Free tools · Drinking water · KwaZulu-Natal
Is the tap water safe in KwaDukuza (Ballito, Stanger)?
The government’s latest official rating puts 5 of the 29 drinking-water systems of the iLembe District Municipality at high or critical risk, and 24 at low or medium risk. It’s the Department of Water and Sanitation’s Blue Drop risk assessment of 2024, published in March 2026. KwaDukuza includes Ballito, Stanger and Salt Rock.
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.
Water in KwaDukuza is the responsibility of the iLembe District Municipality, so the figures here are for all the district’s systems and works, not only those in KwaDukuza. The district also supplies Mandeni, Maphumulo and Ndwedwe.
- 5 of 29Drinking-water systems at high or critical riskBlue Drop risk 2024, district
- 2 of 15Sewage works in a critical stateGreen Drop 2024, below 31%
- MediumWater losses riskNo Drop 2025, 60.0%
Each drinking-water system, 2024
| System | Risk |
|---|---|
| ChiliShangase Borehole Supply System | Medium 50.6% |
| Dolphin Coast Ballito. Siza Water Concession Area - Tongaat river to Etete | Low 25.7% |
| Esidumbini supply system | Medium 51.2% |
| Glendale Supply System | Low 49.1% |
| Hazelmere WTW- Ndwedwe water supply | Low 28.9% |
| Hlimbithwa Notheni Supply System | Low 48.2% |
| Hlimbithwa Water Scheme | Low 42.7% |
| Ifalethu Supply System | Low 41.2% |
| Isiminya supply system | Critical 98.9% |
| Isithundu Supply System | Low 48.6% |
| KwaDukuza Borehole Supply System | Critical 91.7% |
| KwaSathane Supply System | Medium 56.4% |
| Lambothi supply system | Medium 63.9% |
| Lower Tukela Bulk Water Scheme | Low 33.4% |
| Makwanini Supply System | Low 44.7% |
| Maphumulo Borehole Supply system | Low 30.9% |
| Maphumulo WTW- Reticulation | Low 24.9% |
| Maqumbi Borehole Supply System | Low 43.7% |
| Montebello supply system | Low 33.2% |
| Ndwedwe Borehole Supply System | High 71.3% |
| Ngcebo Supply system | Low 17.6% |
| Nsuze Water Supply System | Low 49.6% |
| Ntabaskop Supply System | Medium 52.7% |
| Sundumbili | Low 44.0% |
| Sunduzane Borehole Supply System | High 88.6% |
| Umvoti water supply system | Medium 50.8% |
| Vukile Supply System | Low 30.4% |
| Waterfall supply system | Low 21.1% |
| Wosiyane Water Supply | Critical 99.2% |
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 iLembe District 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, 2 of the 15 works the district runs were in a critical state.
| Works | Score | Category | Releases into |
|---|---|---|---|
| Darnall | 54.1% | Average | Nonoti River |
| Etsheni | 23.4% | Critical state | Mvoti River |
| Frasers | 77.9% | Average | Tongati River |
| Gledhow | 56.5% | Average | Ntshawini River |
| Mandeni | 57.0% | Average | Tukela River |
| Melville | 48.9% | Very poor | Umvoti River |
| Montebello Hospital | 56.9% | Average | Mdlotshana river |
| Mphumulo Hospital | 57.0% | Average | Nothweni River |
| Ntunjambili Hospital | 53.9% | Average | Not printed |
| Shakaskraal | 75.8% | Average | Not printed |
| Sheffield | 58.0% | Average | Not printed |
| Stanger | 30.0% | Critical state | Not printed |
| Sundumbili | 55.9% | Average | Not printed |
| Tugela | 47.3% | Very poor | Not printed |
| Vukile | 73.8% | Average | 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 iLembe District Municipality’s management of water losses at medium risk (60.0%; below 50% is low risk, 90% or more critical). In 2023/24, 60% 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 (19 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Dolphin Coast (Siza Water) | 98.6% | Excellent |
| Esidumbini | 76.2% | Average |
| Glendale | 68.5% | Average |
| Hazelmere WTW- Ndwedwe water supply | 93.4% | Good |
| Ifalethu | 66.8% | Average |
| Isithundu | 68.9% | Average |
| Lambothi | 55.4% | Average |
| Lower Tukela | 90.4% | Good |
| Makwanini | 57.7% | Average |
| Maphumulo Borehole Supply system | 61.6% | Average |
| Maphumulo WTW- Reticulation | 94.0% | Good |
| Montebello | 74.9% | Average |
| Ncebo | 84.5% | Good |
| Nsuze | 75.6% | Average |
| Ntabaskop | 69.6% | Average |
| Sundumbili | 76.6% | Average |
| Umvoti | 88.7% | Good |
| Vukile | 71.9% | Average |
| Waterfall | 54.3% | Average |
Elsewhere in iLembe
Drinking-water systems at high or critical risk, of all those rated.
More for KwaDukuza
- KwaDukuza on one pageEvery figure we hold, with its source
- KwaDukuzaWards, 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.