While investment in water infrastructure and solutions to battle current challenges is critical to ensuring water security, there is a need to start investing in solutions that will also tackle future environmental, economic and health challenges.

It is also time for government to elevate water as a core issue to drive a lasting recovery in the wake of the economic challenges South Africa faces, says Department of Water and Sanitation senior communicator Khulekani Ngcobo.

The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the critical role water plays in preventing and combating pandemics, now and in the future, and has exposed the continued neglect of water infrastructure, magnifying long-standing social and environmental stressors and economic inequities.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has not only disrupted the social and economic realities of our communities, but also undermined some of the basic needs we depend on. “Our water infrastructure has been at the heart of this realisation: its importance to health, hygiene and safety has never been more obvious, yet millions of disadvantaged and vulnerable households still lack reliable and affordable access to water.”

This comes as water insecurity increases across many provinces, with the poorest and most vulnerable particularly at risk.

In addition, climate change is fuelling extreme droughts, fires and floods that have disrupted or destroyed essential water infrastructure.

In light of this, water should be a bigger part of the economic recovery conversation as government debates recovery strategies and stimulus efforts for the country.

“Water can serve as a lever to achieve greater economic equity and access, environmental resilience and technological innovation, among other benefits,” says Ngcobo.

To tackle the multitude of challenges threatening South Africa’s water security, there needs to be a transition to a hybrid infrastructure model that promotes a combination of gray and green and centralised and decentralised infrastructure improvements.

“Rather than supporting large, centralised treatment facilities and other traditional gray infrastructure, which can be costly to maintain and susceptible to climate risks, our leaders need to look towards nature, floodplains and other green infrastructure for more flexibility and environmental resilience.”

This could assist in the recovery and reuse of every drop of water in the system, create operational redundancies through more distributed systems and lead to many other environmental and community benefits.

“We can promote these new designs through new financial incentives and pathways, including loans, grants and tax credits, that encourage local experimentation,” Ngcobo adds.

Further, there is a need to embrace the digital transition in the water systems.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted our standard operating procedures and highlighted the importance of digital solutions, including advanced metering infrastructure and leak-detection analytics that help utilities prevent resource loss and maintain affordable, dependable service.”

Further, according to United Nations estimates, nearly two-billion people will struggle to make a living in countries or regions affected by water scarcity by 2025.