Efforts by the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality to clamp down on leaks are starting to bear fruit, with the city boasting one of the lowest water-loss figures in years.
In February, about 22.3% of water was lost through leaks, down almost 5% from the previous month and almost 18% lower than in December.
The municipality also recorded its highest water revenue figure in months in February – at 70.9% – which ultimately means more money for the metro.
The news, revealed at a budget and treasury meeting on Friday, comes amid a crippling drought in the Bay, with dam levels reaching a combined average of 18.98% this week.
The city has been struggling for years to reduce its water losses, a problem that has been consistently flagged by the auditor-general in his annual audit findings.
Despite the positive news of a downward trend in water losses, the metro is saddled with a number of challenges that are keeping it from raking in more money.
These include the fact that many water meters are not on the city’s budget and treasury data base and go undetected.
Director of water and sanitation Barry Martin, in his presentation to the budget and treasury committee on Friday, said water meter audits at households revealed the readings of many meters were still estimated.
The audit found:
Many households have internal leaks, which they are liable for;
Many erfs are linked to the wrong meters; and
There is a large number of leaks on properties, namely in taps and toilet cisterns.
Martin’s report says there is a need to replace some of the old meters as they are resulting in a loss in revenue for the municipality.
“Old meters tend to underread by up to 15%,” the report said. Among typical meter problems are incorrect serial numbers, making it difficult to link the water meters to consumers, as well as missing paperwork after meters are installed.
“[A] desktop study of some 29,000 erven as well as field results from domestic audits found [to date] 8,546 houses occupied [were] without a metered connection.
“As a result, the backlog of replacing meters older than 10 years increased from 33,396 in June 2016 to 46,332 in June 2017”.
Since July last year, the municipality has replaced 9,443 water meters, but it does not have enough money to replace all meters older than 10 years.
As part of its interventions to have more accurate meter readings, the municipality is looking at installing advanced metering infrastructure to monitor large users and remote meter installations.
“A service provider has been appointed to install 1,500 [advanced meters] to specifically monitor large water users over three years,” Martin said.
Other interventions to cut losses are to reduce the water pressure and to continue leak repairs in the homes of the indigent and in schools.
Martin said he believed reducing water pressure, installing meters and ensuring all customers were billed would go a long way toward reducing water losses