On September 18, the world commemorates World Water Monitoring Day, a pivotal occasion aimed at heightening public awareness regarding the significance of water quality.
This year, attention is turned towards the crucial role communities play in monitoring and testing water, underscoring the urgent need for collective action to safeguard this vital resource.
Dr Lester Goldman, Chief Executive Officer of the Water Institute of Southern Africa (WISA), emphasises that the participation of communities is essential in the quest to preserve South Africa's precious but increasingly scarce water supply.
“Without water, we cannot survive,” he states, highlighting the fundamental necessity of this resource in daily life.
As South Africa faces a growing population, estimated to reach 63.1 million by 2025 and projected to exceed 79 million by 2050, the challenge intensifies. The nation’s water supply, however, remains static, compounding the urgency of effective water management strategies.
According to the World Bank, the contrast is stark: while each resident of Iceland had access to 456,351 cubic metres of water in 2021, each South African could rely on only 728 cubic metres.
Goldman argues for a multi-faceted approach to preserving water, suggesting that “our water is a fixed sum and can only be preserved through protection of water sources, conservative use and heavy recycling.”
He also notes that the collaborative efforts of municipalities and the public are vital to achieving this goal.
Encouragingly, targeted training and community engagement initiatives in various regions have demonstrated substantial success. In Mogale City, a Demand Management Training Programme was implemented to address significant skills shortages.
Here, twelve unemployed and indigent youths, particularly women, were trained as water demand managers, acquiring valuable skills in leak detection, data logging, meter reading, and installation. The results were remarkable: not only did participants gain essential skills, but the programme also stimulated job creation.
Similarly, the Emfuleni Leakage Reduction Project focused on curbing residents’ excessive use of hosepipes and sprinklers. The initiative led to the recruitment and training of 51 Water Services Assessors, alongside the facilitation of community awareness programmes. The outcome was a markedly improved reporting system for water and sanitation issues, enabling more efficient allocation of municipal resources.
In Khayelitsha, challenges arose due to damage from high-pressure water supplies on low-cost housing plumbing. A pressure management initiative was consequently set up, significantly reducing water wastage by involving local labour and training municipal personnel.
It is explained that this project, much lauded for its community involvement, saves over nine million cubic metres of water annually, translating to a fiscal benefit of R27 million.
Goldman affirms, “These projects show the importance of community involvement, but they can only succeed through good leadership and professional expertise.”
The shift towards a professionalised water management sector is crucial, it ensures communities are treated with both ethics and competence. Professionalisation not only drives effective capacity building and training but also guarantees compliance with laws and recognised standards within the industry.
The Water Institute of Southern Africa (WISA) is committed to supporting municipalities in enhancing professional practices within the water industry, thereby enabling more communities to undertake successful water management projects. “This can ensure that more of these projects are initiated and concluded successfully for effective water demand management and the preservation of our most precious resource,” Goldman concludes.
Saturday Star