This study is based on investigation into the role of the North West Water supply (which changed the name to Botshelo Water Board during the period of study in water service delivery management in municipalities. The case of Mafikeng Central District municipality. The major findings area as follows: In South Africa the role of regional water supply services providers, typically water boards, is changing. Historically they were established with the primary function of supplying large urban canters with bulk water. Their emphasis has thus been on developing and running large, technically complex systems. Most importantly they have generally been selling bulk water to financially strong municipalities. With the new imperative to rapidly increase the provision of water services to all South Africans, these regional services providers are facing new challenges of management integration and provision of 6 kl free basic water to poor of the poorest in our country. The South African White Paper on Water and Sanitation policy proposed that Local Authorities to take over the functions of water provision and sanitation services. There is an urgent need to co-ordinate local development needs and integrate them into optimal development and operation plans . at regional level which will take advantage for involving all parties affected. The Water Service Act of (1997) defines the roles for various parties involved in water service delivery and will have a profound impact on the relationship between the parties. The Act recommended that close working relationship between water boards and local authorities must be maintained. Chapter 3 of the Constitution describes Government in South Africa as consisting of National, Provincial and Municipal Spheres which are not only distinctive but also interdependent and interrelated. It provides that all spheres of Government and all · organs of State must trust and good faith by co-ordinating their actions and legislation with each other. Co-operative governance and integration are not only policy matters they are constitutionally mandated. The recommendation from this study is that, awareness campaign be made in the areas to encourage people to pay for services and take responsibility for meter reading on their own like it is happening in Denmark. In Denmark each household reads its own meters for both water and electricity and. submits the readings to the municipality for billing. As a result the municipality did not employ special meter readers thus saves on salaries. Greater resource allocation is made to cover the shortfalls experienced due to lack of management capacity and other resources that would enable Central District municipality to run the functions on their own. Capacity building and support for professionals be streamline on the current Botshelo Water staff for future absorption by municipality. Promotion of community based development be continued to encourage community ownership on water management functions. This could be done through the formation of water committees associations. While community-based approaches are now accepted as the norm, the necessary capacity to support them in most cases does not generally exist at higher levels (National, district and local) and central needs to look at this. If the municipal cannot handle these functions on its own, then joint venture, synergy, merger and acquisition of all affected institution be considered. / (MBA) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2005

In recent years South Africa has experienced numerous service delivery protests. These protests are a result of the lack of delivery of basic services such as water and sanitation (amongst others). To address this, local governments have taken part in benchmarking initiatives (National Benchmarking Initiative, Municipal Benchmarking Initiative) and regulation programmes (BlueDrop,GreenDrop) in an effort to improve the quality of potable water and sanitation services. The latter of these focuses on the quality of the water services delivered and neither focus on the efficiency with which this delivery is achieved. This study uses both nonparametric (data envelopment analysis) aswell as parametric (stochastic frontier) methods to assess the efficiency of water service provision in South Africa over a six year period from 2005 to 2010. Subsequently, the method which is most suited for use in the South African context is proposed. In addition, this study demonstrates how these methods can be used to determine the effectiveness of benchmarking initiatives, namely the National Benchmarking Initiative, in improving the efficiency of water service provision. Furthermore, additional insight into the selection ofm in them out of n bootstrap procedure for efficiency evaluations is established through a simulation study. The inclusion of efficiency evaluations into South African benchmarking initiatives provides new and important insight into the standard of water service delivery. As such, the techniques used in this study illustrate how efficiency analysis can enhance benchmarking initiatives in South Africa.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science in Engineering, 2019 / Water is the basic necessity for all living organisms. About, five million people specifically children are dying each year due to dehydration or use of toxin infected water around the world. In South Africa approximately seventeen percent of the population do not have access to safe drinking water. Considering all of these challenges it is evident that monitoring the quality of water is important for providing safe and clean water. Several researchers have shown that the parameters related to the quality of drinking water can be monitored effectively in the field. To accurately determine the quality of water it needs to be tested for many parameters. Measuring all possible parameters can be a daunting task. It is very costly and time consuming at the same time. There is also research available in which researchers have proposed remote monitoring of water quality based on fewer parameters in a given water sample to conclude whether or not the given sample was safe for drinking. This has met with limited success. There is however very limited or no scientific evidence available to validate the effectiveness of the selected fewer parameters to determine the quality of drinking water. The research presented in this dissertation proposes a list of fewer parameters that are monitored to determine the quality of water. The effectiveness of those parameters in determining the quality of drinking water has been verified by conducting a detailed analysis on a number of water samples in a laboratory environment. The research has also proposed a system that is capable of monitoring those parameters remotely. This enables the water supplying authorities to determine the basic quality of water without testing it in the laboratory environment resulting in a decreased time and lower cost. / TL (2020)

This study explores views behind the failure of water supply projects to achieve sustainability, primarily from the 'users' perspective, and at a secondary level from the perspective of the government/funders. One completed water supply project was selected as a case study for the research project. The overriding principle behind the water infrastructure delivery programme is that the service must be provided in a sustainable manner, and that the community must actively participate and be involved in all the phases of the project. The provision of water is not simply as it might look. In reality it is a complex process, which involves a number of organisations with different, yet important roles and responsibilities. Ongoing collaboration is important among these organisations if the service is to be provided efficiently and in a sustainable manner. In particular, local government has a Constitutional obligation to provide services to all consumers in an efficient, affordable, economical and sustainable manner. The National and Provincial governments, however, have a number of responsibilities in the field of water services. Semi-structured interview method was used to collect data from respondents. Two sets of interview schedules were developed, one for the community/water project committee members, and the other for the government officials. The data collected was analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively. This analysis enabled the researcher to draw findings, make conclusions and propose recommendations. The findings and conclusions of the study point to lack of clarity on roles and responsibilities; gender and cultural constraints; and, poor training and capacity and building of the community as being some of the reasons for the failure of the project. The recommendations proposed entail, inter alia, massive community mobilisation and awareness creation programmes; improvement in levels of the service; adoption of a gender-sensitive approach to project development; and, implementation of a training and capacity building process in the community in order to 'revitalise' the project. The study has merely focussed on one water project and sets the scene for further exploration of the subject. It certainly highlights some critical issues around sustainability of water projects, and hopefully will contribute towards the ongoing debate in this area.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering, 2016 / The Newcastle Local Municipality (NLM) has been experiencing water supply interruptions since 2010 due to high demand. Between June 2011 to December 2011, water losses ranged from 49% to 62% (about 23 to 30 megalitres per day) in Madadeni and Osizweni townships (Newcastle East). The suburban areas (i.e. Newcastle West) also experienced water interruptions due to collapsing and/or aging infrastructure. About a thousand households in Madadeni were involved in this study to find the cause of the high water losses. Awareness campaigns, repairing household leaks, installation of intelligent meters and the increase of free basic water in indigent households from 6kℓ to 12kℓ per month reduced water losses from about 246 kℓ to 177kℓ per month. If similar Water Conservation (WC) and Water Demand Management (WDM) could be rolled out to the 35 000 households in the NLM and similar results to those in Madadeni are attained, conservative water saving of about 21Mℓ per day could be achieved. This would reduce the demand on the Ngagane Water Treatment Works (WTW) by 20%. / CK2018

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. Johannesburg, August 2016 / Monitoring the status and abundance of mammals, as well as establishing threats to biodiversity in different areas, is an essential management requirement in protected areas. Monitoring mammal species can assist in determining species interactions, patterns of behaviour and is important for further research, policy and management strategies. Water provision has implications for the preservation of wildlife, and is thus a management concern. Numerous studies monitoring mammal water utilisation patterns have employed traditional data collection methods, which are restricted primarily to diurnal observation during specific time intervals. Given the projected future impacts of global climate change on regional water availability, it is essential to investigate current water usage by mammals in the Kruger National Park (KNP), so as to better ascertain likely future water requirements under climate change scenarios. The use of remote photography for scientific observation, investigation and monitoring has many potential benefits, and an innovative and relatively new method through which one can observe mammal water source visitation patterns, is through the use webcams. There has been comparatively little research on mammal water requirements and visitation patterns at water provisioning sites using remote photography as a data collection method. Further to this, there is a gap in our knowledge concerning how daily climate variables (viz. temperature and rainfall) and astronomical conditions control water source visitation patterns at the finer temporal scale. This research primarily contributes to understanding contemporary water source visitation patterns and how this will influence future management decisions. At a broader scale, determining recent visitation patterns is critical in the context of projected future climatic changes and the associated water requirements for mammals of KNP. Webcam images were obtained for the period March 2012 - March 2014, captured at two artificial water sources in the central KNP. A clear divide is exhibited between herbivore and carnivore visitation patterns, with herbivores exhibiting exclusively diurnal patterns and carnivores’ nocturnal patterns. Significant relationships with Tavg intervals demonstrate that the majority of herbivores are shifting their visitation periods earlier in the day per 5°C increase in mean daily temperature, while the majority of carnivores are shifting their visitation periods later in the night per 5°C increase in mean daily temperature, however there is variability of species responses across the two study sites. Under the highest Tavg interval (30°C - 35°C) impala, warthog, southern giraffe, African buffalo and plains zebra exhibit a shift to earlier visitation by 1 – 6 hours, forcing them to utilise the water sources outside of their preferred temporal range. The influence of the timing of rainfall events indicates that the mean number of individual species sightings is significantly larger on days before rainfall compared to days after rainfall. The study highlights that waterdependent herbivores utilise the artificial water sources in relative proportion to their abundance in the central KNP, while water-independent herbivores are avoiding these artificial water sources. The findings of this research could be used to supplement current water provisioning guidelines and plan for water provisioning efforts in future. / TG2016

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Sc.Eng.)-University of Durban-Westville, 2001.

Thesis (D.Phil.)--Rhodes University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 189-207).

The sustainability of South Africa municipal water services provision is being challenged by the desire of government to extend high quality services from a relatively small portion of the population to the whole. Evidence of failures in delivery are mounting and many reasons for this have been identified, including a lack of political will at local government levels, low budget priority, insufficient capital, lack of capacity and skill and flawed tariff and accounting structures. This study generates new perspectives by surveying selected but representative, South African municipalities in their capacities as water service authorities (WSAs) on a range of financial sustainability issues – including cost burden on users, cross sub-subsidisation and cost calculations to set tariffs. The study is part of a wider investigation into the setting of tariffs that cover costs and satisfy demand, funded and advised by the Water Research Commission (WRC). The conclusions and recommendations of WRC Project K3/2087 (Hosking, 2011b) are to address: 1. The choice of water service provider, including the private utility option; 2. Market vulnerabilities in water service provision under alternate models of supply; 3. The determination and realisation of full cost recovery; 4. Demand responsiveness/sensitivity of local government supply; 5. The increasing block tariff (IBT) tariff structure; and 6. Abuse of dominance in the market process. Given the limited perspective (i.e. a focus on WSAs), some important national water sustainability issues are given less prominence, e.g. raw water availability and national government capacity to subsidise water service delivery. The key water service sustainability elements on which attention was focused in this study are: • Backlogs in the water service coverage and infrastructure rehabilitation and maintenance. • Standard of water service indicators. • Relative importance of the provision of water services in water service authorities’ strategy and implementation (including budget and risk). • Adequacy of skills to provide a sustainable water service. • Budgeting and planning for the sustainability of the water service. • Adequacy of the costing and tariff setting nexus, with particular attention paid to method and principle. A survey was used to elicit information from selected municipalities (Chapter Four). The municipalities which formed part of the sample and were surveyed were: 1. Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality; 2. Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality; 3. eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality; 4. Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality; 5. Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality; 6. George Municipality; 7. uMhlathuze (Richards Bay) Municipality; 8. Steve Tshwete (Middleburg) Municipality; 9. Kouga Municipality; 10. Sol Plaatjie (Kimberley) Municipality; 11. Polokwane Municipality; 12. Stellenbosch Municipality; 13. Overstrand Municipality; 14. Midvaal Municipality; and 15. Amathole District Municipality.

South Africa’s private sector and the practice of using market processes are often dismissed by the government as service providing options, because they increase costs and fail the poor population. There is some substance to the government’s position, given that there is a natural monopoly advantage in water service provision. Under these circumstances it could be expected that a single firm would emerge as dominant in the provision of these services to urban customers. Were this firm a private one, and unregulated, it could be expected to practice exploitative pricing, make excess profits, and undersupply waste water management service. A private firm would also not provide services to the poor unless their service was subsidised. However most of these deficiencies can be regulated (as shown in Chapter Four), and also occur under public sector provision (as shown in Chapter Five) Are the private sector failures sufficient reason to abandon the market and private sector as mechanisms to deliver water service in South Africa? This dissertation finds little use is made of market processes and the private sector in water service provision (Chapter One), despite there being legal provision for such involvement (Chapter Two). It also finds that public water service providers are not subject to competition policy and consumer protection provisions, whereas private sector providers would be (Chapter Three). The administration of questionnaires to municipalities and the Department of Water Affairs (DWA) show that the various water service providers often operate under unique circumstances, making it difficult to extrapolate management insights from one municipality to another (Chapter Six). A case study on Nelson Mandela Bay Municipal tariff setting reveals a mismatch between economic principle and policy practice, and suggests that economic principle plays a lesser role in the design of tariff structures than other factors (Chapter Seven). Given the problems that are occurring in public sector water service provision, the dissertation concludes the case for dismissing private sector or public utility models for water service delivery may be weaker than is believed by the South African government.