30
FEATURE
Legal framework and institutional arrangements for rainwater harvesting By Water Research Commission 2018 .
( Plumbing Africa herewith reproduces an edited version of the document produced in 2018 . We note that we remain without standards on RWH but are encouraged that the incorporation of ‘ Water ’ in the National Building Regulations will resolve this issue . This is currently under discussion .)
Domestic rainwater harvesting ( RWH ) is increasingly adopted in South Africa . Interest in the practice is growing and further driven by increases in water tariffs and increased climate variability across the country .
Laws and regulations , as well as institutional arrangements , are still lagging . The country ’ s government has three distinctive , interrelated , and interdependent spheres ( national , provincial , and local or municipal levels ) that operate according to the constitution ( Act 108 of 1996 ), laws , and policies made by the national parliament .
Legal framework The functions of government are not only exercised at the national level but are also decentralised to levels closer to the people . The Water Services Act ( Act 108 of 1997 ) provides a framework for the provision of water supply and sanitation services to households in South Africa . The Water Services Act transfers the responsibility for the provision and management of existing domestic water supply and sewerage disposal systems from national to local government .
Moreover , all spheres of government have a duty , within their physical and financial capabilities , to work towards this object . The National Water Act ( Act 36 of 1998 ) deals with the management and protection of water resources in the country . The Department of Water and Sanitation ( DWS ) is in the process of reviewing and possibly amalgamating these pieces of legislation . In addition , the Municipal Systems Act ( Act 32 of 2000 ) sets out legislation that enables municipalities to uplift their communities by ensuring access to essential services .
Water forms part of the ‘ right to basic municipal services ’ outlined in the Act . The Water Services Act is aligned to the National Water Act since its interpretation is subject to it . The South African water-related legislations do not provide an unambiguous framework for the adoption of RWH , making it illegal by strict application of the law . This is especially so when one assesses local water services bylaws .
A bylaw is a legislation passed and enacted by a municipal council . Unlike a law , it is passed by a non-sovereign body , which derives its authority from another governing body . A municipal government gets its power to pass laws through a law of the state , which specifies what things the city may regulate through bylaws .
Each municipality must compile a municipal code — a list of all its bylaws — that is available to members of the public upon request . A bylaw gives effect to respective policies and is therefore the regulatory instrument through which a municipality exercises its authority . In theory , a bylaw must never conflict national or provincial legislation ; where this happens , national and provincial legislation override it . Two avenues are used to ensure alignment between bylaws of municipalities and the Department of Water and Sanitation ( the role of the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry , the custodian of the country ’ s water resources , is one of a regulator ):
• The minister responsible for local government may also pass what is called “ standard draft bylaws ” to guide municipalities . Municipalities may then make bylaws for any standard draft bylaw .
• The relevant national government departments provide what are called “ model bylaws ” to guide municipalities . While these are comprehensive , municipalities use sections that suit their situation .
In terms of design and construction , RWH infrastructure must be consistent with the National Building Regulations ( NBR ) SANS 10400 . The NBR fall under the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act ( Act 103 of 1977 ), which governs all building and construction work in South Africa .
While all building plans must be approved by the building control officer , there is no requirement to submit water drawings as that falls under SANS 10106 , 10252 , and 10254 . Both SANS 10252 and SANS 10254 fall under the Water Services Act and , therefore , the Department of Water and Sanitation .
Their compliance and enforcement are therefore not administered by building control officers but by water inspectors under water services bylaws . Unlike the building control officers , the qualification of the water inspector is not specified . The municipality may authorise any person in its employment to be a designated water inspector .
The water inspector has the right , without access restriction , to enter with or without a written authorisation in any premise at any reasonable time . A legal framework can only be effective if it is enforced . Every municipality should have a trained group of people who inspect water services and plumbing installations to ensure that these comply with both national and local legislation . This is currently not the case , as municipalities do not have appointed water inspector .
SANS 10252 and SANS 10254 are not written in the format of SANS 10400 . Both need to be rewritten into SANS 10400 to be part and parcel of the building regulation set . This will de facto provide building control officers with the mandate and platform to enforce it .
In one hand , it may not be a bad thing that South Africa has no direct language in the national building codes referring to RWH . This has enabled , over the past decades , local governments to regulate more freely . On the other hand , it faces serious challenges with respect to monitoring compliance with and enforcing contraventions of these bylaws since they do not have the capacity to enforce them .
The question remains of whether RWH must be regulated and to which levels it should be regulated .
To permit the expansion of RWH in rural and remote areas that still rely on reservoirs , pools , stagnant waters , and rivers as their primary water source , the practice should remain largely unregulated . Largely , because both isolated and dual RWH systems , there must be compliance to the relevant chapters of SANS 10400 .
The users must understand that the water harvested cannot be used for domestic consumption without prior treatment , using the appropriate household ’ s water treatment technology . Dual-mode rainwater harvesting
www . plumbingafrica . co . za @ plumbingonline @ plumbingonline @ PlumbingAfricaOnline February 2022 Volume 27 I Number 12