Water metre theft on the rise

Johannesburg Water is facing a problem with water meter theft. The meters that are being targeted are often outside residents’ homes. “Our meters are being targeted because of their value, they have copper and therefore are a target,”said Joburg Water external communications officer Eleanor Mavimbela.

According to her, the meter theft is not the only problem. “We often find that our meters are vandalised and as a result need to be replaced.”

Mavimbela explained that meters are often stolen in the night and in the morning, when resident wake up, they find that they no longer have water.

“As a result of the increase, we (Joburg Water) has had to replace the stolen water meters with meters that are made out of plastic and that will be of no value. This will help eradicate the problem of water meters being stolen,” says Mavimbela.

Johannesburg Water urges residents to log a call immediately with them should they not have water or if their water meter has been stolen.

“We understand that it is frustrating to not have water – therefore we ask that a call is logged with us. When people call they should get a reference number and if they are not attended to, they can then use that number to follow up. It is not our intention to have people stuck without water for a long period of time but if a call is not logged, we will not know about the situation and will not be able to attend to the problem because we were not informed,” said Mavimbela.

Details : Johannesburg Water 011 375 5555