HEALTH AND SANITATION
33
Livestrong . com
in any premise at any reasonable time . A legal framework can only be effective if it is enforced . Every municipality should have a trained group of people who inspect water services and plumbing installations to ensure that these comply with both national and local legislation . This is currently not the case , as municipalities do not have appointed water inspector .
SANS 10252 and SANS 10254 are not written in the format of SANS 10400 . Both need to be rewritten into SANS 10400 in order to be part and parcel of the building regulation set . This will de facto provide building control officers with the mandate and platform to enforce it .
In one hand , it may not be a bad thing that South Africa has no direct language in the national building codes referring to RWH . This has enabled , over the past decades , local governments to regulate more freely . On the other hand , it faces serious challenges with respect to monitoring compliance with and enforcing contraventions of these bylaws due to the fact that they do not have the capacity to enforce them .
Nevertheless , it is evident that the enabling environment or the general legal framework of national , provincial and municipal policies , legislations and regulations ; as well as the institutional arrangements of RWH are lacking behind . The question still remains of whether or not RWH has to be regulated and to which levels it should be regulated .
To permit the expansion of RWH in rural and remote areas that still rely on reservoirs , pools , stagnant waters , and rivers as their primary water source , the practice should remain largely unregulated . Largely , because both isolated and dual RWH systems , there must be compliance to the relevant chapters of SANS 10400 .
The users have to understand that the water harvested cannot be used for domestic consumption without prior treatment , using the appropriate household ’ s water treatment technology . Dual-mode rainwater harvesting system , where the water harvested is to be integrated with an existing reticulated system to ensure the perennial supply for non-potable and potable uses , have to be regulated .
INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS Institutions are commonly defined as the ‘ rules of the game ’, including norms , beliefs , values , habits , and behaviour . They include both formal and informal arrangements , ranging from local to global level , and may give rise to compliance or resistance . The lack of a national umbrella body to coordinate RWH continues to hamper its expansion and makes the collaboration between the various players very difficult . These comprise non-governmental organisation and
In terms of design and construction , RWH infrastructure must be consistent with the National Building Regulations ’ ( NBR ) SANS 10400 .
Continued on page 35 >>
www . plumbingafrica . co . za January 2018 Volume 23 I Number 11