The impacts of water quality on the residential areas of Emfuleni Local Municipality : a case study of Rietspruit river catchment

Abstract: It is commonly known that South Africa has prominent legislations and policies in place to govern the protection of water resources. However, poor management of water and lack of sanitation services is evident in some parts of the country. The failure of some municipalities to provide adequate sanitation services has been prevailing in less developed areas resulting in serious predicaments on the health of the affected individuals amongst other effects. Various interventions such as the upgrade of wastewater infrastructure have been put in place. However, notable failures in implementing sustainable wastewater management strategies remains a serious concern. The aim of the present study is to assess the environmental and socio-economic impacts of wastewater in the residential areas of Emfuleni Local Municipality (hereafter referred to as ‘Emfuleni’), Gauteng Province, South Africa. To this end, questionnaires were used to collect information on various demographic variables of both households and small businesses along with their water sources, levels of water quality awareness and various effects of exposure to poor water quality. The collected data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential methods of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 to assess the influence of various demographic variables on key opinions and other data sets. In total, 260 respondents participated in this study. Firstly, the analysis of water sources utilized by the residents of Emfuleni revealed that every household had a tap inside their yard which is considered as the safest source of water. However, the availability of tap water cannot circumvent the outcry of local residents with regards to sewage spills running on their streets. The majority of participants complained of skin rashes and diarrhea developed by children who make contact with the untreated sewage when playing on the streets. Furthermore, the issue of bad odor worsening some of their health conditions such as asthma was reportedly raising great fear in dealing with the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Surprisingly, although all areas investigated were classified as townships, the differences of wastewater impact as per the area of residence were significant at 99% confidence interval. Moreover, the differences on the participants’ willingness to pay for water services as per the area of residence were also significant at 99% confidence interval. Collectively, the findings in the present study demonstrate how socioeconomic variables such as area of residence influence the occurrence and experience of wastewater impacts which can advise on feasible and holistic measures to tackle water pollution issues in various townships under Emfuleni.M.Sc. (Environmental Management