Microbial Pathogens in the Umgeni River, South Africa Report to the Water Research Commission by Johnson Lin1, Atheesha Ganesh1 & Moganavelli Singh2 1Discipline of Microbiology, School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal (Westville), Durban, RSA 2Discipline of Biochemistry, School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal (Westville), Durban, RSA WRC Report No. KV 303/12 ISBN 978-1-4312-0347-5 November 2012 Obtainable from Water Research Commission Private Bag X03 GEZINA, 0031 South Africa
[email protected] or download from www.wrc.org.za The publication of this report emanates from a project entitled Microbial pathogens in the Umgeni River, South Africa (WRC Project No. K8/990) DISCLAIMER This report has been reviewed by the Water Research Commission (WRC) and approved for publication. Approval does not signify that the contents necessarily reflect the views and policies of the WRC, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. © WATER RESEARCH COMMISSION ii Microbial Pathogens in the Umgeni River, South Africa EXECUTIVE SUMMARY BACKGROUND Increasing urbanization on a global scale places enormous pressure on finite freshwater supplies. South Africa is a chronically water stressed country with between 500 m3 and 1000 m3 of water available per person per year. Surface water is heavily committed for use, resulting in water being imported from neighbouring countries. The South African national government is concerned about the state of river water quality and the status of wastewater treatment. The Blue Drop Certification Programme was initiated in 2009 which is designed and implemented with the core objective of ensuring good quality drinking water.