The South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) will, next week, host the thirty-seventh meeting of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) Technical Committee (TC) 147 for water quality.

The event, to be held in Pretoria, from April 13 to 18, will convene more than 100 international experts from 39 countries to advance the development of global water quality standards.

South Africa is hosting the meeting as part of its active role in international standardisation.

SABS holds participating (P-member) status on ISO/TC 147 and plays a leadership role in one of its subcommittees, enabling South Africa to contribute directly to the development of international standards.

“Given the growing challenges around water quality and security, it is more important than ever for South Africa to be part of global standards discussions,” said SABS divisional head of standards Dr Sadhvir Bissoon, adding that this reflected SABS’ active participation and influence in shaping international standards through its network of technical experts.

“This meeting provides a timely platform for engagement, knowledge exchange and contributing to the ongoing development of standards that are relevant both globally and within our local context.”

The meeting will include more than 40 technical sessions focused on the development of standards used to define, measure and assess water quality.

These standards support a wide range of applications, including drinking water, industrial use, food preparation and environmental monitoring across surface water, groundwater, wastewater and aquatic ecosystems.

The committee’s work focuses on how water quality is evaluated, including the sampling of water and the measurement and reporting of chemical, microbiological, biological, radiological and ecological characteristics.

This enables consistent and reliable methods for understanding water quality across different environments and uses.

The committee has published over 340 international standards and continues to develop new ones through its technical working groups, reflecting evolving scientific knowledge and global priorities in water quality.

“Standards may not always be visible, but they play an important role in how we understand the quality of the water we use every day. Ultimately, this is about making sure that water is safe, reliable and supports the wellbeing of our communities,” Bissoon concluded.