Source article published March 14, 2024

With cellphones, test kits, and local knowledge, young people in Mpophomeni, KZN are leading the way to protect South Africa’s freshwater. 

What is the problem?

South Africa’s freshwater faces a smelly, dangerous crisis. Data from the Department of Water and Sanitation in 2023 showed that 576 sewage works, or 66% of the 876 surveyed, were breaking and at risk of becoming completely unusable. With broken sewage plants, raw and poorly treated sewage spills into rivers and dams, causing severe health risks.  

In Mpophomeni, a township near Howick, over 100 leaking manholes were discharging sewage into streams feeding the Midmar Dam. The dam is the drinking water source for over 4 million people in the region, including Durban and Petermaritzburg. 

How are they fixing it?

In 2009, a group of youth in Mpophomeni stepped up. Trained by the Duzi-uMngeni Conservation Trust (DUCT) in partnership with the municipality, they became Enviro-Champs. The youth monitored water quality, reported sewage spills and made some repairs themselves.

Over time, their work in collaboration with the municipality helped stop sewage from leaking out of all 104 manholes they monitored. 

What makes it work?

• Early reporting with the right training and tools - One of the most important roles of the Enviro-Champs is to inform local authorities of sewage spills so that leaking pipes can be repaired before raw sewage flows into rivers and dams. Water clarity tubes, test kits and observation logs help them measure pollution. With training from scientists and NGOs, they’ve learned how to collect useful data to guide action. Using a special mobile app, Enviro-Champs record GPS-tagged images, videos, and data on sewage spills and pollution. These are sent directly to local managers and municipal officials. 

• Taking action themselves - On some issues, the Enviro-Champs can take action themselves. They monitor and remove piles of litter and illegal dumping, helping to keep stormwater drains clean. They have also been trained to identify alien invasive plants, which they remove because they suck up precious water reserves. If it's possible to fix a leak themselves without waiting for the municipality – they do it.  

• Peer-to-peer education - The Enviro-Champs also share information door-to-door on sanitation, waste and hygiene. Their work builds trust and spreads knowledge and understanding, shifting behaviours and keeping water sources cleaner.

• Working together to scale their efforts up - Funded by the Presidential Employment Stimulus and Social Employment Fund, the programme has now grown to include 1,000 Enviro-Champs across KwaZulu-Natal, all working to monitor and improve water quality. The effort is a truly collaborative one with support from the  Duzi-uMngeni Conservation Trust, the South African National Biodiversity Institute, uMngeni-uThukela Water, Unicef-YOMA, CGIAR, the International Water Management Institute and GroundTruth.

Acknowledgements:

 The Conversation: “Sewage leaks put South Africa’s freshwater at risk: how citizen scientists are helping clean up” by Jim Taylor, Mark Graham and Nicholas B. Pattinson Photos: DUCT and GroundTruth