Capetonians encouraged to manage their water usage

The City of Cape Town has asked residents to manage their water usage responsibly as part of their collective effort to maintain a sustainable level of water use and avoid wasting water.

According to the municipality, undetected leaks on private plumbing can significantly impact residents’ water bills.

However, regular meter readings can help residents identify spikes in water usage that could signify a leak, to avoid unwelcome surprises when the next monthly bill arrives.

Registered indigent households can also use regular meter checks to make sure their water use remains below the extended usage limit of 15 000 litres each month. This amounts to an average of 500 litres per day for the total household, as this is the newly approved usage limit for indigent residents as part of a new approach to domestic water metering.

‘’Cape Town’s registered indigent residents are provided the largest water and sanitation allocation in the country, at no charge to the household. The City will continue to support registered indigent residents with monthly water allocation at no charge, while at the same time, encouraging residents to manage it wisely. The volume of water provided to qualifying indigent households has been increased, and residents may now independently manage their monthly water usage, and play an active role in the collective effort to avoid wastage and maintain a sustainable level of water use,’’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Waste, Xanthea Limberg.

How to read my meter?

• Open your water meter box. If the lid is closed, you can usually open it with something like a screwdriver.

• No matter what type of water meter it is, the black numbers represent thousands of litres, called kilolitres, and red numbers represent litres.

• Water charges are based on the number of kilolitres of water used on the property every month. If you are submitting your own readings to the City (e.g. if your meter is difficult for meter readers to access), you only need to supply the black numbers when submitting your reading.

• Water meters continually record the amount of water that passes into a property throughout the lifespan of the meter. The tally on the meter does not reset from month to month. Subtract the previous reading from your current reading to determine usage for the period between readings.

 

Done By: Mitchum George