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The reuse of effluent for drinking ’is critical in combating global water crises’

The reuse of effluent for drinking ’is critical in combating global water crises’
The upgraded Zandvliet Wastewater Treatment Works in Macassar, Cape Town. (Photo: Ziyanda Duba)
Kristin Engel
By Kristin Engel
18 Mar 2025
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Many countries allocate less than 0.5% of their annual budgets to water and sanitation, despite escalating crises of decreasing water supply globally. South Africa is viewed as the exception in Africa, but still faces major challenges.

Water reuse and reclamation is increasingly being looked at as regions struggle in the face of increasing water scarcity, climate variability and rapid urbanisation which are pressuring water sources globally. 

“There is no way you’ll be able to achieve water security without water reuse,” was the message from World Bank Water Global Director Saroj Kumar Jha in his keynote address at the International Water Association’s (IWA) conference on Water Reclamation and Reuse in Cape Town this week.

The conference is set to explore how policy shifts, technological innovation and public acceptance can unlock large-scale water reuse answers in the face of the escalating water crisis.

Central to the discussions on Monday, 17 March was that water security cannot be achieved without reuse and that public finance, which most countries rely on for water and sanitation services, cannot solve the water insecurity problem. 

Most governments spend less than 0.5% of budgets on water


Water is fundamental in determining both the health and education outcome of children, but the reality today is that there are close to two billion people in the world who do not have access to clean drinking water and close to four million who do not have access to safe sanitation, says Jha.

“If this is a crisis, then it must be a priority for all the governments in the world, but it is not. Water is not a priority for most governments in the world,” said Jha.

This, he said, was particularly evident in the fact that many countries allocated less than 0.5% of their annual budgets to water.

This was found in the World Bank’s 2024 report, Funding a Water-Secure Future: An Assessment of Global Public Spending – the first publicly accessible report indicating how much governments globally are spending on water and the size of the financing and funding gaps before people’s needs can be met.

Interestingly, Jha said that by contrast, South Africa was the exception. 

This was after Pemmy Majodina, SA’s Minister of Water and Sanitation, stressed at the conference that South Africa had made water priority number one.

effluent drinking global water crisis From left: Cape Town’s mayoral committee member for water and sanitation Zahid Badroodien, Water Research Commission CEO Dr Jennifer Molwantwa, Deputy Director-General at the Department of Water and Sanitation Dr Risimati Mathye and Water Research Commission and International Water Association conference chair Jay Bhagwan in Cape Town on Monday, 17 March 2025. (Photo: Kristin Engel)



Majodina referred to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address 2025 where he said that “we are investing heavily in expanding our water resources” and that the Infrastructure Fund had secured R23-billion for seven large water infrastructure projects.

Cape Town’s mayoral committee member for water and sanitation Zahid Badroodien said the city was investing in a R5-billion capital budget for water and sanitation in the 2024/25 financial year, including a focus on water reuse for long-term sustainability.

One project is the Faure New Water Scheme planned to produce drinking-quality water from treated effluent.

Read more: Cape Town set to purify treated sewage water for drinking purposes

“We recognise that water security is not just an environmental issue, but a fundamental requirement for economic growth for our public health, for our social stability. Our city is trajected to grow beyond [its current] five million residents and we must work [to ensure] that our water infrastructure can meet this rising demand,” Badroodien said at the conference.

This is reflected in the City of Cape Town’s New Water Programme. Currently, surface water makes up about 98% of the city’s drinking water, but by 2040 it expects groundwater, desalination and water reuse to account for 25% of supply.

effluent drinking water The Faure Water Treatment Plant and reservoir near Cape Town. A state-of-the-art scheme will be built here where treated wastewater from Zandvliet Wastewater Treatment Works will be purified to potable water standards. (Photo: Ziyanda Duba)



treated sewage water cape town The upgraded Zandvliet Wastewater Treatment Works in Macassar, Cape Town. (Photo: Ziyanda Duba)



Badroodien said this was in addition to the removal of alien invasive plant species in catchment areas. After coming close to Day Zero in Cape Town, the city was investing in bringing alternative water sources on line to serve its growing population.

South Africa the exception


Jha said most countries were not making water a priority. “The most credible evidence of what a big priority will be is, how do you allocate your annual budget for water?”

The World Bank’s report estimates that of the 0.5% of their GDP most developing countries spent on water, 91% came from the public sector, including public spending by the government and SOEs. Less than 2% came from the private sector.

Jha said, “Public finance cannot solve the water security problem, but it can send a positive signal to stakeholders and private investors that governments are giving water the priority it deserves.

“Water security goals cannot be reached unless it is practised on a very large scale. There is no way you’ll be able to achieve water security without water reuse,” said Jha.

Jha told Daily Maverick the consequences of such low investments in water were severe, but the most important disadvantage was felt by the many people, particularly women and children, who were being denied access to clean drinking water and safe sanitation.

“More investments, both in creating new infrastructure, but also maintaining the existing infrastructure, is the only way we can assure universal access to clean drinking water and safe sanitation,” said Jha.

He said governments would need to work with the private sector where possible.

Jha said that South Africa had elaborate and comprehensive policy plans, institutional and legal structures for water supply and more broadly for water resource management which “has helped manage water resources well, and almost reach universal access to drinking water and sanitation”.

However, he acknowledged that a significant gap remained in many cities and particularly in rural areas. However, in terms of water sector governance, Jha said that South Africa had an important model that other countries could inspect.

“South Africa also has its own [water] challenges, which it is currently dealing with. It is a water-scarce country, but it has shown remarkable resilience to manage water with a lot of water innovation and research happening in the country.”

Water crisis and South Africa


There is a worldwide water crisis and in South Africa, this is characterised by water scarcity, water and sanitation infrastructure issues and climate change, with some regions experiencing regular water shortages and restrictions.

Read more: Official reports reveal massive scale of the waste, pollution and poorly treated water crisis

Jay Bhagwan, executive at the Water Research Commission (WRC) and chairperson of the conference, said that securing South Africa’s water future and its uses would require diversification of the water mix to meet future demand – including in large part, water reuse.

“South Africa is not a newcomer to water reuse,” said Bhagwan. The country began investigating the direct reuse of treated effluent for drinking water purposes 40 years ago.

However, he said this path had not been fully exploited at the time, as the more cost-effective option was tapping the country’s surface runoff and flows. Research into reuse continues and now South Africa has direct reuse water schemes in Emahlaleni, Beaufort West, Mossel Bay, Saldanha Bay and eThekwini, with cutting-edge reuse activities in the mining and industrial sectors.

However, Bhagwan said that. “South Africa only directly reuses 4% to 5% of its treated effluents from a potential supply of some 30,000 million cumecs/annum.” That water reuse was the low-hanging fruit that we had not exploited. DM

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