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Is the tap water safe in Makhado (Louis Trichardt)?
The government’s latest official rating puts all 17 drinking-water systems of the Vhembe District Municipality at low or medium risk. It’s the Department of Water and Sanitation’s Blue Drop risk assessment of 2024, published in March 2026. Makhado includes Louis Trichardt.
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 Makhado is the responsibility of the Vhembe District Municipality, so the figures here are for all the district’s systems and works, not only those in Makhado. The district also supplies Collins Chabane, Musina and Thulamela.
- 0 of 17Drinking-water systems at high or critical riskBlue Drop risk 2024, district
- 0 of 14Sewage works in a critical stateGreen Drop 2024, below 31%
- CriticalWater losses riskNo Drop 2025, 100.0%
Each drinking-water system, 2024
| System | Risk |
|---|---|
| Damani water system | Low 37.2% |
| Dzindi Water System | Low 33.3% |
| Dzingahe Water System | Low 25.5% |
| Elim Water System | Low 29.0% |
| Khalavha Water System | Medium 63.9% |
| Luphephe- Nwanedi Water System | Low 48.4% |
| Makhado (Louis Trichardt) Water System | Low 39.1% |
| Malamulele Water System | Low 31.3% |
| Musina Water System | Low 39.3% |
| Mutale water system | Low 37.9% |
| Mutshedzi water system | Low 37.2% |
| Thohoyandou NR6 Water Supply | Low 31.0% |
| Tshakhuma Water System | Low 47.8% |
| Tshedza water supply system | Low 34.7% |
| Tshifhire Murunwa Water System | Low 33.0% |
| Vondo Water System | Low 47.2% |
| Xikundu Water System | Low 44.2% |
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 Vhembe 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 Limpopo has each system’s full scorecard: Blue Drop Progress Assessment Report 2025: Limpopo.
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, none of the 14 works the district runs were in a critical state.
| Works | Score | Category | Releases into |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biaba | 32.5% | Very poor | Nwambedi River |
| Harper | 36.5% | Very poor | Sand River |
| Hlanganani | 33.0% | Very poor | No Discharge |
| Malamulele | 46.7% | Very poor | Shingwedzi River |
| Mhinga | 43.7% | Very poor | No Discharge |
| Musina | 37.5% | Very poor | Not printed |
| Mutale | 34.6% | Very poor | Not printed |
| Nancefield | 46.2% | Very poor | Malala Stream to the Limpopo River |
| Rietvlei | 57.0% | Average | Litshovhu River |
| Thohoyandou | 72.3% | Average | Mvudi River |
| Tshifulanani | 37.1% | Very poor | No Discharge |
| Vleifontein | 34.2% | Very poor | Not printed |
| Vuwani | 42.9% | Very poor | No Discharge |
| Waterval_Vembe | 71.1% | 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 Vhembe District Municipality’s management of water losses at critical risk (100.0%; below 50% is low risk, 90% or more critical).
The last full audit: Blue Drop scores, 2023 (17 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Damani | 74.6% | Average |
| Dzindi | 62.6% | Average |
| Dzingahe | 67.0% | Average |
| Elim | 57.1% | Average |
| Luphephe-Nwanedi | 60.7% | Average |
| Makhado | 64.3% | Average |
| Malamulele | 70.4% | Average |
| Musina | 52.2% | Average |
| Mutale | 68.5% | Average |
| Mutshedzi | 63.9% | Average |
| Ndzelele | 52.9% | Average |
| Thohoyandou | 56.1% | Average |
| Tshakhuma | 57.9% | Average |
| Tshedza | 56.2% | Average |
| Tshifhire Murunwa | 54.8% | Average |
| Vondo | 65.8% | Average |
| Xikundu | 65.7% | Average |
Elsewhere in Vhembe
- Collins Chabane0 of 17
- Musina0 of 17
- Thulamela (Thohoyandou)0 of 17
Drinking-water systems at high or critical risk, of all those rated.
More for Makhado
- Makhado on one pageEvery figure we hold, with its source
- MakhadoWards, 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: Limpopo, Blue Drop Report 2023: Limpopo, Green Drop Report 2025: Limpopo, No Drop Progress Assessment Report 2025 (complete), through our water quality dataset, release 2026-11-12.