Question NW4595 to the Minister of Water and Sanitation

Reply:

1. Part 9 of the National Water Act, Act 36 of 1998 addresses the review and renewal of licenses, and the amendment and substitution of conditions of licenses. Water treatment package plants, either for drinking water treatment or for wastewater treatment, usually have a design capacity range of between 1-2ML/day. This capacity range is small and has a low impact compared to the conventional larger water treatment plants. Lower-risk water uses are generally authorized through Part 6: Section 39 (General Authorization) of the National Water Act, depending on the sensitivity of the catchment. Licenses are issued for larger treatment plants. The table below provides a summary of regulatory requirements for wastewater treatment and drinking water treatment package plants.

Legal requirements	Wastewater Treatment Package plants	Drinking Water Treatment Package Plants
Water use authorization required	General Authorization for wastewater discharge. Most privately owned plants discharge into the municipal sewer systems and are regulated through Municipal by-laws.	General Authorization for abstraction Storage (where applicable)
Common design Capacity	1-2Ml/day	1-2ML/day
Monitoring for compliance	Part of Green Drop	Part of Blue Drop
Mandate	DWS and Water Services Authorities	DWS and Local government as Water Services Authorities

Measures taken by the Department to ensure the compliance of water treatment package plants between 2018 and 2022 include:

1. The revival of the Green and Blue Drop certification programs
2. Monitoring action plans for non-compliant systems
3. Enforcement actions
4. Review of the norms and standards for drinking water
5. Confirmation of general authorizations for new plants
6. As part of the license conditions, package plants are mandated to submit to the DWS, monthly water quality analysis which should be in line with the applicable limits for each parameter analysed.

2. (a) The Water Services Act, Act 08 of 1997 does not make provisions for penalties. However, the DWS carries out audits to monitor compliance and implements enforcement actions to rectify contraventions related to non-compliance to the conditions of authorizations.

(b) The Department is monitoring compliance of package plants as provided for by legislation. The department undertakes audits as part of regular monitoring activities and where there is non-compliance, issues Notices or Directives to the owners of the package plant. In some cases, investigations are triggered by reports of suspected cases of non-compliance which are followed up by the department. Where administrative enforcement actions are implemented, the department monitors to ensure full compliance with the conditions of authorisations.

The table below indicates instances where the Department has undertaken compliance monitoring audits and investigations triggered by complaints received and the subsequent administrative actions to address non-compliances.

Table 2: Compliance monitoring audits, inspections conducted, and enforcement actions taken

Activities and administrative action taken	Activities and administrative action taken	Activities and administrative action taken	Activities and administrative action taken	Activities and administrative action taken
2022	2021	2020	2019	2018
3x audits and 1x inspection undertaken in Eastern Cape i.e. Mzimvubu / Tsitsikamma	4x audits and 1x inspection undertaken in Eastern Cape i.e. Mzimvubu / Tsitsikamma	1x inspection and 2x audits undertaken in Eastern Cape i.e. Mzimvubu / Tsitsikamma	2x inspections and 1x audit undertaken in Eastern Cape i.e. Mzimvubu / Tsitsikamma	2x inspections undertaken in Eastern Cape i.e. Mzimvubu / Tsitsikamma
2x Notices issued	3x Notices issued	2x Notices issued	3x Notices issued	2x Notices issued
-	3x Directives issued	1x Directive issued	-	-
Complaints received and investigated
1x complaint received from Limpopo regional office (i.e. Limpopo WMA)	2x complaints received from North- West and KwaZulu Natal regional office (i.e. Pongola/Mtamvuna and Limpopo WMA)	3x complaints received from North-West and Limpopo regional office (i.e. Limpopo WMA)	-	-
1x Investigation undertaken	2x investigations undertaken	3x investigations undertaken	-	-
1x Notice issued	Both cases were recommended for administrative action	3x Directives were issued	-	-

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