6 . What about the reporting of results ?
One of the cornerstones of successful regulation is the principle that ‘ the public must know ’. It is thus important for a regulator to be not only objective but also transparent at all times and publish results . The Blue Drop and Green Drop reports from 2009 to 2012 were published and disseminated on the DWS website , and handed out as printed copies at special national events where the results were announced with wide media coverage . Unfortunately , this good practice stopped in 2013 . After pressure in parliament , and numerous requests and threats by civil society organisations , the 2014 Blue Drop Report was loaded on the DWS website . This was only in February 2016 , and happened quietly and many months late . ( Only a very brief Executive summary for the 2013 Green Drop Report had been released , which provides a national picture but no details on individual performance .) The bottom line is , we as the public are unaware of the status of the water in our taps or the sewage discharged .
7 . What about steps taken by the regulator to ensure compliance ?
The follow-up actions on non-compliance have been lacking for many years now . One example : the 2013 Green Drop Report mentions several systems that had been issued ‘ Purple Drops ’ in 2013 . These 248 systems received scores of less than 30 % during 2013 , thereby earning the undesirable status of ‘ systems in crises ’. Systems in crises , therefore , represent a 30 % slice of all WWTWs regulated . It is doubtful if any action had been taken against any of these municipalities .
8 . What is our progress on drinking water quality ?
The sad reality is that when the DWS lost momentum on the BD and GD programmes , the municipalities also lost interest and went downhill — this is clear from Table 1 , where total BD scores showed a steady improvement over four years from 25 to a high total of 98 in 2012 , dropping dramatically to 44 in 2014 . The national BD score went down as well .
Graphical representation of the number of Blue Drops awarded over a five-year period .
Table 1 Category |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2014 |
National Blue Drop Score |
51.4 % |
67.2 % |
72.9 % |
87.6 % |
79.6 % |
Number of systems assessed |
402 |
787 |
914 |
931 |
1036 |
Number of Blue Drops awarded |
25 |
38 |
66 |
98 |
44 |