City’s water billing system exploits poor

THE CITY is exploiting underprivileged households with its unfair water and sanitation billing system.

Since level 6B water restrictions, households had to comply by using at most 50 litres per person per day. The council’s water and sanitation billing system assumes four occupants per household with a monthly water consumption of 6kl for 30 days. The City’s new water billing system applies a sliding scale for monthly consumption from 0 to 6kl, 6.01 to 10.5kl and 10.51 to 35kl, respectively charging R28.90, R46 and R120.27 per kilolitre. Consumption exceeding 35.01kl is charged at R1 000 per kl.

Applying the new water tariffs to a household of four occupants with monthly water consumption of 6kl amounts to a water bill of R173.

For a household with eight occupants and each consuming 50 litres per day, the total water consumption for a month is 12kl. Residents with water management devices are required to submit documentation to increase their daily water limit from 200kl to 400kl for a household with eight occupants. For a household with eight occupants, the City erroneously applies the tariffs of a four-occupant household. A household with eight occupants and total monthly consumption of 12kl of water results in a bill of R532.

A fair water billing system should factor in the higher number of people in a household by increasing the consumption ranges depending on the number of occupants. In a household with eight occupants, the various water consumption range endpoints referred to above should be doubled to 12.21 and 70kl with the same water tariffs applicable to the increased range values.

A monthly water consumption from 12.01 to 21kl will be billed at R46 per kilolitre. These revised ranges will produce a bill of R346 for a household with eight occupants and consumption of 12kl. Note, this amount is exactly double that of a household with four occupants and total monthly water consumption of 6kl.

Currently, the household with eight occupants is charged R186 more. A household with 12 occupants with each consuming 50 litres per day is overcharged a whopping R733.

In the case of a household with 12 occupants the various endpoints of the consumption ranges should have been tripled.

Note, the City applies the same unfair billing system to sanitation charges.

The City should be ashamed for exploiting the poor and underprivileged by billing them unjustly and punishing them for their larger families.