HIGHEST SCORING RESULTS IN EASTERN CAPE

While there was a general decline in Blue Drop results between 2014 and 2023, NMBM bucked this trend and actually improved on its score from 72.43% to 85.03%. How did you manage this?

CB Institutional knowledge is important to NMBM. We did not use consultants for any of our audit preparations. We have a scientist – Mzuvukile Thomas – that drives the audit process, making sure that various role players within each department gives the appropriate data and works towards achieving the needed scores. He did a lot of groundwork to better prepare us for the actual Blue Drop audit. It is important to us to ‘own’ the whole audit process and retain the knowledge gained during that audit process.

We scored highly on the ratio of technical people to water supply systems. We have also done a significant amount of work on asset management over the past few years where, for example, we have documented, georeferenced condition assessments of every single chamber on our bulk water pipelines. This feeds into our management system, which can be used to generate various automated reports and job cards. While access to the latest technology in the water sector can elevate performances, it is important to have capacity in terms of qualified and experienced people to operate this technology.

NMBM has experienced an eight-year drought. Did this have an impact on your Blue Drop audit?

Many of the current staff members within NMBM’s Water and Sanitation Division have only ever worked under disaster conditions. This has meant that everybody has had to take on extra work to combat the drought and prepare for the Blue Drop audit. Everybody pulled together and did all they could to achieve these results.

The high level of participation from senior managers of the Water and Sanitation team impressed the auditors, as well as the detailed knowledge that various team members had on individual plant infrastructure and challenges within the distribution system. This support and involvement from senior team members helped our division perform well during the drought and audit process. The drought added some complexities. For instance, many of our reservoirs operated at very low levels and some would at times of emergencies go empty. This created the unlikely risk of sediment at the bottom being drawn into the system. We therefore had teams that would conduct daily chlorine residual testing at all the reservoirs to mitigate this risk.

What is NMBM’s approach when preparing for the audit?

We try to grow and learn from each audit process. We carefully go through the auditor’s notes from the previous audit process and turn them into something that can be actioned going forward. It is also always a good idea to tackle the low-hanging fruit first and move on from there. I would also recommend asking for clarification wherever possible.

It is also important to note that the Blue Drop programme is not solely based on water quality. It is possible to produce good water quality and receive a below-average Blue Drop score. This is because there is a huge focus on the entire water quality management system, asset management, risk management, and water safety planning. It is all about continuous improvement.

What is the audit process like?

It was a very supportive process; the auditors gave us a lot of their time and advice. While the audit itself is a strict