A Water Resource Management expert says about 4000 megalitres of untreated or partially treated sewerage enters the country's dams and rivers every day.
According to Dr. Anthony Turton, it is the presence of this sewerage in "distressed dams and rivers that is now coming back into the drinking water systems."
He said for him the biggest problem is not necessarily the water levels in the country's dams but the quality of the water in the system.
"Everybody is concerned about the volume side of water, in the sense that people are talking about the dams being so many percent full etc, but there is actually another side to the story, that is about water quality."
Turton attributed this problem to a crippling loss of engineering skills at municipal level. He said this shortage was highlighted as far back as 2008 in a comprehensive study carried out by the South African Institute of Civil Engineers (SAICE).
"Because we don't have enough qualified people anymore, in effect our sewerage works are under stress. 80% of the sewerage works in the country are not functioning properly and it's very often in the small rural areas and small towns. The bigger cities generally tend to be working better because they have more skills." he said.
Turton added that the shortage of engineering skills at third-tier level is a result of the ruling party's insistence on rigid form of racial transformation. He added that if it were not for this particular factor, engineering skills available would be sufficient to meet present demands.
"If current transformation policies continue to take precedence, we can anticipate a further deterioration in the operation of waste water treatment plants. This in turn is likely to generate a growing burden of disease, especially in poor communities, and an escalating cost for the treatment of potable water from sources contaminated by sewage flows. The possibility of major public health crises in the short to medium term is also growing and can no longer be discounted," Turton said.
Turton added that the problem was at a municipal level however, he said the Department of Water Affairs was not legally entitled intervene.
"There's also a constitutional problem because the Department of Water Affairs, that has a national mandate, is not legally entitled to actually go and intervene at Municipal level. So, in effect we've got a constitutional crisis that needs to be managed before we can actuallly get some external intervention."
In an analysis published in the policy bulletin of the SA Institute of Race Relations, Turton said average water consumption in South Africa is at 235 litres per person per day, a staggering 26% higher than the global average of 173 litres per day.
"A key part of the problem is that 37% of the water supplied by municipalities is ‘non-revenue’ water, which is either lost to leakages or is never billed or paid for. In some of the worst performing municipalities, distribution losses are estimated to be close on 50%. These losses cost municipalities around R11 billion a year, but cannot easily be overcome with existing state capacity,” he said.
Turton added that the massive wastage was also adding to the water shortages highlighted by a current drought and the loss of engineering skills at municipal level.
Turton said about 80% of the sewerage works in the country is not working and this is mainly in the small rural areas.
Meanwhile the City of Johannesburg announced level two restrictions on Monday due to the Country's current heatwave conditions.
The water crises was tabled as a key topic of discussion in parliament this week, however the debate was postponed due to a labour strike in Parliament.
