eThekwini Municipality is losing billions in sales revenue because of water losses, which is hampering the supply of water to households.
The total bulk water System Input Volume (SIV) for the 2019/20 financial year was 362,046,895 (kl/y), but during the same time period, the average consumer sales volume of water on the Revenue Management System was 177,340,525 (kl/y), which accounts for 51% of water loss and translates into an R1.7 billion loss in revenue, Mayor Cyril Xaba said on Tuesday.
In analysing the water loss, the 2020 Water Balance Report made the following concerning observations:
• Apparent losses (illegal consumption and metering inaccuracies) are 10.2%;
• Real losses (leaks on mains) are 39.8%;
• And a negligible percentage is attributed to unbilled authorised consumption (3,779,731 kilolitres per year), all together bringing the non-revenue water to 51% for the 2019/20 financial year.
Xaba said that in the last two financial years, the water utility lost R4,03 billion in sales, accounting for 468,010,665 kilolitre per annum (1,282 mega litres per day).
“Between the period 2017 and 2023, I have observed sharp contradictions namely that, our consumer sales volumes have been decreasing even when there has been an increase in both service connections and system input volume to our water supply systems,” Xaba said.
He added that cash collections in eThekwini Municipality for water services declined from 97% in 2017/18 to 67% in 2022/23. This coincided with the sharp increase of non-revenue water from 30% in 2017 to above 50% in 2022, signalling a rapid deterioration in the system.
Xaba said the Water and Sanitation Business Plan must include:
• Detection and fixing of leaks;
• Meter all informal settlements, standpipes, and bulk meters for rural areas, so that the city can account for every kilolitre;
• Install meters to close to 100 000 unmetered properties;
• Replace dysfunctional meters and domestic meters and replace large commercial/industrial meters that have outlived their value;
• Ensure sufficient meter stocks;
• Improve effectiveness of metering and billing processes, including performance incentives and controls;
• Enforce credit control and debt management policy;
• Review and tighten meter reading contracts and contract management.
Inkatha Freedom Party Exco member Mdu Nkosi acknowledged that there is a water crisis facing the city which will take commitment, dedication, facing the real hard facts, and finding working solutions to the existing problem.
“The repairs of water infrastructure will take time. Interim solutions, including provision of water tankers, are in place to assist communities in need. It is expected that some of the water infrastructure repair projects will be completed by the end February, but the repairs, maintenance, and upgrading of our water infrastructure are ongoing project,” Nkosi said.
Democratic Alliance Exco member Andre Beetge said low-cost housing projects with piped supply built to shelter the poor, and illegal water connections throughout informal settlements are impossible to control.
The Ethekwini Ratepayers Protest Movement (ERPM) said plumbing contractors are not being called out because they cannot be paid by the city, exacerbating water losses.
“We are also being ‘managed’ with confirmations of escalations - but the feedback loop is currently on life support. There are no plumbers attending jobs. We are escalating to a unit that does not have the staff to send out,” ERPM stated.