This research study addresses the problem of whether local government can afford free basic water in rural areas. To achieve this objective a comprehensive literature study was performed, which included: · Lessons in water sector approaches from international experience and how these experiences compare with the South African situation. 1.The current basic water supply legislation in South Africa and how this legislation affects the subsidy arrangements and the financing of free basic water. 2.The operation and maintenance cost and the benefits of effective operation and maintenance of water supply schemes. A model was developed that could estimate the cost of rural water supply per household per month from the operation and maintenance data that was collected over a period of twenty-two months from a water supply scheme. As part of the provision of free basic water, a nine-step flow chart was developed to determine rural water operation and maintenance subsidy and a free basic water policy to help local government make informed decisions. The model was tested on different water supply schemes to verify the accuracy of the models estimation of the cost of rural water supply per household per month. The information obtained from the literature and from the test of the model resulted in various recommendations and conclusions.

Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2011 / Water shortage is a global problem. While other people in some parts of the world maybe enjoying enough supply of water others are faced with water shortage. South Africa is not an exception in this regard because some do not have access to water but rely on distance conveyance. Government is under constitutional obligation to supply this basic social and economic service. This study, therefore, aimed at investigating the causes of water shortage and the impact thereof on the household of Ga-Kgapane Township in Limpopo Province. This township falls under Greater Letaba Municipality in Modjadjiskloof. The data collected from four sections/localities of this Township showed that the area has a serious problem of water shortage. The lack of water according to the findings negatively affects the livelihoods and development of the people of Ga-Kgapane Township.

Thesis (MTech (Civil Engineering))--Peninsula Technikon, 2004. / When considering water treatment in small rural and peri-urban communities, sustainability is one of the most important factors to be considered. Sustainability needs to be considered from financial, technological and socio-political perspectives. The major problems with sustainability of conventional small water treatment systems are the difficulty of controlling chemical treatment processes, especially when the raw water quality changes, and the production of substandard quality water. Another very important problem is lack of community involvement, especially over the longer term. The acceptance of new technologies by the community is of crucial importance in ensuring successful water supply projects. The anticipation of more stringent drinking water quality regulations and decrease in adequate water sources have brought membrane separation processes such as microfiltration and ultrafiltration on the advantage for potable water supply to rural and peri-urban areas. Membrane processes have the advantage of production of superior quality water and addition of fewer chemicals in the treatment process. The pUIpose of this study was to further investigate the potential of ultrafiltration capillary membranes as a one-step membrane water treatment system for potable water supply to developing communities. To successfully transfer a technology to a particular community, the technology must be suitable and acceptable and a social study was therefore also done to understand the social acceptance factors that govern the acceptance of these new technologies.

Community-based approaches are of fundamental importance in the development of rural water supply and sanitation. Three case studies demonstrate that, by means of negotiation, need assessment, community participation, community-based management and appropriate technology, a reasonable degree of success can be achieved in providing an adequate and safe drinking water supply to most unserved communities. The research also shows that necessary negotiations with the government are often more complex and time-consuming than those with the community itself. Either the weight of bureaucratic processes or the lack of capacity and willingness on the part of the government to implement small-scale water projects using community-based approaches, were the reasons for the complexity of negotiations in one case study. It was also found that self-initiated projects with strong back-up support from development agencies are more successful than are projects initiated from outside. It was also noticed that community-based management is feasible and that it can lead to sustainable development. / Sociology / M.A (Social Science)

Submitted in fulfillment for the requirements of the degree of Master of Technology: Chemical Engineering,Durban University of Technology. Durban. South Africa, 2015. / Access to safe drinking water supply is still a major problem especially in remote rural areas of developing countries. These communities rely solely on untreated surface and ground waters for survival due to the lack of financial resources to provide access to piped water. The consumption of this water in turn makes them easily susceptible to water related diseases. Hence, there is a need for an interim solution while the government is still sourcing funds for the distribution of water to these communities. Membrane filtration is a promising technology for the treatment of surface water as it does not alter the taste or smell of the end product. The main limitation for the implementation of membrane technology in rural areas is still energy demand, fouling and the skills required for membrane cleaning. Biological ultrafiltration is an emerging technology that produces water of high quality in terms of turbidity, organics and bacteria removal. The technology has been evaluated using a gravity driven dead-end mode on European waters and it offered acceptable stabilisation of fluxes for extended periods without any chemical cleaning or backwashing. This is a promising technology which can be implemented to act as an interim solution for the treatment of surface water in remote rural areas prior to consumption. This study concerns the evaluation of a biological ultrafiltration membrane system on local three South African rivers, namely, Tugela River, Umbilo River and Umgeni River. A laboratory systems comprising of a feed tank and six membrane modules connected in parallel was set up to assess the performance of a bio-UF membrane on a range of surface waters. The performance was assessed on the system’s ability to produce stable fluxes from the three rivers, the system ability to produce water with acceptable quality in terms of SANS 241:2011 for turbidity, TOC, total coliforms and E-coli. The membranes were initial cleaned and the flux rates for ultra-pure water were determined for each membrane prior to being exposed to raw water. Raw water samples were collected from three rivers with varying turbidity, total coliforms and organics. The concentrations of these contaminants were tested prior to running the raw water through the system. Thereafter, permeate was collected with time and its quality was evaluated in terms of turbidity, TOC and coliforms. The impacts of algae on flux stabilisation were evaluated by allowing the bio-UF system to run for a minimum of 3 months with and without algae growth. The system was found to be able to produce water that is compliant with the SANS 241:2011 standard in terms of turbidity, total coliforms, E-coli and TOC concentration. The system was also found to be unable to produce stable fluxes for all three rivers. The observed responses were noted to be similar to normal dead-end response, however, a slow declining flux rates was observed for Umgeni River. The presence of algae during the operation was a bio-UF membrane system was noted to further decrease the rate of flux decline. There appears to be a correlation between the raw water quality and the rate of flux decline. A further investigation was carried out aimed at assessing the relationship between the concentration of bacterial counts, TOC and turbidity. From the obtained results, it was noted that feed water with low turbidity (≤ 5 NTU), high bacterial count (≥30 000) and high total organic carbon (≥70 mg/L) is able to reduce the rate of flux decline. Hence, it can be concluded that a dead-end gravity driven Bio-UF membrane system can be used for the treatment of surface water in remote where the most main contaminants are from natural organic matter, micro-organisms and turbidity. Furthermore, it is able to produce slower declining flux rates which will increase the filter run time. It is recommended that the impacts of algae, type of bacteria and organics that enable slow decline in flux rates during the operation of Bio-UF should be investigated in order to identify means of enhancing the flux rates. Microfiltration membranes are available on the local markets hence it is also recommended that the performance of Bio-UF should be evaluated in comparison to Bio-MF.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Science, 2004.

Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2016. / This study reports on water service delivery and it is a research that was undertaken in the Greater Giyani Municipality situated in Mopani District of Limpopo Province of the Republic of South Africa (RSA). The main aim of the study is to present the community’s perception on water service delivery challenges facing municipalities in the RSA and to make recommendations towards the development of both the community and the municipality. The motivation for this research was an upsurge in water delivery protests throughout South Africa and some of these protests have resulted in an unfortunate killing of citizens in the country during 2012, 2013 and 2014. In order to accomplish the aim of the study, several objectives were addressed. In the first part of the study, a literature review and identification of the context within which water is rendered in Greater Giyani Municipality is explained. The thesis then presents findings from the survey and an evaluation of the community perceptions of the quality of water service delivery. Following the survey report are the findings from the interviews held with municipal managers. From these combined findings recommendations are made towards water service delivery improvement. Both qualitative and quantitative research approaches were used in the study. A questionnaire collected data from eighty five (85) participants (households) of Kremetart Township. Following the community survey, interviews were held with eight (8) municipal officials within the Greater Giyani Municipality. Respondents from the community (households) were randomly sampled, while municipal officials were purposefully sampled to represent those responsible for water service delivery. The questionnaire distributed to community members comprised of both closed and open ended questions with completion duration of 30 minutes. Semi-Structured interviews were used to derive an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon from the municipal officials. Major findings arising from the community survey are that clean water, sanitation, aging pipelines, lack of infrastructure and free basic services were the main service delivery challenges. However, from the municipal officials, issues of maladministration appeared more prevalent. The issue of maladministration emanates from the confusion of duties and functions between councillors and the council officials. Also of concern from the officials are issues of community engagement. The last area of concern raised by both the community and the municipal officials is payment for services. Whilst the municipal issues are centred on old infrastructure, the communities’ issues weigh more on payment of inadequate and unreliable services. The study makes several recommendations to the municipality, which if addressed, may improve service delivery and lead to positive perceptions by the community and towards significant development of the town. In order to overcome the challenge of service delivery, municipalities may consider prioritising capacity building, ensure that staff are recruited and employed on the basis of merit and also ensure that public participation is not hindered, especially functionality of ward committee structures.

Thesis (M.A. (Agricultural Economics))--University of Limpopo (Turfloop Campus), 2011. / The main aim of the study was to analyse the impact of improved water access for both domestic and productive uses on human development. The study was conducted in three villages in the Letsoalo-Sekororo community within the Mopani District Municipality in the Maruleng Local Municipality around the banks of the Olifants River in Limpopo Province, South Africa. The study used a total sample of 59 participants representing 40 households, 16 key informants. Three focus group discussions were held. Various variables for the households were selected and analysed using logistic regression. The method of agreement was used for key informants as well as for focus group discussions. The results from the logistic regression indicated that household size and quantity of water consumed by an individual per household was found to be showing a positive relationship to improved water access. Cattle ownership and household’s monthly income were found to be showing a negative relationship to improved water access. The results also indicated that other people’s private yard taps are the water source which showed a negative relationship to improved water access. The variable food availability throughout the year, showed a positive relationship to improved water access. Water related disease showed a negative relationship to improved water access. The results of method of agreement indicated that there are many challenges faced by the key informants. These challenges were because of the poor water reticulations and the fact that other households were unable to make their connections due to lack of a money. vii The study recommends that the Department of Water Affairs and the Maruleng Local Municipality should continue their efforts of getting enough and safe water fir the Letsoalo- Sekororo communities. Once that is done these communities will be able to get involved in income generating activities. / French Embassy through the Centre for Rural Community Empowerment

Thesis (M.Dev.) -- University of Limpopo, 2011 / The legacy of apartheid has left the Democratic South African government with many challenges. Sixteen years of governance have not been enough for the state to close the gap between the rich and the poor. Instead, the gap is widening day by day. The Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) and other government intervention strategies have not done enough to uplift the standard of living of the majority of people in the country. The poor, living in rural areas, remain the most hard-hit and recipients of the bitter fruits of the past. Little or no development has been taking place in their communities. Regardless of the many efforts by the current government, water supply and sanitation in rural areas are a nightmare. The study was conducted in two rural villages in Bushbuckridge Local Municipality (BLM), namely, Clare B and Islington. In some parts of the villages residents have never fetched water in their streets less than one kilometre for close to a year. The results show that villagers are negatively affected by the lack of water in their communities. The economic power of these communities is very low, most of them are living below the poverty line. The results suggest, as elsewhere, that the BLM should install water pipes that will transfer water from the Injaka Dam to all rural areas in the municipality, as the two villages under study are not the only ones experiencing water shortages in the area.

Thesis (MPA.) --University of Limpopo, 2007 / The aim of this inquiry was to analyze the role played by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry in service delivery, i.e. supply water in the northern region of the Limpopo Province. Not much research has been conducted in this field especially in the Limpopo Province. Public Services are not a privilege in a civilized and democratic society, but are a legitimate expectation. Hence, meeting the basic needs of all citizens is one of the five key programmes of the government’s Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). From the literature review, it was evident that service delivery is essential in the communities, and, as such, government departments and municipalities have a critical role to play. The study also aimed to examine the problems and challenges the community faced during the construction of the community development programme. It reflected on the importance of consultation, project management and even feedback as a point of departure in showing both to the department and the municipality the attitudes and perceptions of communities and their level of satisfaction with regard to the effectiveness of service delivery. In order to achieve this goal, an interview was conducted with various interviewees. The participants ranged from the youth to the elderly citizens in the community, and the government officials. The main patterns that emerged from the collected data related to the dissatisfaction of the community about the lack of consultation. It would be advisable for government, especially municipalities, to take cognizance of the results and concerns in an effort to improve and ensure the effective service delivery as stipulated in the Reconstruction and Development Programme document. / Limpopo Legislature