Despite the significant funding of water services through, inter alia, the equitable share and the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG), there is considerable evidence that a very low proportion of the equitable share is actually spent on water services. In addition, billing and cost recovery are generally poor, with some areas in essence not being billed at all. As a result, daily operations and especially longer term maintenance are significantly underfunded. The result of poor municipal water management increases the demand of water quantities whilst decreasing raw water quality, both of which have major implications for water resources management, with associated financial and regulatory implications.