The Department also facilitated the improvement of the regulation of drinking water quality through compliance, monitoring and enforcement. The Department of Water Affairs had in a previous financial year introduced incentive-based regulation in the form of the Blue and Green Drop Certification Programmes as a means to improve drinking water quality and wastewater service respectively. These programmes were designed and developed to inspire managers, specialists, and practitioners alike towards excellence; based on the simple principles of setting stringent criteria; subjecting municipalities to thorough auditing; ensuring improvement through consultative auditing; and revealing performance by means of annual publications.