But the crisis is uneven: the Eastern Cape, home to more than 6 million people, earned zero Blue Drop certificates, and 57% of municipalities do not alert residents when water becomes unsafe.
Daily Maverick · Source: DWS Blue Drop 2023 — Western Cape; DWS Blue Drop 2023 — KwaZulu-Natal; DWS Blue Drop 2023 — National Report
