Water meters for informal settlements?

IN AN ATTEMPT to save every drop of water, the City of Cape Town has been considering installing water meters in all informal settlements to monitor inhabitants’ use of the life-sustaining liquid.

City councillor Zahid Badroodien said the amount of water supplied to informal settlement households was estimated to be 22 million litres a day – nearly 3% of the water used across the city.

Badroodien said that this amount was less than that consumed by formal households, but the metering was necessary to identify and fix leaks, reduce water being wasted, and detect illegal connections.

“Illegal connections to the reticulation pipes is a major contributor to residents in informal settlements experiencing low water pressure, especially during peak usage times such as mornings and evenings.

“This also damages the City’s infrastructure and increases the risk of water wastage, as well as the possibility of contamination.

“Currently, the City has meters that measure water consumption by people in informal settlements, and this is by implication a reactive process.

“The City is investing providing new taps and installing drinking water pipes in informal settlements where this is legally and physically possible, according to approved budget plans which also take the national tap-tohousehold ratio into account.

“The informal settlements basic services branch is, however, constantly refining the procedures and is still in the very early stages of looking into metering options to help more accurately quantify the amount of water used in informal settlements. This (information) is not for billing purposes.”

He said engagements were ongoing, and affected parties would be consulted once talks had been concluded.

Leaders at the informal settlements said the City was bluffing, as water metering would be a failure.

Tini Mohau of the Winnie Madikizela-Mandela settlement in Delft said: “They can’t even sustain the supply and the infrastructure in the formal houses and want us to believe that the system will work.

“This is just another way to deprive people of their basic needs because we will be constantly told we exceed our limits and the water will be (cut) off.

“The City takes (so) long to attend to reports of leaks and damaged infrastructure, leading to people being billed for wasted water. How is that going to be different for us? Yes, they won’t bill us, but they will not provide enough water, using the measurements as an excuse.”

Bongani Qolani, of Ethembeni settlement in Khayelitsha, said the City should be discussing adequate service delivery to all informal settlements before monitoring consumption.

“Water is a critical natural resource and a basic need for all. It shouldn’t be limited to anyone, especially those living under difficult circumstances, where hygiene is a top priority.

“We would understand if they were providing houses and then billing per household, like in the suburbs. Then people would have control and be held accountable.

“In the settlements, one household has 10 people (in it), while the next has two or a single person. Whatever happens will affect even the innocent, so the City must find ways of servicing the people rather than oppressing them,” said Qolani.

Malusi Booi, mayco member for human settlements, explained that there was continuous growth in informal settlements, with about 186 new areas occupying about 338 743 hectares of state and privately owned land in the metro. He said 73% of this land was City-owned.

A budget of about R314 million had been spent on upgrading the settlements over the past financial year, and assessments were ongoing.