An Assessment of Krokodilrivier Water Quality in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa.


According to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) ‘s indicator baseline 2017 report of South Africa, the percentage of the population using safely managed drinking water services has remained more or less constant around 91% between 2014 and 2016. The observation of the same variable from 1996 to 2011, shows a significant increase from 76.6% to 89.4%. This therefore means between 2011 and 2016, the change has been insignificant. To have a sample analysis in this regard, on the dynamics of quality in the country, the water quality data was collected from the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), covering the years 2008 to 2018 in the Krokodilrivier. There are 17 water quality variables, which were analysed, and are grouped into physical and chemical parameters. The data was compared with some of the international drinking water quality standards, such as the one issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO), it was then found that the amount of some of these elements in the water such as Cl-1, EC, F - and K+1, makes water not fit for drink. Statistical techniques applied in this study, include descriptive stats, correlation analysis as well as regression statistical modelling. The process to observing relationships, implied that one variable causes changes in another variable. The results proved to be a useful mean for rapid monitoring of water quality with the help of systematic calculations of correlation coefficient between water parameters and regression analysis.