Water quality management in South Africa is currently fragmented and siloed in the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) and across various government departments, consultancy firm Pegasys consultant Traci Reddy said.

“Government needs to integrate and consolidate the way water quality management is being done in South Africa,” she said during an integrated water management symposium, hosted by the DWS, in Centurion, on Wednesday.

She noted that the main aim of the Integrated Water Quality Management (IWQM) policy was to foreground water quality and water quality management across government and the private sector, as well as formalise and institutionalise a common approach to water quality management in South Africa.

“A consistent inter-departmental approach to how water quality is managed in the country needs to be supported, along with cooperative and integrated approaches to water quality management across various sectors,” she said.

Reddy added that addressing operational aspects in taking such an integrated approach included broadening finance mechanisms and improving knowledge and information in the execution of the water quality management function, which was a key focus of the IWQM.

“Providing a framework to realise improvements in water quality is important to the development of the IWQM strategy and resulting implementation plan.”

She pointed out that government was still in the development phase of the implementation plan to support the policy.

“In terms of implementation, there are a number of key issues that need to be introduced. Because of the current fragmented approach, there are also fragmented institutional approaches to water quality management,” she said.

Reddy noted that government would, this year, focus on consolidating knowledge and what is needed in terms of tools, systems and people development.

“We want to ensure that there is a water quality management champion within the [DWS] and across the sector, which is lacking.”