Free tools · Drinking water · Free State
Is the tap water safe in Matjhabeng (Welkom)?
The government’s latest official rating puts all 6 drinking-water systems in Matjhabeng at low or medium risk. It’s the Department of Water and Sanitation’s Blue Drop risk assessment of 2024, published in March 2026. Matjhabeng includes Welkom, Odendaalsrus and Virginia.
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 6Drinking-water systems at high or critical riskBlue Drop risk 2024
- 11 of 11Sewage works in a critical stateGreen Drop 2024, below 31%
- MediumWater losses riskNo Drop 2025, 58.3%
Each drinking-water system, 2024
| System | Risk |
|---|---|
| Allanridge Water supply System | Medium 50.1% |
| Hennenman Water Supply System | Low 41.6% |
| Odendaalsrus Water Supply System | Low 37.3% |
| Ventersburg Water Supply System | Low 35.1% |
| Virginia Water Supply System | Low 40.9% |
| Welkom Water Supply System | Low 33.3% |
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 Matjhabeng Local 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 Free State has each system’s full scorecard: Blue Drop Progress Assessment Report 2025: Free State.
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, all 11 works in Matjhabeng were in a critical state.
| Works | Score | Category | Releases into |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allanridge | 16.3% | Critical state | Voëlpan (Evaporation Pond) |
| Hennenman | 17.4% | Critical state | Rietspruit |
| Kutlwanong | 16.7% | Critical state | Sandspruit |
| Mmamahabane | 16.3% | Critical state | Erasmusspruit |
| Odendaalsrus | 16.8% | Critical state | Sandspruit |
| Phomolong | 18.7% | Critical state | Slootspruit |
| Thabong | 16.5% | Critical state | Mostert Channel to Sand River |
| Theronia | 30.0% | Critical state | Flamingo Pan and Sand River |
| Ventersburg | 14.2% | Critical state | Not printed |
| Virginia | 18.0% | Critical state | Not printed |
| Witpan | 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 Matjhabeng Local Municipality’s management of water losses at medium risk (58.3%; below 50% is low risk, 90% or more critical). In 2023/24, 50% 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 (6 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Allanridge | 54.9% | Average |
| Heneman | 54.2% | Average |
| Odendaalsrus | 54.6% | Average |
| Ventersburg | 54.7% | Average |
| Virginia | 55.7% | Average |
| Welkom | 56.0% | Average |
Elsewhere in Lejweleputswa
- Masilonyana4 of 4
- Nala0 of 2
- Tokologo2 of 3
- Tswelopele2 of 2
Drinking-water systems at high or critical risk, of all those rated.
More for Matjhabeng
- Matjhabeng on one pageEvery figure we hold, with its source
- MatjhabengWards, 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: Free State, Blue Drop Report 2023: Free State, Green Drop Report 2025: Free State, No Drop Progress Assessment Report 2025 (complete), through our water quality dataset, release 2026-11-12.