Free tools · Drinking water · Eastern Cape
Is the tap water safe in East London (Buffalo City)?
The government’s latest official rating puts all 10 drinking-water systems in Buffalo City at low or medium risk. It’s the Department of Water and Sanitation’s Blue Drop risk assessment of 2024, published in March 2026. Buffalo City includes East London, Qonce, King William’s Town, Bhisho and Mdantsane.
This is the government’s latest official assessment (published in March 2026, on data from July 2023 to June 2024), not a live test of your tap water or a guarantee that it’s safe.
- 0 of 10Drinking-water systems at high or critical riskBlue Drop risk 2024
- 12 of 15Sewage works in a critical stateGreen Drop 2024, below 31%
- LowWater losses riskNo Drop 2025, 35.0%
Each drinking-water system, 2024
| System | Risk |
|---|---|
| Kei Road System | Low 28.5% |
| Kidds Beach (borehole) scheme | Low 35.1% |
| King Williams Town ( KWT Water Treatment Works) | Low 27.3% |
| Laing Network Supply | Low 34.8% |
| Majali (borehole) system | Low 26.6% |
| Mdantsane Supply Scheme (Umz, Nahoon, Laing) | Low 40.9% |
| Peddie Supply Scheme | Low 16.4% |
| Sandile Network Supply | Low 31.0% |
| Siyathemba | Low 19.1% |
| Umzonyana WTW (East London) | Low 46.5% |
The department’s risk rating for each system, from its Blue Drop risk assessment of 2024 (data from July 2023 to June 2024). Below 50% is low risk; 90% or more is critical.
What the ratings mean
The Department of Water and Sanitation rates each drinking-water system’s risk from four things: the size of its treatment works and how close it runs to capacity (35% of the rating), whether its water met the national drinking-water standard, SANS 241, in tests, and whether enough tests were done (35%), the skills of its staff (20%), and whether it has a water safety plan (10%).
The rating is a share of the worst possible score, so higher is worse: below 50% is low risk, 50% to under 70% medium, 70% to under 90% high, and 90% or more critical. It describes how a system was run and tested over a year, not the water in your glass today.
Your water today
For the water in your tap today, ask the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. It’s responsible for the water here and issues boil-water notices. If it issues one, follow it.
The department’s report for the Eastern Cape has each system’s full scorecard: Blue Drop Progress Assessment Report 2025: Eastern Cape.
Sewage works
Sewage works don’t supply your tap, but what they release flows into rivers and dams, and the department’s Green Drop report links poorly treated sewage to risks for public health downstream. In its audit for 2024, 12 of the 15 works in Buffalo City were in a critical state.
| Works | Score | Category | Releases into |
|---|---|---|---|
| Berlin | 29.5% | Critical state | Tributary of Nahoon River |
| Bhisho | 20.7% | Critical state | Yellowwood River |
| Breidbach | 19.6% | Critical state | Yellowwood River |
| Central | 17.6% | Critical state | Umzoniana Stream |
| Dimbaza | 25.4% | Critical state | Mdizeni Stream Tributary of Keiskamma River |
| East Bank | 30.0% | Critical state | Sea (Bat`s Cave) |
| Gonubie/ Quinera | 31.6% | Very poor | Khloka River & irrigation of Gonubie Golf Course |
| Kayser`s Beach | 40.8% | Very poor | No Discharge |
| Kidds Beach | 43.5% | Very poor | Not printed |
| Mdantsane | 19.6% | Critical state | Not printed |
| Potsdam | 20.3% | Critical state | Not printed |
| Reeston | 19.1% | Critical state | Not printed |
| Schornville | 22.6% | Critical state | Not printed |
| West Bank/ Hood Point Marine Outfall Sewer | 24.8% | Critical state | Not printed |
| Zwelitsha | 30.0% | Critical state | Not printed |
Green Drop audit for 2024 (July 2023 to June 2024), published in March 2026. The department’s categories: 90% or more is excellent, 80% good, 50% average, 31% very poor, and below 31% a critical state. Higher is better. “Releases into” is where the works discharges, as the report prints it.
Water losses
The department’s No Drop assessment of 2025 rates the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality’s management of water losses at low risk (35.0%; below 50% is low risk, 90% or more critical). In 2023/24, 38% of the water it put into its pipes was never billed: lost to leaks and bursts, taken illegally, or used without a bill. The department rates the accuracy of those figures as low (estimated). Its report counts more than 40% as extremely poor, and less than 10% as excellent.
The last full audit: Blue Drop scores, 2023 (10 systems)
The full Blue Drop audit of July 2021 to June 2022, published in 2023. Higher is better: 95% or more is excellent, and below 31% a critical state. Systems may be named differently from 2024.
| System | Score | Category |
|---|---|---|
| Kei Road | 75.3% | Average |
| Kidds Beach | 81.7% | Good |
| King Williams Town | 91.6% | Good |
| Laing | 69.0% | Average |
| Majali | 82.0% | Good |
| Mdantsane | 68.2% | Average |
| Peddie | 78.1% | Average |
| Sandile | 73.5% | Average |
| Siyathemba | 83.8% | Good |
| Umzonyana (East London) | 91.0% | Good |
The other metros
- Cape Town0 of 1
- Johannesburg0 of 1
- Pretoria (Tshwane)2 of 12
- Ekurhuleni0 of 1
- Durban (eThekwini)0 of 1
- Bloemfontein (Mangaung)0 of 7
- Gqeberha (Nelson Mandela Bay)0 of 1
Drinking-water systems at high or critical risk, of all those rated.
More for Buffalo City
- Buffalo City on one pageEvery figure we hold, with its source
- Buffalo CityWards, electricity, water
- Is your tap water safe?Our story
- Every municipalityTap water nationally
Source: Department of Water and Sanitation, Blue Drop Progress Assessment Report 2025: Eastern Cape, Blue Drop Report 2023: Eastern Cape, Green Drop Report 2025: Eastern Cape, No Drop Progress Assessment Report 2025 (complete), through our water quality dataset, release 2026-11-12.