Several oil and gas companies have applied for licenses to extract unconventional oil and gas (UOG) resources in South Africa (SA) through a process known as hydraulic fracturing or fracking. The South African government is in the process of drafting regulations and procedures to allow the extraction of these resources. It is surmised, based on evidence from fracking examples around the world, that large volumes of wastewater may, however, potentially be generated during the extraction of these UOG resources.

Households in many rural areas worldwide rely on septic tanks, simple pit latrines or other means of wastewater disposal. Many such households are not served by a piped mains water supply, but rather obtain their water supplies from local wells. Sampling studies of private wells in Ireland and elsewhere have shown many wells to be contaminated, with sources of microbial contamination known to include domestic wastewater treatment systems, as well as practices associated with intensive agricultural production.