Free tools · Drinking water · KwaZulu-Natal
Is the tap water safe in Ulundi?
The government’s latest official rating puts 3 of the 39 drinking-water systems of the Zululand District Municipality at high or critical risk, and 36 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 Ulundi is the responsibility of the Zululand District Municipality, so the figures here are for all the district’s systems and works, not only those in Ulundi. The district also supplies Abaqulusi, eDumbe, Nongoma and uPhongolo.
- 3 of 39Drinking-water systems at high or critical riskBlue Drop risk 2024, district
- 0 of 16Sewage works in a critical stateGreen Drop 2024, below 31%
- MediumWater losses riskNo Drop 2025, 56.7%
Each drinking-water system, 2024
| System | Risk |
|---|---|
| Not named in the report | Low 39.1% |
| Not named in the report | Low 40.7% |
| Not named in the report | Low 39.9% |
| Not named in the report | Low 36.9% |
| Babanango | Low 39.9% |
| Belgrade | Medium 50.3% |
| Belgrade New | Low 48.6% |
| Bhokwe | Low 13.4% |
| Ceza Water Supply | Low 39.6% |
| Coronation | High 80.4% |
| eDumbe | Low 28.0% |
| eMakhosini | Low 22.4% |
| eMondlo Town | High 76.3% |
| Enyathi Town | Low 27.3% |
| Frischgewaagd Bilanyoni | Low 18.2% |
| Gumbi Rural Supply Scheme | Low 49.2% |
| Hlobane | High 75.1% |
| Itshelejuba hospital | Low 21.8% |
| Khambi | Medium 51.4% |
| Khangela Palace | Low 44.5% |
| Khiphunyawo | Low 21.0% |
| Kombuzi | Low 36.9% |
| Louwsberg | Low 39.4% |
| Mandlakazi | Low 28.0% |
| Mountain View | Low 49.2% |
| Mpungamhlope | Low 41.9% |
| Msibi | Low 18.3% |
| Mvuzini | Low 24.8% |
| Nkonjeni Hospital | Low 23.6% |
| Nkosentsha | Low 34.6% |
| Nongoma | Low 34.8% |
| Ophuzane | Low 38.1% |
| Sovane WTW | Low 36.8% |
| Spekboom | Low 41.9% |
| Tholakele | Low 36.9% |
| Thulasizwe hospital | Low 32.1% |
| Ulundi Nkonjeni | Low 44.3% |
| Usuthu | Medium 50.2% |
| Vryheid | Low 36.1% |
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 Zululand 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, none of the 16 works the district runs were in a critical state.
| Works | Score | Category | Releases into |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ceza Hospital | 53.4% | Average | Ibasamlilo stream |
| Coronation | 35.8% | Very poor | Notshwelwa River |
| eDumbe | 53.0% | Average | Pongola River |
| eMondlo | 36.8% | Very poor | Mvunyane River |
| Hlobane | 34.2% | Very poor | Nkongolwane River |
| Itshelejuba Hospital | 59.3% | Average | Mzinsangu River |
| James Nxumalo College | 51.2% | Average | White uMfolozi River |
| Klipfontein | 36.3% | Very poor | White uMfolozi River/ klipfontein dam |
| Mlokothwa | 70.7% | Average | Not printed |
| Nkongolwane | 53.3% | Average | Not printed |
| Nkonjeni Hospital | 59.3% | Average | Not printed |
| Nongoma | 65.8% | Average | Not printed |
| Pongola | 44.6% | Very poor | Not printed |
| St Francis Hospital | 58.2% | Average | Not printed |
| Thulasizwe | 64.5% | Average | Not printed |
| Ulundi | 63.6% | 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 Zululand District Municipality’s management of water losses at medium risk (56.7%; below 50% is low risk, 90% or more critical). In 2023/24, 89% 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 poor (guessed). Its report counts more than 40% as extremely poor, and less than 10% as excellent.
The last full audit: Blue Drop scores, 2023 (39 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Babanango | 68.5% | Average |
| Belgrade | 65.9% | Average |
| Belgrade New | 43.7% | Very poor |
| Bhokwe | 54.4% | Average |
| Ceza | 62.9% | Average |
| Coronation | 26.1% | Critical state |
| eDumbe | 67.9% | Average |
| eMakhosini | 58.5% | Average |
| eMondlo | 27.5% | Critical state |
| Enyathi | 57.1% | Average |
| Frischgewaagd Bilanyoni | 74.1% | Average |
| Gumbi RSS | 61.5% | Average |
| Hlobane | 29.6% | Critical state |
| Itshelejuba Hospital | 62.2% | Average |
| Khambi | 43.0% | Very poor |
| Khangela Palace | 65.9% | Average |
| Khiphunyawo | 60.1% | Average |
| Kombuzi | 55.5% | Average |
| Louwsberg | 25.5% | Critical state |
| Mandlakazi | 65.8% | Average |
| Mountain View | 47.6% | Very poor |
| Mpungamhlope | 70.4% | Average |
| Msibi | 60.1% | Average |
| Mvuzini | 67.7% | Average |
| Nkonjeni Hospital | 64.6% | Average |
| Nkosentsha | 45.4% | Very poor |
| Nongoma | 68.1% | Average |
| Ophuzane | 47.6% | Very poor |
| Osingisingini | 48.0% | Very poor |
| Pongola | 70.0% | Average |
| Purim RWS | 58.4% | Average |
| Sidinsi | 56.7% | Average |
| Sovane | 45.2% | Very poor |
| Spekboom | 41.7% | Very poor |
| Tholakele | 60.1% | Average |
| Thulasizwe Hospital | 64.2% | Average |
| Ulundi Nkonjeni | 68.2% | Average |
| Usuthu | 58.4% | Average |
| Vryheid | 30.7% | Critical state |
Elsewhere in Zululand
- Abaqulusi (Vryheid)3 of 39
- eDumbe3 of 39
- Nongoma3 of 39
- uPhongolo3 of 39
Drinking-water systems at high or critical risk, of all those rated.
More for Ulundi
- Ulundi on one pageEvery figure we hold, with its source
- UlundiWards, 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.