Can you drink tap water in South Africa?

What World Health Organization publishes

Population using safely managed drinking-water services, South Africa, 2022: 69.1%.

World Health Organization defines that indicator as: “The percentage of population drinking water from an improved source that is accessible on premises, available when needed and free from faecal and priority chemical contamination. Improved water sources include piped water, boreholes or tubewells, protected dug wells, protected springs, rainwater, and packaged or delivered water.” (World Health Organization, read 19 September 2026).

The estimate covers the whole of 2022: it is an annual figure, and World Health Organization publishes no month or day for it.

The profile card read “Safely managed drinking water South Africa, 2022” when we read it on 19 September 2026.

Source: World Health Organization — dated 2022, read 19 September 2026

Regional variation

• Urban: 77.2%
• Rural: 51.6%

Source: World Health Organization — dated 2022, read 19 September 2026

What an independent test shows

We have not tested the water in South Africa ourselves. Nothing on this page is our own measurement. You can have a supply tested.

What this figure does not tell you

"Population using safely managed drinking-water services" is a national population share. It describes how much of a country's population uses a service World Health Organization counts as safely managed — not the water in one building, one town or one tap in South Africa.

A national figure can be high while supplies differ locally, and it can be low while the places a visitor goes are served well. This page reports the national estimate for 2022 and the urban and rural shares World Health Organization publishes alongside it, and nothing more precise than that.

Nothing here is our own measurement, and nothing here is a travel advisory. For an official travel-health position, read the guidance your own national health authority publishes for the destination.