Prepaid water meters

Prepaid water meters are installed for cost recovery purposes and to manage and control water consumption. Although any household can install a prepaid water meter, projects are aimed at low-income communities where cost recovery is a major concern.

In South Africa households are entitled to 6 kilolitres of free water per month. The implementation of this legislation is causing enormous challenges to local authorities and service providers. Prepaid water meters might be the answer to the problem as they allow households their free monthly allowance of 6000 litres of water before shutting the water supply off automatically. Any additional water required has to be paid for.

Our prepaid water meters are installed to avoid cut-offs as a penalizing measure for non-payment and the problems associated with cut-offs. A household with a prepaid water meter cannot access water without paying for it upfront. The responsibility for securing access to water is thus transferred from the local authority or service provider to the customer.

Objectives of prepaid water meters:

• Teaching consumers discipline when consuming and conserving water
• Teaching consumers techniques of restraint and self-regulation
• Establishing a culture of paying for water services
• Improving the management of water and changing consumers’ attitude towards managed water supply
• Improving the administration of free basic water

Water Management Device, taking responsibility for water usage

Making use of a water management device in households is becoming more and more popular. Projects for installing water management devices are initiated where there is an increase in water demand as a result of population growth, new developments, water shortages and economic growth. The sole purpose of a water management device is to control and manage water use.

The device is a meter that replaces the existing water meter and is programmed to dispense a pre-agreed amount of water each day. It dispenses from 10 to 50 000 litres per day, at full pressure. Once the pre-agreed daily water allocation has been used the flow of water stops until the next day when the daily water allowance becomes available again. The agreed amount of water is determined according to the daily amount of water a household needs and can afford.

If the daily water allowance is not used the remainder is carried over to the next day. This encourages consumers to analyse and monitor their daily water usage and to avoid unnecessary water wastage. Normally unused allocations of water are not carried over to the next month, but it depends on the service provider.

Benefits to the consumer:

• Effortless budgeting for water expenses as daily and monthly consumption is established and daily water allowance is pre-agreed
• No over expenditure on water budgets or overuse of water sources
• Unused daily allowances are usually carried over to the next day enabling consumers to plan ahead if more water will be needed on a certain day
• Creating a habit of responsible water use and appreciation of the importance of water
• No unpleasant water bill surprises

Benefits to the service provider:

• None of the usual problems with conventional water billing systems such as water reading discrepancies
• Accurate water consumption figures enables the balancing of water usage in various zones
• Can easily be integrated in most existing utility and municipal billing systems

A water management device is ideal for households, but can also be used by small commercial consumers. These devices are cost effective, intelligent, easy to install and offer numerous benefits to both consumers and service providers.