Editing Water supply and sanitation in South Africa (section)

===Cost recovery===
In 2010, eleven of the 13 water boards were financially viable. The exceptions were Namakwa and Bushbuckridge water boards. Municipalities owed the water boards more than Rand 1.3bn (about US$200 million). There is little information available on cost recovery at the municipal level, partly because revenues and costs associated with water supply and sanitation are not necessarily accounted for separately in municipal budgets. If Water Services Authorities prepare water and sanitation budgets, asset replacement costs (depreciation) are often not included in budgets.<ref name="WRC Rural"/> Furthermore, the policy of free basic water leads to deficits in the supply of these services. Municipalities cover these deficits in large part through the "equitable share" transfers from national government.<ref>{{cite web|last=Paulina Calfucoy|title=Improving Free Basic Water Provision in South Africa|url=http://www.lafollette.wisc.edu/publications/workshops/2009/southafrica.pdf|publisher=Prepared for the Financial and Fiscal Commission, South Africa|access-date=8 September 2012|pages=11–13|year=2009|display-authors=etal}}</ref>