Free tools · Drinking water · KwaZulu-Natal
Is the tap water safe in Nkandla?
The government’s latest official rating puts 2 of the 28 drinking-water systems of the King Cetshwayo District Municipality at high or critical risk, and 26 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 Nkandla is the responsibility of the King Cetshwayo District Municipality, so the figures here are for all the district’s systems and works, not only those in Nkandla. The district also supplies Mfolozi, Mthonjaneni and uMlalazi.
- 2 of 28Drinking-water systems at high or critical riskBlue Drop risk 2024, district
- 10 of 13Sewage works in a critical stateGreen Drop 2024, below 31%
- LowWater losses riskNo Drop 2025, 39.2%
Each drinking-water system, 2024
| System | Risk |
|---|---|
| Bangindoda | Low 32.6% |
| Catherine Booth | Low 37.9% |
| Donsintaba | Critical 92.8% |
| Ekhombe | Low 25.2% |
| Ekuphumuleni | Low 20.8% |
| Eshowe | Low 27.9% |
| Fort Louis | Low 28.3% |
| Gingindlovu | Low 30.8% |
| Greater Mthonjaneni | Medium 64.4% |
| Kholweni | Low 27.8% |
| Kwabadala | Low 21.5% |
| Mbonambi | High 79.6% |
| Mbongolwane | Low 33.3% |
| Melmoth | Low 43.3% |
| Mfongosi | Low 40.1% |
| Middledrift | Medium 50.4% |
| Mtunzini | Low 32.6% |
| Mvutshini | Low 46.1% |
| Nkandla Bulk | Low 36.5% |
| Nkanyezi | Low 27.8% |
| Nomponjwana | Low 34.9% |
| Ntombokazi | Low 22.7% |
| Obanjeni | Low 35.2% |
| Ofasimba | Low 28.0% |
| Ophindweni | Low 25.2% |
| Pikiliyeza | Low 27.8% |
| Qhudeni | Low 29.3% |
| Vuma | Low 46.1% |
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 King Cetshwayo 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, 10 of the 13 works the district runs were in a critical state.
| Works | Score | Category | Releases into |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catherine Booth Hospital | 22.3% | Critical state | Unknown stream |
| Ekhombe | 22.1% | Critical state | No Discharge |
| Ekuphumuleni Hospital | 5.5% | Critical state | Local stream |
| Gingindlovu | 25.8% | Critical state | Stream |
| King Dinuzulu | 26.2% | Critical state | Local stream |
| KwaBadala | 35.6% | Very poor | No Discharge |
| Mbongolwane | 33.5% | Very poor | Unknown |
| Melmoth | 24.1% | Critical state | Unknown |
| Mpushini | 23.6% | Critical state | Not printed |
| Mtunzini | 31.8% | Very poor | Not printed |
| Nkandla | 19.0% | Critical state | Not printed |
| Oceanview | 25.1% | Critical state | Not printed |
| Owen Sithole Agric College | 20.5% | 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 King Cetshwayo District Municipality’s management of water losses at low risk (39.2%; 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 (12 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Catherine Booth WTW | 37.3% | Very poor |
| Eshowe WTW | 34.5% | Very poor |
| Fort Louis | 46.1% | Very poor |
| Gingindlovu (Gingindlovu WTW) | 55.4% | Average |
| Greater Mthonjaneni | 35.5% | Very poor |
| Khombe | 16.3% | Critical state |
| Melmoth (Melmoth WTW) | 45.0% | Very poor |
| Middledrift | 50.7% | Average |
| Mtunzini | 50.8% | Average |
| Nkandla bulk | 52.2% | Average |
| Nomponjwana | 44.5% | Very poor |
| Pikiliyeza | 12.1% | Critical state |
Elsewhere in King Cetshwayo
- Mfolozi2 of 28
- Mthonjaneni2 of 28
- uMhlathuze (Richards Bay, Empangeni)0 of 4
- uMlalazi2 of 28
Drinking-water systems at high or critical risk, of all those rated.
More for Nkandla
- Nkandla on one pageEvery figure we hold, with its source
- NkandlaWards, 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.