A selection of data and reports related to water.

Water quality results

The national monitoring programmes mostly monitor "raw" surface water quality in rivers and dams and produce long-term trend reports and visualisations of, for example, chemistry, eutrophication, microbiology and ecosystems.

Browse water chemistry time-series graphs using Google Earth or text lists.

You may also request archived "raw" water quality data from the Resource Quality Information Services national monitoring programmes for specific rivers and dams by E-mail.

For retrospective studies, download an inorganic water chemistry dataset of rivers, dams, and lakes in South Africa, prepared from the DWS data, 1972-2011, by North-West University.

The DWS NIWIS dashboards integrate water-related data from many sources.

More ways of viewing water quality information

• View summaries of eutrophication data.
• View long-term microbial monitoring results.
  
• View Integrated Water Information Systems dashboards.
  
• Find out more about the the river and dam water quality database known as the Water Management System (WMS).

For other data requests, please try the following links:

• Groundwater data management site.
• Geohydrological Reports System.
• CHART groundwater data visualisation app.
• Former Green Drop and Blue Drop pages: Water Services integrated regulatory information system.
• eWQMS: Emanti Management's Water Quality Management System.
• National Wetlands Inventory.
• WR2012: Water Resources of South Africa, 2012.
• Working for Wetlands.
• For details about regional water quality information see, for example :
• Rand Water and Water resource information centre for Vaal Dam and Barrage
• City of Cape Town
• City of Tshwane
• eThekweni Municipality
• The Upper Vaal Water Management Area at the Reservoir Information Centre.
• and many others...
• Download flow data interactively from the Hydrological Services site.
• Request flow data by E-mail from Hydrological Services.

Laws and Guidelines

• National Water Act
  1. Official web-enabled version
  2. Official full-text version.
  3. HRI web-enabled version
• Quality of domestic water supplies: Assessment Guidelines:
  1. Assessment Guide (PDF 1Mb)
  2. Sampling Guide (PDF 1Mb)
  3. Analysis Guide (PDF 1Mb)
  4. Treatment Guide (PDF 3Mb)
  5. Management Guide (PDF 1Mb)
  6. Archive: 1997 sampling guide (PDF 20Mb)
• Management of Water-related Microbial Diseases (PDF 2.5Mb)
• South African Water Quality Guidelines (1996)

Water Resource Quality Monitoring Protocols

• Sampling protocol for inorganic chemical analysis [PDF 4Mb] 2004-Sep
• Sampling protocol for eutrophication monitoring [PDF 8Mb] 2004-Sep
• Sampling protocol for toxic algae [PDF 5Mb] 2004
• Sampling Protocol for Fish Kill Investigations.pdf [PDF 5Mb] 2004-Sep
• Sampling protocol for water purification works [PDF 5Mb] 2004-Sep

Sustainable Development Goals

• Sustainable Development Goal 6 programme

Water Quality Investigations

• The water quality of Bospoort Dam [PDF 1.5Mb] 2008-Oct
• Report on an Integrated Water Quality Monitoring Programme Conducted in the Town of Delmas, November 2005 to June 2006 [PDF 8Mb] 2007-May
• Suitability of Water within the Tswaing Crater Nature Reserve for Domestic Use [small PDF] [print PDF] 2005-May
• Fish Kill in Roodeplaat Dam [PDF] 2004-Oct
• National Water Resource Quality Status Report: Inorganic Chemical Water Quality of Surface Water Resources in SA ? The Big Picture. [PDF 8.5Mb] 2002
• Water Resources Management Plan in the Diep River Catchment: A Situation Assessment, 2002, N/G210/REQ/1200
• Water Quality in the Elands River and Lindleyspoort Dam, 2001-Jul [small PDF] [print PDF]
• Toxic Algal Incident In Grootdraai Dam, 2001-Jul [small PDF] [print PDF]
• Fish Kill in the Apies River [PDF] 2000-Oct
• Pollution incident in Roodeplaat Dam 2000-May
• Fish Kill in Hartebeespoort Dam 1999-Nov
• Water Quality of Ebenezer Dam 1999-Aug
• Phosphorus transport in the Berg River, Western Cape 1989 (TR 143, PDF, 19Mb)
• Drought Relief Programme: an assessment of the quality of boreholes for potable use - January 1994 to October 1995 - Kühn, A.L., Kempster, P.L. and Everett, A. (Part 1, low resolution)
  (Part 1, high resolution)
  (Part 2, low resolution)
  (Part 2, high resolution)
  

Chemical

• List of publications related to national chemical monitoring.
• List of reports related to national chemical monitoring.
• South African UNEP GEMS/Water: Monitoring Programme Design. (PDF 1.3Mb)
• State of the Environment - South Africa: Freshwater Systems and Resources (With Mzuri Consultants--external link)
• Modelling suspended sediments in the Olifants River catchment
• Assessment of the implementation of the phosphate standard at the Baviaanspoort and the Zeekoegat water care works

Radioactivity

• A Survey on the Radiological and Chemical Quality of the Water Resources in Selected Sites of the Northern Cape Province, 2005 (PDF and JPEG files).
• The Radioactivity Monitoring Programme in the Klip River Catchment, 2003 (PDF, 2Mb).
• Radioactivity Dose Calculation and Water Quality Evaluation Guideline for Domestic Water Use, 2002.
• The Radioactivity Monitoring Programme in the Mooi River (Wonderfonteinspruit) catchment, 1999. (Original HTML page.)

Biological

• National Aquatic Ecosystem Health Monitoring Programme (NAEHMP) including RHP
• Aquatic Plants: Identification guide.
• Easy identification of the most common freshwater algae. A guide for the identification of microscopic algae in South African freshwaters.
• Aquatic invertebrates of South African Rivers: Illustrations.
• Aquatic invertebrates of South African Rivers: Field Guide.
• Beware! Toxic Algae
• National Eutrophication Monitoring Programme (NEMP)
• Field Guide to Fish Kills

Microbiological

• National Microbial Water Quality Monitoring Programme (NMMP)

Geographical, GIS and EO

• Links to geographical data, e.g. slopes, ecoregions, rivers, catchments.
• What is a Maucha diagram? (PDF)
• River coverage project (2003 poster, 1Mb)
• Revisiting Rietspruit: Land Cover Change and Water Quality in South Africa (Showalter et al. 2002, 0.5Mb)
• River coverage project (1999 report, HTML)
• Channel Slopes in the Olifants, Crocodile and Sabie River Catchments (PDF 3Mb)
• A Qualitative (GIS Based) Model of Nonpoint Source Areas (Modelling Suspended Sediment in the Olifants River Catchment) (1999, HTML)
• Salinity problems in the Douglas Weir and Lower Riet River (Moolman & Quibell 1995)
• Changes in urban residential land in the Rietspruit catchment, southern Gauteng
• Water Resource Management and Remote Sensing [850Kb]
• Mapping the integrity of the Vaal River habitat using a helicopter, a video camera and a GIS. 1996 Poster [100Kb] [650Kb]
• 1996 DWAF presentation standards for GIS users
• A partially self-updating GIS metadata system
• The application of geographic information systems to water quality monitoring
• The South African Gauss Conform Projection
• Raster to Vector conversion in a Local, Exact and Near optimal manner.
• Surface water quality of South Africa. The Vaal River catchment: 1979 to 1983. 1986 (JPG, 1.3Mb)
• Landsat water quality surveillance--development of the model CALMCAT 1986 (PDF, 13Mb)
• Remote sensing applications in water resources: colloquium papers (October, 1985)
  1. Howman: Quantifying water quality conditions using LANDSAT (pdf) 1985
  2. Looser: Monitoring soil erosion and land-use change in Natal using remote sensing with special reference to the Mfolozi catchment (pdf) 1985
  3. Maaren: Use of satellite remote sensing in mapping irrigated land-use (pdf) 1985
  4. Seed: Use of image processing technology in hydrology (pdf) 1985

HRI Archive

• List of technical reports produced by the Department of Water and Sanitation until 1990, including hydrology, remote sensing and water quality.

International contacts archive

• Presentation: Illinois student delegation (PPT)
• Report back on 2001 U. S. - South Africa Binational Commission training visit to the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Geological Survey: Building Capacity in Water Quality Modelling in South Africa (PDF)
• Report back on 2000 Information Management Study Visit to the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Geological Survey (PDF)
• [Report back on 1997 IAHS conference in Rabat, Morocco PDF 3.6Mb] [HTML]

Assessment tool development archive

• Development of a Framework for the Assessment of Wetland Ecological Integrity in South Africa Phase 1: Situation Analysis (Mandy Uys 2004) [PDF 2Mb] [ PDF 3.5Mb with cross links, happy links, hyperlinks, hyperspace, bells & whistles]
• Managing complex industrial wastewater discharges- Direct Estimation of Ecological Effect Potential (DEEEP) - discussion document (Sebastian Jooste 2004).
• Risk as a Tool in Water Resource Management - PhD (Sebastian Jooste 2001).
• Water Resources Management & Assessment Information System (WR MAIS)
• Archive of resource directed measures documents (1999)
• GISDECO poster: Putting water quality on the map with WaterMarque (1998)
• Watermarque - A window on Water Quality (1997)
• WaterMarque Manual - An Arc/Info based water quality mapping system (1996) (PDF) original HTML
• Draft report on Lake St. Lucia salinity model (1997)

Archived spatial data queries

• Level 1 Ecoregions.
• Experimental 1995 land cover segmented by secondary drainage region.
• Experimental drainage region hierarchy