Water & Sanitation
Graded institution: Johannesburg Water · Rand Water supplies bulk; Joburg Water distributes.
Peer rank: 6th of 8 · Far below the standard
Non-revenue water
Percentage of water lost to leaks, theft, or unbilled use before reaching customers.
Non-revenue water — latest 48.1 % (as of 2025)
Data table
| Period | Value (%) |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 42.5 |
| 2021 | 42.4 |
| 2022 | 43.5 |
| 2023 | 45.1 |
| 2024 | 47.5 |
| 2025 | 48.1 |
Pipe bursts per 100 km of main
Reported bursts on distribution mains, normalised to 100 km network length.
Pipe bursts per 100 km of main — latest 77.4 bursts (as of 2025)
Data table
| Period | Value (bursts) |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 53.6 |
| 2021 | 61 |
| 2022 | 62.3 |
| 2023 | 69.5 |
| 2024 | 72.8 |
| 2025 | 77.4 |
Blue Drop score (drinking water quality)
DWS composite compliance score for drinking water safety and system management.
Blue Drop score (drinking water quality) — latest 61.1 score (as of 2024)
Data table
| Period | Value (score) |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 78.5 |
| 2022 | 70.5 |
| 2024 | 61.1 |
Households reporting water outages > 2 days (last year)
GHS metro cut: share of households reporting a water interruption longer than 2 days.
Households reporting water outages > 2 days (last year) — latest 33.5 % (as of 2025)
Data table
| Period | Value (%) |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 20.9 |
| 2021 | 25.5 |
| 2022 | 25.3 |
| 2023 | 29.7 |
| 2024 | 31.1 |
| 2025 | 33.5 |
Supply disruption notices (this month)
Count of Joburg Water daily supply disruption notices, aggregated monthly (Tier C — derived from scraped official notices).
Supply disruption notices (this month) — latest 609.7 notices (as of 2026-05)
Data table
| Period | Value (notices) |
|---|---|
| 2024-06 | 419.9 |
| 2024-07 | 428.5 |
| 2024-08 | 433 |
| 2024-09 | 440.7 |
| 2024-10 | 448.7 |
| 2024-11 | 459.2 |
| 2024-12 | 471.8 |
| 2025-01 | 487.4 |
| 2025-02 | 488.8 |
| 2025-03 | 502.8 |
| 2025-04 | 499.2 |
| 2025-05 | 511.5 |
| 2025-06 | 523.6 |
| 2025-07 | 526.6 |
| 2025-08 | 534.6 |
| 2025-09 | 541.3 |
| 2025-10 | 559.4 |
| 2025-11 | 565.6 |
| 2025-12 | 581 |
| 2026-01 | 587.2 |
| 2026-02 | 594 |
| 2026-03 | 597.2 |
| 2026-04 | 599.8 |
| 2026-05 | 609.7 |
What would move this grade
Rubric thresholds vs the latest published value. Generated from the indicator registry — never hand-written.
- Non-revenue water: target < 25% · currently 48.1 %
- Pipe bursts per 100 km of main: target < 30 · currently 77.4 bursts
- Blue Drop score (drinking water quality): target ≥ 95 sustained · currently 61.1 score
- Households reporting water outages > 2 days (last year): target < 5% · currently 33.5 %
- Supply disruption notices (this month): target < 150/month · currently 609.7 notices
The Johannesburg Water responds
Johannesburg Water notes the assessment and confirms that its 2025/26 non-revenue water figure of 48.2% is consistent with the Auditor-General's finding. A five-year Turnaround Programme, adopted in September 2025, targets a 4-percentage-point reduction by June 2028 through active leak detection in Zones 3, 7 and 11 and accelerated meter replacement in Soweto. Progress is reported quarterly to the Section 79 Committee. Bulk supply constraints from Rand Water's Vaal system remain outside the entity's control but are factored into the reservoir-management strategy.
Rand Water supplies bulk; Joburg Water distributes.