Water meter runs even when water doesn’t
Strijdom Park family sees monthly bills of R11 000 and R17 000 in water even when they use it sparingly and do not fill up their pool.
A Strijdom Park family is at their wit’s end with their water meter that doesn’t just report the incorrect usage, but also shows readings that water is being used even when the water has been turned off.
They have had separate monthly bills of R11 000 and R17 000, though most of the time there are only two or three people at home, and they use water sparingly.
“We don’t even fill up the pool anymore and we are still having this problem. My husband goes to the municipality walk-in centres just about every week to fight this,” said Tammy Krause when Randburg Sun visited.
Her husband, Benjamin Krause claimed this had been going on for about five years, and they have seen little to no help from Johannesburg Water because they sometimes missed their payments.
“My salary comes in on the 31st of each month so we always struggle to pay the utilities on time. We have missed it once or twice and they seem to use that as a reason to not investigate the meter,” he said.
The couple said even when the water was off in the neighbourhood or no taps were on in the house, the meter still continuously ticked over.
When this publication investigated, this did not happen, but the couple said it was the first time they saw the meter reading not increasing.
Ward 101 councillor Ralf Bittkau said he was aware of the matter and had escalated it twice to Joburg Water in recent months.
Joburg Water acting manager Seipati Nyawuza said that she, in turn, had asked the billing department to look into the matter.
This is a developing story and Randburg Sun will report developments as they unfold.
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