WATER which is unaccounted for in terms of illegal connections, and faulty and leaking meters will soon be dealt with through the meter audit project which started in July this year.
This project forms part of the municipality’s water services corrective measures recommended by the Auditor- General when the municipality received a disclaimer in the 2012/2013 financial year.
“While the meter audit programme is aimed at addressing internal issues, is it also aimed at simultaneously dealing with the minimisation of estimated meter readings,” said Ugu spokesman Sipho Khuzwayo.
The municipality has appointed a service provider to carry out this programme around the district and audit every household and business meter in the area.
“The audit is estimated to run for six months and will allow households and businesses to receive more accurate monthly meter readings going forward,” he explained.
“We are undertaking this project for the benefit of both the municipality and customers. It will assist in detecting leaking and faulty meters, for revenue enhancement and for reduction of non revenue water by the identification of the escalating number of illegal water connections,” added Mr Khuzwayo.
He added that illegal water connections have negatively impacted on the effectiveness of water provision within the district.
“Our district is bombarded with illegal connections and this is crippling the municipality’s service delivery. A large percentage of the district steals from the municipality and we want to put an end to this. People who receive municipal services should pay for them,” he said.
The service provider has commenced with the audits and will be auditing the entire coastal strip and inland areas, and has reported some of the challenges he has been facing in some areas where this audit has commenced.
For more clarity on this project, communities can contact their ward councillors.
