Current Edition >> Archive Section >> Special Features >> 3 April 2007
It cannot be over-emphasized to the public in general, that in South Africa, as in most countries in the world today, water is a national treasure and that as such water should by every single consumer be cherished and conserved.
In South Africa as a country with less than sufficient rainfall for its needs in terms of household, agricultural, industrial and other forms of consumption, this situation is aggravated by the frequent droughts the country is experiencing as well as the occurrence of vast arid regions. As a result, water constitutes indeed an asset and a treasure, required to be dealt with accordingly. This also applies to the Mangaung Municipal Area with its three major components, viz. Bloemfontein (including Mangaung township area and Heatherdale), Botshabelo and Thaba Nchu.
Originating from the SA Constitution, the SA Government is implementing, through local municipalities as water services providers, the concept of Free Basic Water (FBW), entailing at least 6 000 litres of water to indigent households each month (about 25-40 litres per person per day). This virtuous policy places, however, an additional onus on local municipalities such as Mangaung Local Municipality (MLM) to utilize every possible measure in order to make financial ends meet.
There is no real free water – somewhere somebody has to pay for it.
Cross-subsidation is a measure assisting a lot to cover water expenses, but more is needed.
Mangaung situation
MLM has introduced various technologies for controlling water consumption in the area under its jurisdiction, especially in terms of defaulting consumers. These are mostly in the form of prepaid meters, electronic flow limiters, mechanical restrictors and others.
It has been found in the Mangaung area that about 98% of water services debt is due to toilet leaks, with indigent communities tending to have a higher debt due to non-servicing of toilet cisterns.
This simply means that most of the money spent to provide the public with clean potable water is lost due to leakages. MLM is currently spending about R55 million per annum on water unaccounted for, excluding water not paid for by indigent consumers not able to afford anything more than 6 kl/month.
Leaks on private properties have left the municipality over the past two years with a debt of more than R140 million.
This led to the implementation of a project to introduce leak free cisterns, i.e. a cistern that is at all times dry until water is needed to flush, in Freedom Square Extension. This effected an average reduction of more than 75% in toilet water usage and an average reduction of 45.73% of total monthly consumption.
It is now envisaged to extend this successful project to other residential areas as well.
Specific objectives
• The Directorate of Infrastructural Services, Division Water and Sanitation, of MLM is unceasingly working on implementing, through private sectoral contracting, the following specific objectives:
• To repair water leaks on the water network, with specific focus on leaks downstream of household meters. Priority is given to households that are considered indigent.
• To address ownership (e.g. immediate attention to leaks identified) and basic maintenance responsibilities (e.g. continuous flushing toilets) for household water and sanitation infrastructure through community capacity building initiatives.
• To identify community members with the potential of becoming plumbers and provide them with skills to carry out the repairs during the project.
• To create jobs through the development and support of SMME's and local community structures.
• To establish fully community-driven maintenance programmes in the area through the involvement of trained plumbers.
• To educate communities and create water conservation awareness.
• To pilot alternative technologies for controlling water consumption.
• These objectives are based on the following principles:
• Work is done in compliance with relevant standards and based on best practices for labour intensive projects under the Extended Public Works Programme.
• Ward Committees must play an active role in the implementation of this project.
• Job creation forms an integral part of the project
• All materials required to carry out the work must be provided by the service provider.
• The selection of the areas where the project will be executed, remains the responsibility of the Directorate of Infrastructural Services.
• The areas to be covered are prioritised based on outstanding municipal debt growth.
Call for public participation
All the initiatives by MLM described above, can only succeed if they are backed by massive public participation. Therefore, in particular, the water consuming public in the Mangaung Municipal Area is herewith called upon to provide active assistance in the following respects:
Be acutely aware that every drop of the water being consumed or utilized is done so for a constructive purpose and that not a drop should be wasted.
Note specifically each toilet cistern that is leaking and take whatever measure necessary to have it repaired.
The same applies to every leaking tap or pipe. Often repairs are easy and can be done DIY, such as simply putting in a new washer in a tap.
Observe also in particular that watering of gardens is done so as economically and effectively as possible.
For other water saving tips, see list published below on this page.
Any leakages in the municipal water supply system of which any member of the public is aware, should be immediately reported at the Call Centre numbers printed on this page. It is the intention of MLM to repair such public leakages within 4 hours of being reported.
Provide MLM with feedback on the campaign against water leakages at the Call Centre numbers.
Conclusion
The call for public assistance in the campaign to combat water leakages within the Mangaung Municipal Area is reiterated herewith with acclamation.
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