Benfinah Mdintsi of Stretford,with her granddaughter, tries to use water sparingly

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Pre-paid water meters monitored Ocyober 9, 2003 By Lucky Sindane RESIDENTS in one section of Orange Farm, south of Johannesburg, have been using pre-paid water meters for the past three months and, according to Johannesburg Water (JW), this pilot project is turning into a success. Officials from the City's water and sanitation company, visited Stretford ext 4 this week to assess the implementation of the programme. "The response we have received from the public has been very good," said JW's communication and marketing manager, Jameel Chand. JW installed 1 389 pre-paid meters in the Stretford area last year in preparation for the pilot project. The pre-paid meters have been in use since July this year, according to JW project manager, Agmat Badat. The pre-paid metering system is part of a programme to enable consumers to monitor their own water consumption. In line with the government's policy, water users are supplied with 6 000 free litres of water a month. Once that amount has been exceeded then consumers are liable to pay for their water, according to JW. "People are really benefiting from this project. Some don't pay anything at all because they only use the free 6 000 litres of water a month," Chand said. The Orange Farm project has led the way in JW's campaign, Operation Gcin'amanzi. As part of the campaign, workshops are run in various communities to educate consumers on how to be water wise. Recently, the Executive Mayor of Johannesburg launched a five-year multi-million rand programme to upgrade the water distribution system in Phiri, Soweto. Included in this plan is the installation of pre-paid meters, which has been opposed by a section of the community as a ploy to make them pay for water. Workshops were recently held in Stretford to teach people how to take care of their properties and what to do when main lines overflow. Response to the pre-paid meters has been somewhat mixed, with some families praising their installation and others complaining about payments. "We are benefiting from this project," said Stretford resident, Nosipho Liwani. "We are a family of five and we haven't paid for water since the pre-paid meters were installed." However, pensioner Benfinah Mdintsi, who lives with her two children and one grandchild, said she had had to pay R20 for water. Although she wanted to water the plants in her garden, she was reluctant to do so in case she had to pay more. She was worried about not receiving an invoice and asked how to check whether the meters were faulty. Johannesburg Water operates a 24-hour help line on 011 688 1500. Permission to use web site material Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as: Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website (www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency (www.joburg.org.za)"; If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original article on this website; The name of the article's author is acknowledged; The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill in this brief online form). Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 Print this Page E-mail this article to a friend Help using Joburg.org.za