GEORGE NEWS - The Department of Water and Sanitation's (DWS) Blue Drop evaluation is looming, and George Municipality is more than ready for it.
The Blue Drop Programme was established to encourage continued progress and to acknowledge excellence in drinking water services management in South Africa. This year's programme is set to start in September.
The Blue Drop and Green Drop Certification programmes are forms of incentive-based regulation (IBR), pioneered by the South African Water Sector since 2008.
The programme focuses on improvement in performance, compliance and efficiency.
State of readiness
Deputy Director of Water and Sanitation in Civil Engineering Services, Deon de Jager, said George has all its ducks in a row and is ready to be evaluated.
"Blue Drop certification is intended to monitor the drinking water quality supplied to consumers countrywide. Both water quality and administrative aspects are combined in this certification," said De Jager.
"The first-round assessments for the upcoming Blue Drop evaluations are scheduled for September. After the first-round evaluations, the DWS will, if necessary, allow the George Municipality to implement and report on corrective measures to be implemented, to enable the municipality to correct and submit the required information."
De Jager said that the draft water safety plans have been completed and that the water treatment process audits are underway. George Municipality is assisted by IX Engineers and Chris Swartz consultants.
"All relevant personnel reporting to DWS have been registered on the IRIS reporting system. The George Municipal Water Treatment and Laboratory sections are working around the clock to ensure that we comply with all legislative requirements as set out by the DWS.
"Furthermore, the George Municipality is in the process of performing process audits on all its raw and potable water pump stations, towers, and storage reservoirs."
The Blue Drop Programme encourages continued progress and acknowledges excellence in drinking water services.
Green Drop Certification
Green Drop Certification is awarded to wastewater systems that obtain scores of 90% when compared against the criteria set for wastewater management. This encourages water services authorities to strive for improvement in their management of waste water as part of the incentive-based regulation approach.
A system that achieved less than 31% is regarded as a dysfunctional system that would require appropriate interventions.
The next Green Drop evaluation is scheduled for 2023 (dates to be confirmed by the DWS). In the meantime, the George Municipality is updating its waste water risk abatement plans and waste water treatment process audits.
The municipality has also appointed an external professional services provider to evaluate all sewer pump stations in the George municipal area. All of this contributes to the evaluation criteria.
George municipal water treatment and laboratory sections are working around the clock to ensure compliance with legislation.
What is the No Drop Programme?
The Department of Water and Sanitation developed the No Drop Programme to draw attention to and encourage progress in water use efficiency and water loss / non-revenue water management in the South African municipal sector.
No Drop Certification means that a municipality is accomplished in its water conservation and water demand management practice and receives public accolade and acknowledgement of its excellence in water supply management against a set of strict criteria.
No Drop has been developed in a similar framework to the Blue Drop (drinking water quality) and Green Drop (waste water management) in 2013, followed by a partial roll-out to all non-metro municipalities in 2014 and a full roll-out to all eight metropolitan municipalities in 2014/15.
The No Drop evaluations form part of the Blue Drop evaluations.
The water treatment process audits are underway at the George Municipality.
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