Nearly half of all treated water pushed into South Africa’s municipal systems generates no revenue.

This is according to the most recent No Drop progress report, released by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) this week, which measures water losses, non-revenue water, and water-use efficiency across the country.

The report found national non-revenue water at 47.3% of system input volume. That means nearly half of treated water put into municipal systems is either lost through leaks, unbilled, or never properly paid for.

The DWS’s main measure of municipal water system risk is the No Drop Risk Ratio (NDRR). It combines two broad things: whether municipalities are operating within the level of water they are authorised to abstract or receive, and how they perform on key indicators such as water losses, non-revenue water, and water-use efficiency.

Forty-six municipalities, or 32%, were found to be in a critical state, while another nine, or 6%, fell into the high-risk category. In the report’s terms, a critical state means urgent intervention is needed across all major aspects of water loss and water-use efficiency. High risk means the system is not yet at that point, but requires targeted intervention to prevent further deterioration.

South Africa’s overall national NDRR was classified as medium risk.

The report also notes that 25 of the country’s 144 water services authorities did not participate at all. In practical terms, that means government does not have a current reported picture of water losses, billing performance, or system efficiency for roughly one in every six authorities responsible for supplying water.

The collapse in water infrastructure is as much of a threat, if not more, to South Africa’s economy and the health and well-being of its people than the load-shedding crisis was. While there has been some turnaround in South Africa’s energy sector, partly due to government intervention, and partly due to private sector investments in solar and wind energy generation facilities, for example, this may not be possible to replicate for the water sector.

Fixing South Africa’s water crisis will not begin with new supply, but with restoring basic competence.