The 2025 Green Drop Report, released on 31 March, confirms what anyone living downwind of a broken treatment plant already suspects: the system is failing.
Of 848 wastewater treatment works assessed, 396 (47%) are now in a critical state, up from 39% in 2022.
Broaden the scope to include poorly performing plants, and 61% of all facilities are operating below the minimum required standard. Green Drop certifications (the gold standard of compliance) collapsed from 22 to just 14. Systems scoring “excellent” fell from 14% to 8%.
As concerning as the numbers are, the trajectory is even more troubling. Plants that were merely under-performing in 2022 have since deteriorated into outright failure.
The causes are structural: under investment, vandalism, organised crime targeting infrastructure, chronic municipal mismanagement, and a shortage of qualified technical staff.
Non-revenue water
Non-revenue water (water that enters the system but generates no income, whether through leaks, theft, or unbilled consumption) now sits at a national average of 47%. In Gauteng, that figure exceeds 49%.
Nearly a third of all municipalities are at critical risk for water efficiency. – moneyweb
