{"id":26350,"date":"2023-04-11T22:01:16","date_gmt":"2023-04-11T20:01:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amabhungane.org\/?p=26350"},"modified":"2024-09-19T14:24:46","modified_gmt":"2024-09-19T14:24:46","slug":"230411-free-states-foul-failure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/230411-free-states-foul-failure\/","title":{"rendered":"#EarthCrimes:Free State\u2019s foul failure\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A year ago the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) reinstated its assessment of the country\u2019s 995 wastewater treatment plants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The results were dismal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A third of South Africa\u2019s water systems were deemed critical and were instructed to submit a corrective action plan within two months. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One year later, 75 percent of them have failed to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The worst offender is the Free State province, where two out of three wastewater plants did not meet national standards for sewage treatment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The list of egregious offences by these municipalities includes vandalised, run-down, or abandoned plants that DWS says could cause disease outbreaks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet there seems to be no urgency to improve the crumbling infrastructure \u2013 or even request offered help from the department.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The Green Drop report<\/a>, produced by the department, assesses all 995 wastewater treatment plants around the country. The latest report, published in March 2022, was the first in roughly nine years after reports were discontinued in 2015 under former Minister of Water and Sanitation Nomvula Mokonyane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These assessments are crucial to monitoring South Africa\u2019s water systems: the plants are tasked with purifying wastewater (including sewage) so that the water can safely be discharged into rivers before eventually making its way back to homes and taps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Facilities are given a final Green Drop score based on their performance across a range of areas. Marks are heavily reliant on plants\u2019 financial management and the quality of the water they treat and release, which is tested for bacteria found in human waste \u2014 like e. Coli \u2014 as well as a host of other chemicals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each plant receives a score: over 90 percent indicates an excellent water system and below 31 percent means the facility is dysfunctional. In 2022, one in three wastewater treatment plants nationally were considered critical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Municipalities with dysfunctional plants were instructed to submit a corrective action plan within 60 days of the Green Drop report being published, setting out how they planned to rescue their failing infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, one year later, only 19 municipalities covering 82 of the 334 dysfunctional systems \u2013 25 percent \u2013 have submitted the required plans, according to information provided by the department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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