The City of Joburg has announced that it will follow in the footsteps of other Gauteng municipalities and put measures in place to curb excessive water usage in an attempt to ensure that all South Africans don’t waste and use water sparingly.
The City’s spokesperson, Kgamanyane Maphologela, said that as per the announcement for water restrictions when drought was declared countrywide in November last year, the City took into consideration that South Africa is a water scarce country as well as the persisting lower-than-normal rainfall since the beginning of last year, and would apply water restriction tariffs to domestic customers as of 1 of August.
Maphologela pointed out that the City has stepped-up its efforts to curb high water usage and enforce a culture of responsible use.
“The threat of water supply is increasingly becoming a real issue to all South Africans, particularly in our country where water is a scarce resource. With the continuing high water usage, we have to find ways to introduce measures to control consumption,” said Maphologela
He added that with the City urging its customers to reduce their water consumption in order to avoid level 2 restrictions, the City has applied a water restriction tariff to those who have higher water usage.
He said that in the event where a level 2 water restriction implementation was done, the City would apply the water restriction tariff with users who used more than 20 kilolitres up to those using more than 40 kilolitres per month, with the cost increasing as the usage increases. However, he admitted that an average household’s water use is around 30 kiloliters.
“The message is that those who use more water, will pay more, therefore we urge customers to exercise water-saving tips,” he said.
Residents who use 15–20 kl can expect to pay R17.65; 20–30kl, R26.43; 30–40kl, R30.97 and 40kl and upwards will pay an additional R41.95 per kilolitre.
The level-2 water restrictions, according to section 44 (3) of the Water Services Bylaw, states that all consumers are forthwith compelled:
• Not to water and irrigate their gardens from 6am and 6pm every day;
• Not to fill swimming pools with municipal water; and
• Not to use hosepipes to wash cars, paved areas etc.
Details: City of Joburg, 086 056 2874.
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