WASTEWATER QUALITY

Ugu District Municipality is a Water Services Authority and Water Services Provider responsible for the provision and management of water and wastewater services within its area of jurisdiction. In fulfilment of its legislative and regulatory obligations, the Municipality ensures that wastewater treatment processes and final effluent quality are routinely assessed against the Department of Water and Sanitation General Authorisation Limits for Wastewater Quality. This monitoring and compliance assessment is undertaken across all Ugu District Municipality Wastewater Treatment Works, extending from Umdoni to Ray Nkonyeni and Umziwabantu Local Municipalities.

The below overall wastewater effluent quality compliance achieved for the 2025/2026 Financial Year was 74.8%, based on the assessment of chemical, physical, and microbiological determinants. The key determinants that recorded non-compliance within the wastewater treatment limits included E. coli, suspended solids, ammonia, and chemical oxygen demand. These exceedances are indicative of operational, process-control, mechanical, and infrastructure-related challenges within certain treatment works. Ugu District Municipality remains committed to improving wastewater effluent quality through targeted capital investment in mechanical and electrical components, as well as the progressive upgrading of wastewater treatment facilities to enhance process performance and regulatory compliance.

WATER QUALITY

 Ugu District Municipality remains committed to complying with applicable legislative and regulatory requirements for drinking water quality. This commitment is supported through comprehensive monitoring and analysis across the full water supply value chain, from catchment to consumer, to verify compliance with the SANS 241:2015 Drinking Water Quality Standard. All water quality analyses are undertaken by Umgeni-uThukela Water, an independent laboratory accredited in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025:2018 requirements.

The data presentation demonstrates the overall compliance performance achieved across all Ugu District Municipality Water Treatment Works. The results indicate that most water quality failures were recorded at rural stand-alone treatment plants, where continuous overnight operational supervision is limited. The majority of failures were operational in nature, while chemical compliance failures were minimal, and acute health-related failures contributed the lowest proportion to the overall compliance score. This monitoring tool will support the District in strengthening operational oversight, improving process control, and enhancing process optimisation to ensure the consistent production of safe and acceptable drinking water quality.