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