Free tools · Drinking water · Eastern Cape
Is the tap water safe in Walter Sisulu?
The government’s latest official rating puts all 14 drinking-water systems of the Joe Gqabi 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.
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 Walter Sisulu is the responsibility of the Joe Gqabi District Municipality, so the figures here are for all the district’s systems and works, not only those in Walter Sisulu. The district also supplies Elundini and Senqu.
- 0 of 14Drinking-water systems at high or critical riskBlue Drop risk 2024, district
- 5 of 15Sewage works in a critical stateGreen Drop 2024, below 31%
- LowWater losses riskNo Drop 2025, 35.0%
Each drinking-water system, 2024
| System | Risk |
|---|---|
| ELUNDINI LM - Maclear (Aucamp WTP) and (Mooiriver WTW) | Medium 58.8% |
| ELUNDINI LM - Ugie (Ugie WTP) | Medium 50.1% |
| ELUNDINI LM -Mt Fletcher (Mount Fletcher WTP) | Low 38.9% |
| SENQU LM - Barkly East (Barkly East WTP) | Medium 50.1% |
| SENQU LM - Lady Grey (Lady Grey WTW) | Medium 50.1% |
| SENQU LM - Rhodes (Rhodes WTP) | Low 22.8% |
| SENQU LM - Rossouw (Boreholes) | Low 26.8% |
| SENQU LM - Sterkspruit (Sterkspruit WTP) | Low 47.3% |
| SENQU LM -Jozana (Jozana WTP) | Low 45.2% |
| WALTER SISULU LM - Aliwal North (Aliwal North WTP) | Low 47.3% |
| WALTER SISULU LM - Burgersdorp (Burgersdorp WTP) | Low 48.6% |
| WALTER SISULU LM - Jamestown (Jamestown WTP) | Low 34.0% |
| WALTER SISULU LM - Oviston (Oviston WTP) | Low 41.4% |
| WALTER SISULU LM - Steynsburg (Steynsburg WTW) | 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 Joe Gqabi 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 the Eastern Cape has each system’s full scorecard: Blue Drop Progress Assessment Report 2025: Eastern Cape.
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, 5 of the 15 works the district runs were in a critical state.
| Works | Score | Category | Releases into |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aliwal North | 30.4% | Critical state | Orange River |
| Barkley East 2 (Old Ponds) | 41.4% | Very poor | Langkloofspruit River |
| Barkly East 1 (New Ponds) | 30.7% | Critical state | Langkloofspruit River |
| Burgersdorp | 37.2% | Very poor | Stormbergspruit River |
| Herschel | 26.7% | Critical state | Unnamed Stream |
| Jamestown | 29.4% | Critical state | Skulpspruit |
| Lady Grey | 40.2% | Very poor | Wilgespruit River |
| Maclear | 38.8% | Very poor | Mooi River |
| Mount Fletcher | 34.1% | Very poor | Not printed |
| Oviston | 43.5% | Very poor | Not printed |
| Prentjiesberg | 33.8% | Very poor | Not printed |
| Sterkspruit | 28.1% | Critical state | Not printed |
| Steynsburg | 33.4% | Very poor | Teebus River |
| Ugie | 32.6% | Very poor | Tributary to Wildebees River |
| Venterstad | 46.6% | Very poor | Brakspruit (Stream) |
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 Joe Gqabi District Municipality’s management of water losses at low risk (35.0%; below 50% is low risk, 90% or more critical). In 2023/24, 35% 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 low (estimated). Its report counts more than 40% as extremely poor, and less than 10% as excellent.
The last full audit: Blue Drop scores, 2023 (14 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Aliwal North | 64.3% | Average |
| Barkly East | 63.6% | Average |
| Burgersdorp | 51.1% | Average |
| Jamestown | 63.7% | Average |
| Jozana | 43.9% | Very poor |
| Lady Grey | 62.3% | Average |
| Maclear | 51.0% | Average |
| Mount Fletcher | 55.7% | Average |
| Oviston | 50.8% | Average |
| Rhodes | 67.8% | Average |
| Rossouw | 40.4% | Very poor |
| Sterkspruit | 49.2% | Very poor |
| Steynsburg | 56.2% | Average |
| Ugie | 50.7% | Average |
Elsewhere in Joe Gqabi
Drinking-water systems at high or critical risk, of all those rated.
More for Walter Sisulu
- Walter Sisulu on one pageEvery figure we hold, with its source
- Walter SisuluWards, 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: Eastern Cape, Blue Drop Report 2023: Eastern Cape, Green Drop Report 2025: Eastern Cape, No Drop Progress Assessment Report 2025 (complete), through our water quality dataset, release 2026-11-12.