Government squeezes Durban taps over City’s failure to curb 58% water loss rate

Durban’s water supplies will shortly be ‘curtailed’ by 91 million litres per day (roughly 8.5% of normal supplies) as government puts pressure on the Ethekwini municipality to plug continued waste of the province’s water resources. (Photo: uMngeni-uThukela Water Board)

By Tony Carnie

14 Dec 2023

With more than R2-billion worth of water revenue pouring down the drain in Durban every year from leaks, theft or non-payment, Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu and his officials have cracked the whip to curb the ‘very worrisome’ losses. As a result, Durban’s water supplies will soon be reduced by 8.5% to pressure City managers into plugging the leaks.

The full extent of water losses in South African municipalities was not disclosed in the government’s latest No Drop report, but the Ethekwini (Durban) Municipality is believed to have one of the highest waste rates among the big cities, with non-revenue water losses now sitting at over 58%.

The impending restrictions come at a time when supplies to several parts of the city have run short, for a variety of reasons not fully explained. The restrictions were due to come into effect in October but the provincial water utility (uMngeni-uThukela Water) later agreed to a temporary increase in supplies over the Christmas holiday season.

According to Ethekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda, the utility will provide an additional 160 megalitres of water per day to replenish depleted reservoirs in several parts of the city.

Notably, Kaunda made no mention of impending restrictions during a joint media briefing by the City and uMngeni-uThukela Water (UUW) on November 28.

Questioned by Daily Maverick, a senior UUW official also denied at a separate event that recent water shortages in Durban were related to restrictions imposed by the utility.

To clarify the confusion, we sent a series of follow-up questions to the national Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS); UUW and the Ethekwini Municipality – the upshot of which is confirmation that Durban’s water supplies will shortly be “curtailed” by 91 million litres per day (roughly 8.5% of normal supplies).

These new restrictions come against a backdrop of increasing concern from the national water department and the City’s own audit management committee about the steady increase in Durban’s non-revenue water losses.

At a briefing in October, Mchunu noted that the Ethekwini Metro uses about 52% of all water supplied to the province of KwaZulu-Natal, and about 70% of treated water supplied by UUW.

Mchunu said it was “very worrisome” that average per capita water consumption in Durban was now around 281 litres a day, compared to the country’s average of 217 l/day and the world average of 174 l/day.

“Ethekwini’s non-revenue water stands at 58.2% (45% of it is lost through leaks from its various transmission pipes, pumping and storage systems). This amounts to a revenue loss of around R2-billion per annum. eThekwini has been experiencing intermittent water supply challenges and as a tourist destination, this negatively impacts on the country’s economic progress,” he warned.

Water losses in Ethekwini Water minister Senzo Mchunu has warned that rising water consumption and recent intermittent water supplies to Durban threatens the city’s economy and its position as a tourist destination. (Photo: Tony Carnie)

Turnaround strategy

To address this, Mchunu said it was essential to deal with Ethekwini’s non-revenue water and physical losses; operations and maintenance; billing and revenue collection.

His department was working with the National Treasury and the Department of Co-operative Governance to support eThekwini through a new turnaround strategy.

The City’s own bean counters are also very worried that the city faces a potential “catastrophe” and have called for urgent measures to plug the water and revenue leaks.

According to Siboniso Shabalala, chair of the City’s audit and risk committee, non-revenue water and electricity distribution losses have been persistently high, with trends over the last year not yielding any significant improvement.

In a recent report to the City’s municipal public accounts committee, Shabalala said that despite expressing concerns, his committee members “have not received comfort from [City] management that progress is adequately being made, especially with regards to the non-revenue water losses, which cannot be sustainable for the Municipality and can be considered to be catastrophic in nature if left to continue on the current trajectory”.

Responding to Daily Maverick’s requests for clarity, the national Department of Water and Sanitation said water volumes drawn from the uMngeni River system now exceeded allowable limits in terms of a water use licence issued to UUW.

As a result, the department issued a formal notice of intention on July 18 to issue a directive to the water utility to reduce current water abstraction rates.

The utility had now “committed to reduce over abstraction” which would in turn lead to a reduced water supply to UUW’s customers, such as the Ethekwini Municipality

“uMngeni-uThukela responded with an action plan to reduce their over abstraction in the Umgeni system, which has taken effect from 10 October 2023. This will be closely monitored by the department, over a 12-month period.”

The utility had further notified Ethekwini and other customers that “failure to reduce water consumption may result in water restrictions.”

In response to further questions, UUW spokesperson Siyabonga Maphumulo said water abstraction from the uMngeni River system (which includes the Albert Falls, Midmar and Inanda dams) “has increased to much higher levels than originally envisaged and as a result, UUW is now abstracting more water than is stipulated on the licence”.

Water wastage in Ethekwini Durban’s water supplies will shortly be ‘curtailed’ by 91 million litres per day (roughly 8.5% of normal supplies) as the government puts pressure on the Ethekwini municipality to plug continued waste of the province’s water resources. (Photo: uMngeni-uThukela Water)

Reduction in supply volumes to meet licence requirements

“There is, therefore, a requirement to reduce current supply volumes by 8.4%, over the next 12 months, so that the licence conditions can be met,” Maphumulo said.

Though UUW did not have the ability to implement interventions by municipalities, it acknowledged that “much of the increase in demand over the past years has, however, been as a result of increases in water loss … and hence the responsibility for implementing interventions to reduce water loss and hence demand, rests with (Ethekwini and other utility customers).

“UUW’s programme of action has therefore been to agree on the planned reduction in volumes with the water supply authorities and DWS and supply from the water treatment plants will be curtailed to ensure that these volumes are met.”

Unless water abstraction was reduced “there will be a deficit in the supply areas and reservoirs will run dry,” he warned.

“UUW has to reduce supplied volumes from last year’s average of 1,355 Ml/d to 1,239Ml/d.”

This is a total reduction in supply volume of 116Ml/d supplied to all its customers in KZN.

“Water supplied to eThekwini Metro over the next 12 months will have to reduce by 91 Ml/d. However, we are confident that the Metro will implement its own Water Demand Management initiatives to achieve the savings required.”

Ethekwini did not respond to our questions, with spokesperson Gugu Sisilana stating: “The municipality will not be commenting any further over and above what was communicated by the Mayor during the joint media briefing held with uMngeni-uThukela Water on November 28.” DM

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South Africa

Turnaround strategy

Reduction in supply volumes to meet licence requirements