Sello Daniel Selepe, from Thaba Nchu, developed the system while working with the Free State Provincial Government’s technical support programme, which deployed 59 engineers to assist struggling municipalities.
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A 28-year-old Free State engineer has designed a digital water monitoring system aimed at improving water safety and accountability in municipalities across the province.
Sello Daniel Selepe, from Thaba Nchu, developed the system while working with the Free State Provincial Government’s technical support programme, which deployed 59 engineers to assist struggling municipalities.
Selepe, an alumnus of the Central University of Technology, was placed at Nketoana Local Municipality, where he created several digital tools to improve operational efficiency in water services.
His flagship innovation, called “Guardian of Every Tap”, records, analyses and flags operational issues in real time. It monitors water quality from raw intake through to final distribution, ensuring that only safe water reaches communities.
The system also supports accountability by requiring technicians to input data directly, which is time-stamped and cannot be easily altered.
Selepe said municipal water testing was previously recorded manually in logbooks, which posed risks such as loss of data and inconsistencies.
“With this system, our data is now digitalised and is also able to determine water samples for you and inform you if the water is safe enough to consume or not,” he said. “The system flags water samples according to the South African water standards.”
He said the innovation was partly inspired by past incidents of E. coli contamination, including in Hammanskraal, as well as broader concerns about water quality in municipalities such as Mantsopa.
Selepe said his goal was to use science in a practical way to improve living conditions and create solutions that would have a lasting impact in local government.
Raised in Zone 1 in Thaba Nchu, Selepe grew up in modest circumstances and said his early experiences of walking long distances to fetch water shaped his career path.
A former learner at Strydom Secondary School, he is among many young Free Staters who have benefited from government education support programmes, including NSFAS and provincial bursaries.
He is currently furthering his studies in Groundwater at the University of the Free State.
Selepe’s work has been highlighted as part of a broader vision for a capable and professional public service driven by youth innovation in the Free State.
IOL