Communities across Northern KwaZulu-Natal continue to face serious questions over the reliability and safety management of their drinking water, following the release of the Department of Water and Sanitation’s latest Blue Drop findings.
The findings, presented to Parliament on Tuesday, 9 June 2026, form part of the Department of Water and Sanitation’s 2025 Full Green Drop, Blue Drop and No Drop Progress Reports.
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While the reports cover the country as a whole, their findings carry direct relevance for residents in Newcastle, Charlestown, Utrecht, Dannhauser, Dundee, Ladysmith, Nquthu, Colenso, Ezakheni and surrounding communities.
The reports point to a troubling pattern: several water systems are still producing water within their design limits and, in some cases, meeting microbiological standards. However, major weaknesses remain in chemical monitoring, flow data, technical staffing, infrastructure maintenance and Water Safety Plans.
For residents, this means the issue is not only whether water is coming out of the tap. The bigger concern is whether municipalities have the systems, staff, testing programmes and risk plans in place to properly guarantee the water’s safety over time.
Committee Chairperson Leon Basson warned that failure to implement commitments made at the National Water and Sanitation Indaba would undermine efforts to improve the entire water value chain.
“The state of the water value chain requires a commitment from all role-players to implement the resolutions adopted at the indaba. The inability or unwillingness to implement those commitments will undermine efforts to improve the system, reduce non-revenue water, rehabilitate infrastructure, and restore wastewater systems to full functionality,” Basson stated.
In Amajuba District Municipality, the Department assessed three drinking water supply systems with a combined design capacity of approximately 14.5 ML/day and an operational flow of 6.5 ML/day.
However, the actual available capacity is affected by infrastructure limitations, most notably the fact that the Dannhauser Water Treatment Works is currently offline.
This reduces functional available capacity to approximately 9.5 ML/day.
According to the report, water supply to Dannhauser and eMafusini is currently being supplemented through the Durnacol and Hattingspruit water treatment works. However, the Department noted that contributions from Hattingspruit were not fully incorporated into the system configuration, creating a gap in how the system is assessed and managed.
Despite these issues, the three Amajuba systems were classified as low risk. Utrecht recorded a risk rating of 27.5%, while Dannhauser and Durnacol recorded 43.8% and 44.9% respectively.
All three systems are also operating within their design capacity thresholds. This is positive, but the report cautions that the risk ratings must be understood alongside the district’s operational weaknesses, including incomplete configuration data and monitoring gaps.
Microbiological compliance was rated as excellent across the systems.
This means the systems performed strongly in relation to bacteria-related water safety testing. However, chemical compliance was weaker. Utrecht performed well, while Dannhauser recorded 88.6% and Durnacol recorded 91.1%.
The Department further warned that chemical monitoring programmes across the systems were not properly aligned with SANS 241:2015 requirements. This is important because even where water appears compliant in certain categories, weak monitoring can reduce confidence in the municipality’s ability to detect and respond to risks quickly.
The report also identified institutional capacity concerns, stating that supervisory, operational and maintenance teams are not adequately aligned with regulatory standards.
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In addition, none of the Amajuba systems currently has a fully developed Water Safety Plan aligned to SANS 241:2015 and World Health Organisation guidelines.
The Department has therefore directed Amajuba District Municipality to prioritise the reconfiguration of the Dannhauser system, properly account for Hattingspruit’s contribution, strengthen water quality monitoring, train staff and urgently develop compliant Water Safety Plans.
Within Newcastle Municipality, the Department assessed two main water supply systems: the Newcastle Water Supply System, linked to Ngagane, and the Charlestown Water Supply System.
Combined, the two systems have a design capacity of 132 ML/day and an operational flow of 108.45 ML/day. On paper, this suggests a broadly stable supply baseline. However, the performance of the two systems differs sharply.
The Newcastle Water Supply System remains classified as low risk, although its risk rating deteriorated slightly from 28.4% in 2023 to 32.96% in 2025.
The system continues to perform comparatively well. It operates within design capacity, maintains adequate flow monitoring, and recorded 100% microbiological compliance.
Microbiological monitoring stood at 96.3%, while chemical compliance was recorded at 97.7%.
Charlestown, however, presents a far more concerning picture.
The Charlestown Water Supply System declined from a low-risk rating of 32.9% in 2023 to a high-risk rating of 88.1% in 2025.
According to the Department, this decline is linked to failures in microbiological and chemical compliance, insufficient technical capacity and the absence of an effective Water Safety Plan.
Infrastructure damage has also worsened the situation. The report states that the Charlestown package plant was vandalised and subsequently bypassed. As a result, Charlestown’s water supply currently depends on a combination of groundwater abstraction and tanker-delivered supply from the Newcastle system.
The Department further noted that groundwater is only disinfected before distribution, without undergoing further treatment.
Charlestown also has a major data problem, with incomplete flow records and no records submitted after the system was bypassed.
Most concerningly, Charlestown recorded 0% compliance across microbiological, chemical and monitoring indicators.
The Department stated that both Newcastle and Charlestown showed non-compliance in supervision and maintenance, meaning the systems are not adequately aligned with regulatory requirements. It also found that no risk management plans or Water Safety Plans were in place for either system.
As a result, the Department has called for the urgent refurbishment of Charlestown’s infrastructure, restoration of monitoring systems, improved sampling programmes and fully compliant Water Safety Plans.
In uMzinyathi District Municipality, the Blue Drop findings reflect a mixed picture across 13 water supply systems, down from 15 in 2023.
The systems have a combined design capacity of 57.05 ML/day and an operational flow of 27.44 ML/day. While most systems remain within design capacity, the Department raised serious concerns over missing and incomplete flow monitoring records.
This is not a minor administrative issue. Without reliable flow data, it becomes difficult to verify how systems are actually performing, whether capacity is being properly managed, and where pressure points may be developing.
Risk ratings varied across the district. Dundee, Msinga-Pomeroy, Msinga-Sampofu, uMvoti-Amakhabaleni and uMvoti-Muden were classified as medium risk. Nquthu-Nondweni was classified as high risk, while the remaining systems were assessed as low risk.
Six systems achieved acceptable microbiological compliance, ranging from 95% to 100%. Fabeni recorded full microbiological compliance.
However, monitoring remained weak across most systems. Only two systems achieved acceptable microbiological monitoring standards. Chemical compliance appeared stronger overall at 96.4%, but chemical monitoring compliance was extremely low at 9.4%.
This points to a serious gap. In simple terms, the available chemical results may look acceptable, but the monitoring programme itself is not strong enough to provide full confidence that risks are being consistently tested and managed.
The Department also found widespread weaknesses in supervision and maintenance, with no systems meeting adequate standards in this area. Jointly, no Water Safety Plans were found across any of the assessed systems.
This leaves uMzinyathi with a clear need to improve data submission, strengthen monitoring routines, address staffing and skills gaps, and implement proper risk-based planning across its water systems.
The uThukela District Municipality operates 14 drinking water systems with a combined design capacity of 119.6 ML/day and an operational flow of 120.9 ML/day.
This immediately raises concerns, as the operational flow exceeds the combined design capacity.
The report also highlights a major data weakness: no flow records were submitted across all systems, limiting the Department’s ability to verify capacity utilisation and operational efficiency.
Risk ratings across uThukela range from low to high. Colenso Town, Tugela Estates and Langkloof achieved low-risk status. Several systems, including Ezakheni and Ladysmith Town, were placed in the medium-risk category. Loskop and Ekuvukeni Township were classified as high risk.
Although some systems demonstrated strong microbiological compliance, performance was uneven. Colenso Town and Ladysmith Town performed well in this area, while Ezakheni recorded the lowest microbiological compliance at 67.7%.
Chemical compliance remains a major concern in the district, with only one system achieving acceptable levels.
“This reflects inadequate alignment of monitoring programmes with SANS 241:2015, creating serious health risks to consumers that must be urgently addressed. Technical skills across all supply systems are not adequately aligned with regulatory requirements, posing risks to effective operations and maintenance and ultimately undermining drinking water quality. Furthermore, none of the supply systems has Water Safety Plans aligned to SANS 241:2015 or WHO guidelines. The Water Safety Plan submitted was outdated and therefore non-compliant,” stated the Department.
Moreover, the Department has called for urgent intervention in uThukela, including improved data submission, stronger monitoring frameworks, staff training and the implementation of fully compliant Water Safety Plans across all systems.
The Blue Drop findings do not suggest that every water system in Northern KwaZulu-Natal is failing. In fact, several systems continue to operate within design capacity and show acceptable or strong microbiological compliance.
However, the reports do show that too many municipalities are still falling short on the systems that protect residents before problems become visible.
The most repeated issues are weak chemical monitoring, missing flow data, inadequate technical capacity, poor supervision and maintenance, and the absence of proper Water Safety Plans.
For ordinary residents, these findings matter because safe drinking water depends on more than treatment plants alone. It depends on regular testing, accurate records, trained staff, functioning infrastructure, preventative maintenance and risk plans that identify problems before they reach households.
Without those controls, a system can appear stable while still carrying hidden weaknesses.
This is especially important in communities already dealing with water interruptions, ageing infrastructure, tanker dependence, low pressure and inconsistent municipal communication. Where monitoring is incomplete, residents are left with limited assurance about the quality and reliability of the water being supplied.
The findings now place renewed pressure on municipalities across Northern KwaZulu-Natal to move beyond promises and implement measurable corrective action.
As the Department of Water and Sanitation and Parliament continue to monitor compliance, residents will be looking for more than technical explanations.
They will want visible improvements, honest communication and proof that municipalities are strengthening the systems responsible for one of the most basic public services: safe, reliable drinking water.
What are your thoughts on all of this? Let us know below.
To get a full picture of how things are actually going, you need to look at the Green Drop and No Drop reports alongside all this data, that is where the real crisis lies for the region (I can speak definitively about Newcastle because I have done the research myself).
Having a [mostly] functional Water Treatment Plant and reticulation infrastructure is only part of the picture. The Green Drop Report is an embarrassment. But this is not limited to NKZN, this appears to me to be a nationwide issue, and honestly I think this country is in absolute shambles when it comes to Water and Wastewater Treatment, and every single person who has been a major decision maker over the last 10 years at least should be taken to task. But we can all only dream.
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To get a full picture of how things are actually going, you need to look at the Green Drop and No Drop reports alongside all this data, that is where the real crisis lies for the region (I can speak definitively about Newcastle because I have done the research myself).
Having a [mostly] functional Water Treatment Plant and reticulation infrastructure is only part of the picture. The Green Drop Report is an embarrassment. But this is not limited to NKZN, this appears to me to be a nationwide issue, and honestly I think this country is in absolute shambles when it comes to Water and Wastewater Treatment, and every single person who has been a major decision maker over the last 10 years at least should be taken to task. But we can all only dream.