Free tools · Drinking water · Limpopo
Is the tap water safe in Maruleng?
The government’s latest official rating puts 3 of the 21 drinking-water systems of the Mopani District Municipality at high or critical risk, and 18 at low or medium risk. It’s the Department of Water and Sanitation’s Blue Drop risk assessment of 2024, published in March 2026.
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 Maruleng is the responsibility of the Mopani District Municipality, so the figures here are for all the district’s systems and works, not only those in Maruleng. The district also supplies Ba-Phalaborwa, Greater Giyani, Greater Letaba and Greater Tzaneen.
- 3 of 21Drinking-water systems at high or critical riskBlue Drop risk 2024, district
- 1 of 9Sewage works in a critical stateGreen Drop 2024, below 31%
- CriticalWater losses riskNo Drop 2025, 100.0%
Each drinking-water system, 2024
| System | Risk |
|---|---|
| Drakensig (Hoedspruit water supply system) | Low 36.5% |
| Giyani Water supply area | Medium 52.9% |
| Greater Tzaneen Municipality | Low 49.4% |
| Kuranta package plant | Critical 94.3% |
| Letsitele | Low 16.2% |
| Mametja Sekororo | High 88.1% |
| Mapuve | Low 26.7% |
| Middle Letaba | Low 18.6% |
| Modjadi water supply system | Low 45.6% |
| Nkambako | Low 34.7% |
| Nkowankowa | Low 31.9% |
| Nondweni | Low 49.5% |
| Phalaborwa, Lulekani and Namakgale | Low 28.4% |
| Politsi and Modjadji Kloof | Low 28.9% |
| Sekhiming package plant | Critical 90.9% |
| Semarela | Low 31.5% |
| Thabina | Low 33.4% |
| Thapane | Low 25.5% |
| The Oaks | Low 33.0% |
| Tours Water Supply System | Low 30.2% |
| Zava water supply system | Low 22.7% |
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 Mopani 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, 1 of the 9 works the district runs was in a critical state.
| Works | Score | Category | Releases into |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ga-Kgapane | 45.7% | Very poor | Mudubatsi Stream |
| Giyani | 50.8% | Average | Klein Letaba River |
| Lenyenye | 48.7% | Very poor | Thabina River |
| Lulekane | 49.8% | Very poor | Selati River |
| Namakgale | 53.2% | Average | Selati River |
| Nkowankowa | 52.1% | Average | Leitsitele River |
| Phalaborwa | 45.4% | Very poor | Selati River |
| Senwamokgopo | 9.1% | Critical state | No Discharge |
| Tzaneen | 75.5% | 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 Mopani 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 (18 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Drakensig | 23.8% | Critical state |
| Giyani | 54.4% | Average |
| Greater Tzaneen | 64.3% | Average |
| Letsitele | 61.8% | Average |
| Mapuve | 65.2% | Average |
| Middle Letaba | 61.4% | Average |
| Modjadi | 54.3% | Average |
| Nkambako | 59.2% | Average |
| Nkowankowa | 59.6% | Average |
| Nondweni | 60.4% | Average |
| Phalaborwa, Lulekani and Namakgale | 57.7% | Average |
| Politsi and Modjadji Kloof | 61.3% | Average |
| Semarela | 52.1% | Average |
| Thabina | 62.0% | Average |
| Thapane | 48.3% | Very poor |
| The Oaks | 37.8% | Very poor |
| Tours Water Supply System | 52.0% | Average |
| Zava water supply system | 52.7% | Average |
Elsewhere in Mopani
- Ba-Phalaborwa3 of 21
- Greater Giyani3 of 21
- Greater Letaba3 of 21
- Greater Tzaneen3 of 21
Drinking-water systems at high or critical risk, of all those rated.
More for Maruleng
- Maruleng on one pageEvery figure we hold, with its source
- MarulengWards, 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.