Counting the lost drops - Study into non-revenue water shows we can do more

Abstract

Municipal water supply The Draft Second National Water Resources Strategy (NWRS2) has identified the implementation of water use efficiency, conservation and water demand management as a core strategy to ensure sufficient water to meet South Africa’s needs going into the future. This, ‘non-negotiable performance area’ , it says, must be implemented immediately in all water use sectors, specifically municipalities. “In view of water scarcity, it is essential that such water losses must be curtailed, especially in terms of the need to provide for the growing water demands of new socio-economic development, ” the strategy points out. In order to improve the current situation, the water sector must have a clear indication of the current status of non-revenue water in South African municipalities, more specifically what the actual water losses are and how they are split between physical leakage (real losses) and commercial losses (apparent losses).

Authors

Categories