Abstract:
South Africa is a water-scarce nation, which must ensure that its water sources are protected (Bartram, 1996). It is true that the UN Environmental Programme positioned the country?s water quality 47th out of 122 nations it observed, but that was 15 years ago (Conero, et al., 1998). Despite numerous claims that South Africa has some of the best potable water in the world, this is not true (Gail, 2004) Rural municipalities in South Africa are not reporting water quality monitoring data effectively and are not complying with the regulation requirements to ensure overall management of the water quality monitoring process (Rivett, et al., 2014), which makes this process ineffective and inefficient. This is due to the fact that the national monitoring system – the Blue Drop System – that has been designed and implemented to monitor water quality compliance in the country, is not user-friendly or practical and compatible with under-resourced or rural municipalities in South Africa (Rivett et al., 2014). Government conducted a case study, aimed at investigating and evaluating why rural areas are inefficient and ineffective when participating in national water quality monitoring. The researcher conducted collection of data through the Interviews. Interviews involved the researcher, water supply testers, the water service manager and employees of Nkangala District Municipality in Mpumalanga. The research found that a mobile-based information system has increased interaction and communication between different levels in the municipality. It also enables managers to remain informed and confident about the quality of water service delivery. The study found that the implementation of the information system has led to transparency in job performance, which will lead to the municipal management taking action. Overall, the findings of the research show that the implementation of a mobile-based information system in Nkangala District Municipality has led to effective and efficient monitoring of water quality. The study proposed that the mobile information system could use a wireless internet connection to share information between municipality stakeholders in real time.
