Development forum wants automatic readings

THE Khayelitsha Development Forum (KDF) has slammed the City for rejecting a request to install automatic meter reading (AMR) in the township because it does not have the budget.

The forum said the response from the meter manager head for the City, Malungisa Pontia, namely that the directorate did not have a budget for the rollout, was not in keeping with the responsive City narrative as is envisaged in the City’s Organisational Development and Transformation Plan to enhance service delivery.

Consumption remains high, at 600 million litres of collective usage per day. This was 100 million litres above the crucial consumption target of 500 million per day.

In a letter to the City, KDF chairperson Ndithini Tyhido said they were disappointed to learn that there were interventions in place to save water, but that they were never introduced to “our communities as added effective tools for the end user”.

“We request your urgent consideration of these interventions as serious gamechangers in the City’s response to the current water restriction level 4b. As the KDF we deal with these challenges daily, your intervention is critical to the successful implementation of the above,” read the letter, dated September 15.

Tyhido said they were assured that with this remote monitoring technology, the City would be able to immediately check the device at any property to see whether the daily allocation had been depleted, or whether there was a leak at the property.

Waste and water services mayco member Xanthea Limberg said full roll-out had not been considered at this stage although AMR technology formed part of the City’s longterm strategy.

“With regard to the possible roll-out of AMR to Khayelitsha, remote monitoring cannot be activated without having fixed network infrastructure in place, making this option more expensive than reading meters manually.

“Previous pilots have also revealed that the network infrastructure is subject to vandalism, which would then prevent the City from reading the meter remotely. This is problematic in areas where City infrastructure is routinely stolen and vandalised,” she said.

Limberg said although AMR could help the City to more quickly identify which customers had leaks on their private plumbing, customers could also check this themselves.

“Simply turn off all the water in the house, take a meter reading, wait for an hour, and see if the meter has registered any consumption. If the consumption has increased, it means there is a leak,” she added.

The average level for dams across the province stands at 35.7%.

Theewaterskloof Dam is at 27%; Voëlvlei Dam is at 27%; Clanwilliam Dam 40%; and, the Brandvlei Dam is at 33%.