Free tools · Drinking water · KwaZulu-Natal
Is the tap water safe in Durban (eThekwini)?
The government’s latest official rating puts the drinking-water system in eThekwini at low risk. It’s the Department of Water and Sanitation’s Blue Drop risk assessment of 2024, published in March 2026. eThekwini includes Durban, Pinetown, Umhlanga, Umlazi, Chatsworth, Amanzimtoti, Phoenix and KwaMashu.
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.
- LowDrinking-water riskBlue Drop 2024, 29.7%
- 19 of 27Sewage works in a critical stateGreen Drop 2024, below 31%
- MediumWater losses riskNo Drop 2025, 55.8%
Each drinking-water system, 2024
| System | Risk |
|---|---|
| eThekwini Main | Low 29.7% |
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 eThekwini 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 KwaZulu-Natal has each system’s full scorecard: Blue Drop Progress Assessment Report 2025: KwaZulu-Natal.
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, 19 of the 27 works in eThekwini were in a critical state.
| Works | Score | Category | Releases into |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amanzimtoti | 30.0% | Critical state | Umbogintwini / Mbokodweni River |
| Cato Ridge | 55.4% | Average | Tributary to Umlazi River |
| Central: Sea Outfall | 30.0% | Critical state | Indian Ocean |
| Craigieburn | 30.0% | Critical state | Mhlongwana River |
| Dassenhoek | 30.0% | Critical state | Umlaas River |
| Fredville | 67.0% | Average | uMngeni River |
| Genazzano | 30.0% | Critical state | Stormwater drain to beach |
| Glenwood Road | 30.0% | Critical state | uMhlathuzana River |
| Hammarsdale | 63.8% | Average | Not printed |
| Hillcrest | 65.1% | Average | Not printed |
| Isipingo | 30.0% | Critical state | Not printed |
| Kingsburgh | 30.0% | Critical state | Not printed |
| KwaMashu | 30.0% | Critical state | Piesang River |
| KwaNdengezi | 30.0% | Critical state | uMlazi River |
| Magabeni | 53.2% | Average | Little Ngane River |
| Mpumalanga | 30.0% | Critical state | uMlazi River |
| New Germany | 30.0% | Critical state | Aller River |
| Northern | 30.0% | Critical state | uMhlangane River |
| Phoenix | 30.0% | Critical state | Piesang River |
| Southern Sea Outfall | 30.0% | Critical state | Indian Ocean |
| Tongaat | 30.0% | Critical state | Tongaat River |
| Umbilo | 30.0% | Critical state | Umbilo River |
| Umdloti | 59.1% | Average | Umdloti river |
| Umhlanga | 54.3% | Average | Ohlanga River |
| Umhlatuzana | 30.0% | Critical state | Umhlathuzana River |
| Umkomaas | 58.6% | Average | uMkhomazi River |
| Verulam | 30.0% | Critical state | Umdloti River |
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 eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality’s management of water losses at medium risk (55.8%; below 50% is low risk, 90% or more critical). In 2023/24, 54% 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 medium (mostly metered). Its report counts more than 40% as extremely poor, and less than 10% as excellent.
The last full audit: Blue Drop scores, 2023 (1 system)
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 |
|---|---|---|
| eThekwini Main | 95.0% | Good |
The other metros
- East London (Buffalo City)0 of 10
- Cape Town0 of 1
- Johannesburg0 of 1
- Pretoria (Tshwane)2 of 12
- Ekurhuleni0 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 eThekwini
- eThekwini on one pageEvery figure we hold, with its source
- eThekwiniWards, 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: KwaZulu-Natal, Blue Drop Report 2023: KwaZulu-Natal, Green Drop Report 2025: KwaZulu-Natal, No Drop Progress Assessment Report 2025 (complete), through our water quality dataset, release 2026-11-12.