Water restrictions threaten local business
The last self-service, coin-operated laundromat in Springs is under threat due to the strict water restrictions placed on businesses.
A local business, that depends entirely on water usage to perform their offered services, is outraged by metro’s announcement that businesses will be penalised by up to 40% if they fail to decrease their annual average usage by 15%.
Diane Smit, owner of one of the last remaining self-service, coin-operated laundromats in town, says that although it is important to save water, it is impossible for her business to do so because it depends entirely on her clientele, how many loads of laundry they do or how many people use her services monthly.
Read: ‘Zero tolerance’ and hefty fines for contravening water restrictions
“I simply cannot recycle dirty laundry water,” she says.
“We use about 200l of water per month and I expect this to increase as people will make use of our services to avoid penalties at home,” says Smit.
A 40% penalty will increase their water bill by R800 per month, which will total R9 600 if collected annually.
“We are a small business and the electricity is already killing us,” she says.
Diane says she is concerned about the future of her business and after several requests for information, has received no feedback from the metro.
”I don’t want to have to close my business, but at some point it just won’t be feasible anymore,” says Smit.
“In the end our clients will suffer because we’ll be forced to hike our prices,” she says.
Local car wash owner Peter Lomas says he isn’t too concerned about the imposed restrictions.
“I own the house behind the car wash and since it is currently unoccupied, I run the water to the car wash,” he says.
Read: Dams continue to dry up – water restrictions may get tighter
The car wash uses approximately 70 to 80kl per month to wash the 2 000 cars that cross its bays.
“It is a difficult situation because if there is no water, there is no water,” he says.
He says his pressure washers are state-of-the-art and are already set to reduce water and electricity usage.
After several attempts, metro failed to comment on the matter.
