Turton joined other water specialists, Johannesburg Water and concerned citizens at a special crisis meeting on Wednesday night after weeks of water outages in Gauteng's three biggest metros, which are supplied by bulk water supplier, Rand Water.
"In general, customers have lost trust. We are dealing with a trust deficit to the extent that it becomes inflammatory to start blaming the customer - the customer is the victim."
Turton was talking about Rand Water's claim that water consumption is higher than supply. Rand Water says consumption in Gauteng is more than 300 litres per person per day, compared to a global average of around 173 litres per person per day.
But Turton told residents the calculation did not take into account that water is lost through leaks; that there is non-revenue water, which includes illegal connections; and that water is also used by industry. Instead, it suggests that all water goes to residents.
His calculations are as follows:
The total volume of water pumped by Rand Water (4 900 million litres) divided by the 17 million people in the various municipalities supplied, subtract 40% [of] water lost to leaks, allocate 10% for commercial users (it might be more), and you get about 160 litres per person per day - way below the global average.
Last week Rand Water CEO Sipho Mosai asked the media to refrain from reporting that the entity was "blaming" communities or municipalities.
He said there was no blaming and added that the word created the false sense that Rand Water had enough water but that another entity was the problem.
He said the utility was asking for water to be used sparingly.
"We are not blaming; we need to join hands in fixing the problem."
Turton is concerned that officials could be downplaying the issue.
"What we're seeing is a systemic failure as different systems are starting to fail. Water and energy and sewage are all in state of [failure] across the country.
"It's quite alarming when government officials choose to shift blame or trivialise the problem.
"When [former] Joburg MMC [for environment, infrastructure and service delivery Mpho Sesedinyane] chose to downplay the crisis by not recognising it as a crisis but only a 'challenge'; as long as we speak like that, it means that nobody is in charge or on top of the crisis."
Turton spoke alongside Dr Ferrial Adam, an environmental activist and manager at water activism organisation WaterCAN.
Adam used data to show residents just how severe the water issues in the country are.
"There is a national collapse of the water system. Government says we don't have a crisis. Government says water shedding is isolated. This is not true."
She added:
Yes, dams are full. That's not where the crisis lies. Poor planning, failing infrastructure, underspending of budget, corruption… Government is now the biggest polluter of our fresh water and water shedding is a symptom of a bigger issue.
She added that the country won't have enough water supply to meet the demand in 2025.
Other water specialists agree, and it is the reason for the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, which takes water from Lesotho to feed the Integrated Vaal River System from which Rand Water gets its supply.
Turton told the residents that the Lesotho project was first planned in the 1950s because it had been predicted then already that the country would eventually run out of water.
Despite this, Phase II of the project, which will see the addition of Polihali Dam, has just begun and is years behind schedule.
Adam said the data that shows that leaks in Gauteng are as high as 40% and added that the reality is that the number is far greater than that.
"Water is not like power - you can't just switch it on and off. You need to have quantity and pressure right for it to flow into households.
"We should have had this meeting 10 years ago. In a few years' time this [water fluctuation] is going to be the norm and we're going to have to deal with it.
"If we do nothing now, in five to 10 years, we will be in big trouble."
Rand Water, which was to supposed to attend the meeting, cancelled at the last minute because it felt it did not need to be there because its services end at a municipal level.
Johannesburg Water, which buys water from Rand Water to distribute to residents, sent its representative, Etienne Hugo.
Hugo was candid with residents, saying that "the last four to five weeks were hell for a lot of people - especially in high-lying areas."
He blamed ageing infrastructure, load shedding and vandalism for the water disruptions.
He added that the entity had a business plan but that there was a R22-billion backlog in water reticulation repairs, and R2.9 billion of that was a piping replacement backlog.
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