World Water Monitoring Day stresses AfriForum’s water monitoring strategy

AfriForum is celebrating their successful water monitoring strategy on World Water Monitoring Day that is taking place today. AfriForum is appealing to all their members in South Africa to cherish the importance of our water resources.

“The primary aim of World Water Monitoring Day is to educate citizens and to involve them in the protection of the world’s water resources. Many people are not aware of the impact that their actions and behaviour have on the quality of water. By performing very basic monitoring tests on water, people will be able to become familiar with the most common indicators of the condition of water resources,” says Marcus Pawson, AfriForum’s Head of Environmental Affairs.

AfriForum believes that an independent water regulator will play a meaningful role in South Africa and could potentially lead to the improvement of water quality, water supply and water management. “If South Africa has an independent water regulator that is not susceptible to political meddling and that will enforce legislation regarding water and service delivery, we should see less leakages, less public complaints and protests, cleaner rivers and dams, healthier communities, a growing economy and more water,” says Chris Boshoff, AfriForum’s Coordinator for Environmental Affairs.

It is ironic that the Department of Water and Sanitation celebrates Water Monitoring Day, but that the same department’s blue and green drop report was last released to the public in 2013. Ordinary people suffer the most due to the water crisis and because we cannot depend on the government we have to continue to test water quality ourselves,” says Boshoff.

AfriForum annually launches a green and blue drop project where the quality of nearly 10 million people’s drinking (blue drop) and sewage (green drop) water is tested. AfriForum’s 2017 tests showed that the drinking water of three towns were not up to standard and that the sewage water of 59 out of the 88 towns that were tested did not adhere to the set quality standards. “Nearly 4 200 megalitres of untreated sewage water are daily being dumped into our country’s rivers,” says Boshoff.

However, the good news that stresses the importance of regular and structured water monitoring is that all three of the towns where the drinking water quality did not pass the blue drop testing this year, are once again clean after the local authorities were pressured to act. The fact that three towns were found to not comply to the set drinking water standards as opposed to last year’s seven and that not one of the towns that did not comply in 2016 failed the test this year, shows that active monitoring and testing reaps rewards.

Sewage pump stations has undergone repairs and court cases are in process regarding substandard sewage water systems. Legal proceedings that had been instituted in cooperation with the green scorpions will henceforth set a new standard in South Africa. AfriForum has furthermore introduced a new water purifying product.

AfriForum is also busy with a comprehensive water strategy for communities in cooperation with experienced water experts that will be introduced shortly. AfriForum strongly believes that water is too important to leave it under the management of the government.

SMS your name to 45354 (R1) to support AfriForum’s action.