Millions of KwaZulu-Natal residents, including the whole of Durban, will pay at least 38 percent more for their water from July 1.

The entire cost of Spring Grove Dam will be recouped from [...]]]> Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) – partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 25 May 2011

Millions of KwaZulu-Natal residents, including the whole of Durban, will pay at least 38 percent more for their water from July 1.

The entire cost of Spring Grove Dam will be recouped from consumers

More than 84 percent of the tariff goes to funding the Spring Grove Dam, which the Trans Caledon Tunnel Authority started building this year.

Parliament heard that Umgeni water board’s tariff increase was only 6 percent – with 32 percent going to the funding of the dam.

Mohamed Vawda, director of water resource financing and pricing for the department of water affairs, said the R2 billion dam was a “full cost recovery project”.

The entire cost of the dam will be recouped from the consumers.

In the rest of the country, where municipalities get their water from water boards, prices will increase by between 6 and 20 percent from July 1.

Poor communities of Botshelo, Bela Bela, Rustenburg and Wallmanstal who get water through the Magalies water board, face huge increases of between 16 and 28 percent.

Meanwhile, Rand Water Board is increasing its tariffs by 12,9 percent.

Source: Sowetan

Irrigating with grey water

As with previous years, the domestic single residential sanitation tariff remains linked to the water tariff at a rate of 70% of water consumption (70% of 50kl = 35kl). [...]]]> Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) - partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 29 March 2011

Irrigating with grey water

As with previous years, the domestic single residential sanitation tariff remains linked to the water tariff at a rate of 70% of water consumption (70% of 50kl = 35kl). This means that notwithstanding the volume of water that is used for garden irrigation, viz. water that is not sent to sewerage treatment, a charge is levied based on 70% of water consumption.

The new tariff is effective from 01 July 2011.

Should you have any queries regarding how to reduce your consumption of water and concomitant sewerage, please give us a call. Water Rhapsody will reduce your consumption by up to 90%, without a change in lifestyle.

Domestic Tariff (single residential)

Water Tariff

Sanitation Tariff (at 70% of water consumption)

Other Tariff (excl Vat)

Notes:

*** Water: Includes bulk metered flats, cluster developments (single and sectional title). A 6kl allowance per unit per month upon submission of an affidavit stating the number of units.
** Sanitation – domestic cluster: Tariff at 90% of water consumption. A 4.20kl allowance per unit per month upon submission of an affidavit stating the number of units.
* Sanitation – industrial, commercial and schools: Tariff at 95% of water consumption.

South Africans must brace themselves for steep water tariff increases in the coming months, water experts have warned.

Water tariffs are too low, and are set go the same route as Eskom's astronomical [...]]]> Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) – partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 22 March 2011

South Africans must brace themselves for steep water tariff increases in the coming months, water experts have warned.

Water tariffs are too low, and are set go the same route as Eskom's astronomical increases

Though the exact increases are yet to be calculated, the impending increases would be similar to the astronomical electricity tariff hikes that hit South Africa early last year.

The proposed increases follow last month’s warning that South Africa will run out of water by 2020 if nothing is done to supplement water resources.

Speaking on the eve of World Water Week (March 20-26), Water Affairs acting director-general Trevor Balzer said South Africa’s cheap water resources have been used up and that government was looking at ways to address the problem.

“We are currently undertaking a study to establish the cost of water into the future. There is no doubt that the cost of water will be more expensive.”

Balzer said the government had plans to continue delivering free water to indigent households and that the study, which will be submitted to the cabinet before the end of the year, would reveal the new tariff structures.

Richard Holden, a business analyst at water parastatal Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority, said the water tariffs municipalities charge for potable water is not enough for infrastructure maintenance and replacement.

The result, he said, was that funding constraints would lead to continuous infrastructure collapse, including pipes rusting and bursting.

“The infrastructure is old and needs to be replaced, but there is no money. Water tariffs are too low. We will go the same route as Eskom [by introducing huge tariff hikes],” said Holden.

He said the number of pipe bursts would increase and if not repaired and replaced, could result in high losses that would ultimately be detrimental to consumers.

A means of curbing one-off drastic increases, said Holden, would be for municipalities to implement water conservation campaigns and introduce gradual water price increases now.

If municipalities fail to implement this system, infrastructure would collapse completely and there will be “no money to fix the problem”.

“There is a crisis brewing. It is like the acid mine drainage, like Eskom, and like the toll roads. These issues are well known but it seems like we have to have a crisis in order to deal with them,” Holden said.

The system, he said, was not sustainable as the current tariffs do not take into account the full costs of operations, depreciation, maintenance and replacement.

Currently, most municipalities charge between R3.80 and R4.70 per kilolitre of water. But Holden believes this should be increased by between R3 and R4.

SA Institute of Civil Engineering water division chairman Dr Chris Herold said most water infrastructure in South Africa is well beyond its 50-year lifespan.

“We are approaching a 10-year backlog. It’s old and getting older.”

Department of Water Affairs spokesman Linda Page said bulk infrastructural requirements and maintenance backlogs across South Africa amount to R1.3-billion. According to a presentation made in parliament by the department in January, municipalities owe water boards a whopping R1.7-billion.

Herold said crumbling infrastructure manifests itself in the large amounts of water, which cities cannot account for.

The City of Johannesburg, he said, lost between 35% and 40% of its water last year as a result of crumbling infrastructure and general household wastage. In the 2009-2010 financial year, the City of Cape Town could not account for about 83.4million kilolitres of water.

By: Sipho Masondo
Source: Times Live

Healthy eco-systems matter and South Africans are not paying enough for the water they get, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

Agriculture uses at least 80% of our water in [...]]]> Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) – partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 19 March 2011

Healthy eco-systems matter and South Africans are not paying enough for the water they get, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

Agriculture uses at least 80% of our water in the Western Cape

“We haven’t yet shifted the public perception about how important water is and we’re running out of sites to build dams – there’re no other rivers with excess water,” WWF living lands unit head Mark Botha told News24.

He said that South Africans were not paying for the water they used and that the demand for water would exceed supply, despite plans to build dams.

“Municipalities need the income that water generates and so we’ve built ourselves into this dependency on water. If urban water demand keeps increasing, you’ll never get to water security unless you flatten the demand curve.”

As SA prepares for Water Day on March 22, authorities accept that something needs to be done about urban water consumption, and acknowledge that there are “legacy issues” to compound the water problems.

Maintenance

“We have various legacy issues: There has been inadequate maintenance and we’ve reached the point where there’s no lead time. We’ve consumed 52% of our water infrastructure – that’s a challenge,” said City of Cape Town director of water and sanitation services Lungile Dlamini.

Botha conceded that the city was improving water management, but urged that high water consumers be obligated to pay more for their consumption.

“The City of Cape Town has woken up and they’re doing some amazing things, but the average house uses 22 000l of water per month. We are not paying the true cost of water and the city should regulate water management, then people will learn the value of water quickly.”

Botha insisted that pre-paid water be installed at all homes and moves are made to eliminate waste in the water network.

Around 20% to 30% of water is lost through breakdowns in the ageing network, according to the WWF.

Also, Botha said that high water users like farmers and industry should be held to account for the water they used, but rejected the argument that increased water tariffs would lead to inflation.

“I don’t buy the economic argument because that’s the true cost of water. Farmers pay, but they don’t pay for water, they pay for electricity and pumps. Agriculture uses at least 80% of our water in the Western Cape,” he said.

Natural springs

Botha also slammed the proliferation of golf courses.

“The days of pumping rivers dry to green fairways and putting greens are over. Golf courses are designed to increase house prices. We don’t need any more golf courses; we have more than enough.”

There are 17 water springs around Cape Town and News24 found one that was, according to the WWF, capped with the water being directed down the storm water system.

The City rejected this, saying the water was being used.

“The bulk of that water is being directed toward the Green Point Urban Park,” said Farouk Robertson of the City of Cape Town.

He added though, that directing all the natural springs to the water network would be cost prohibitive.

“That one [spring] cost a few million rand, about R20m, and all the springs have different origins. One has to look at the quality of the water,” he said.

Botha acknowledged that water was a human right, but insisted that high water users pay the “true cost” while at the same time subsidising the poor.

By: Duncan Alfreds
Source: News24

Brace yourself for higher water prices, a senior official in Planning Minister Trevor Manuel’s National Planning Commission has warned.

Price of potable water to increase significantly

Kuben Naidoo, acting head of the NPC [...]]]> Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) – partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 11 November 2010

Brace yourself for higher water prices, a senior official in Planning Minister Trevor Manuel’s National Planning Commission has warned.

Price of potable water to increase significantly

Kuben Naidoo, acting head of the NPC secretariat, told delegates to a conference of the Bureau for Economic Research in Somerset West that years of underinvestment had left the country’s water infrastructure teetering.

“The inevitable conclusion is that there will be a real increase in the price of water,” he said.

Naidoo said the increase would not be on the scale of the doubling of electricity prices currently being phased in, but would be significant.

Prices had been kept artifically low because there had been so little investment in the water network for over a decade.

Now it would be necessary to hike prices to discourage waste and to generate the surpluses needed to fund new dams, pipes and pump stations, he said.

Manuel’s commission is scheduled to submit a coordinated plan for the country’s development exactly a year from today.

Naidoo told PoliticsLIVE that the commission was making good progress and likely would start intensive public consultations early around the time of President Jacob Zuma’s state of the nation address in January.

Source: Times Live

Analysis of Rainwater Harvesting Market in Europe and India provides an in-depth analysis of the rainwater harvesting (RWH) market in Europe and India. This research service analyses the revenues generated by the installation of [...]]]> Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) – partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 04 August 2010

Analysis of Rainwater Harvesting Market in Europe and India provides an in-depth analysis of the rainwater harvesting (RWH) market in Europe and India. This research service analyses the revenues generated by the installation of rainwater harvestings systems in residential, industrial and commercial end-user segments.

Industrialisation and a growing population have given rise to a severe fresh water shortage in many countries. RWH, which involves the collection and storage of rainwater, is an affordable and sustainable solution to this problem.

Although RWH has been practiced for several years, it is only in recent years that countries have given it a serious thought with several passing legislations and offering incentives to promote the concept. A significant driver for the RWH market in India has been the state level legislations that have made RWH mandatory for all new buildings in certain states.

The key driver in Europe has been the steep water prices with several European countries topping the global water tariff list.

Majority of the states in India have passed legislations making the installation of RWH systems in all buildings mandatory. The state of Tamil Nadu was among the first to take this initiative and has witnessed considerable success.

In Europe, countries, such as Denmark and Germany have the highest water tariffs in the world. In addition to the legislations and high water tariffs, certain countries also offer incentives to promote the concept of rainwater harvesting. These initiatives have resulted in significant growth in Europe and several other countries, such as the United Kingdom and France. These are expected to help double-digit growth in the coming years.

However, it has been a challenge to create awareness about the benefits of RWH, declining the level of implementation and thereby, restraining growth in the RWH market in Europe and India. Furthermore, the RWH systems used in India are conventional in their design, involving tedious installation procedures and regular maintenance – an area of concern for the end users. [Note: Water Rhapsody’s Grand Opus is a Rainwater Harvesting System that provides an uninterrupted pressurized water supply that only requires quarterly re-pressurization – a very simple 2-minute process]

In India, water is offered to the general public at a subsidised rate by the government and the water tariffs are relatively low compared to developed nations. There is minimal interest among the general public towards rainwater harvesting as it is more economical to buy the water from the government than incur the costs of installing a RWH system.

The RWH system suppliers need to come up with a unique design that is simple to install, without much civil work and easy to clean. Apart from the government and NGOs, equipment suppliers should also play a key role in creating awareness among the public, especially amongst children, about the importance and the benefits of practicing RWH.

Source: Official Spin

Irrigation water is billed again as sanitation at 70% of water consumption

[click here to see tariff for 2011 - 2012]

The City of Cape Town water and sanitation tariff was approved [...]]]> Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) - partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 02 June 2010

Irrigation water is billed again as sanitation at 70% of water consumption

[click here to see tariff for 2011 - 2012]

The City of Cape Town water and sanitation tariff was approved by Council on 25 May 2010.

As with previous years, the domestic single residential sanitation tariff remains linked to the water tariff at a rate of 70% of water consumption (70% of 50kl = 35kl). This means that notwithstanding the volume of water that is used for garden irrigation, viz. water that is not sent to sewerage treatment, a charge is levied based on 70% of water consumption. (See notes below for domestic cluster** and industrial* / commercial* sanitation rates).

Domestic Tariff (single residential)

Water Tariff

Sanitation Tariff (at 70% of water consumption)

Other Tariff (excl Vat)

Notes:

*** Water: Includes bulk metered flats, cluster developments (single and sectional title). A 6kl allowance per unit per month upon submission of an affidavit stating the number of units.
** Sanitation – domestic cluster: Tariff at 90% of water consumption. A 4.20kl allowance per unit per month upon submission of an affidavit stating the number of units.
* Sanitation – industrial, commercial and schools: Tariff at 95% of water consumption.

The [Cape Town] city council will soon be asked to give the financial green light to a R1,7-billion, multi-year bulk water augmentation project.

Berg River Dam

A report discussed at the utility services portfolio [...]]]> Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) - partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 04 May 2010

The [Cape Town] city council will soon be asked to give the financial green light to a R1,7-billion, multi-year bulk water augmentation project.

Berg River Dam

A report discussed at the utility services portfolio committee yesterday notes that additional bulk water supply infrastructure has become critical, to increase the water treatment, bulk storage and conveyance capacity of the city’s bulk water supply system.

The total capital cost of the bulk water augmentation system is estimated at R1,7bn, and the implementation time frame at about six years.

In his budget speech in March, mayoral committee (Mayco) member for finance Ian Neilson said while the scheme would not significantly affect the 2010/11 financial year’s budget, a tariff increase, projected to be 8 percent above inflation, would need to be phased in in subsequent years.

The additional infrastructure was necessary to ensure the system could continue to supply potable water during peak demand periods, as population and economic growth fuelled demand.

“If the infrastructure is not implemented timeously, the risk of having to implement water restrictions in some areas of Cape Town, or across the entire city during peak water demand periods in the hot dry summer months, will progressively increase,” the report said.

At a meeting of the mayoral committee in 2005, the proposed scheme was identified as a key component of the city’s water services development plan.

But long-term funding approval has now become urgent, and the city council will be asked to recognise that allowance will have to be made for the project in the city’s budget for the next six years.

Bulk Water manager Peter Flower noted in yesterday’s report that he needed to “reinforce the urgent need to finalise the funding mechanism in order that the early stages of the project will not be compromised, resulting in delays in final implementation”.

Flower told the Cape Argus that it was critical that the project now be accommodated in the city’s long-term budget planning, and that it not be pushed back another year.

It was essential for long-term planning and to ensure the city’s water supply, as well as to ensure minimal impact in terms of tariff spikes.

Meanwhile, the city yesterday announced a R538m up-grade of the metropole’s electricity network in the coming financial year.

“The city is following a proactive maintenance and replacement programme to avoid any Eskom-type crises,” Mayco member for utility services Clive Justus said, adding that it was essential for the city to timeously replace and maintain its equipment and infrastructure.

He said maintenance and repair this year received priority spending, with a 3 percent allocation above inflation.

The more than R0.5bn allocation would provide for the commencement of upgrades of substations at Rosmead Avenue, Roggebaai, Strand, Oakdale, Langeberg, Retreat and Parow South.

A new substation would also be built to serve Century City.

“All these upgrades will reduce the risk of power failures,” Justus said, adding that a further R80m would provide for new service connections and associated infrastructure, while R58m was set aside to address the augmentation of the overall system.

- Ella Smook – iol

South Africa’s water boards are proposing increases of between 6.2 percent and 43 percent to the cost of the potable bulk water they supply to the country’s municipalities.

Such tariff increases, if accepted, are likely [...]]]> Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) - partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 04 May 2010

South Africa’s water boards are proposing increases of between 6.2 percent and 43 percent to the cost of the potable bulk water they supply to the country’s municipalities.

Such tariff increases, if accepted, are likely to increase the cost of drinking water supplied by municipalities to end users.

The proposals, details of which are contained in a document tabled at a meeting of Parliament’s water affairs portfolio committee on Tuesday, appear to fly in the face of an announcement made by Water Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica last month.

“I want to allay the fears of South Africans that there is not in the near future a possibility of a hike. It’s not in the pipeline,” she told a media briefing at Parliament on April 13.

However, according to the document, tabled by the department’s chief director for institutional oversight Thoko Sigwaza “neither the minister nor the portfolio committee has a mandate to approve or reject tariff increases”.

The document includes a table of bulk water (the water abstracted from rivers and reservoirs, treated, and supplied to municipalities) tariff increases proposed by the 13 water boards. These range from 6,2 percent for Umgeni Water (from R3,24 a kilolitre to R3,47), to 43 percent in the case of Namakwa (from R6,37 to R9,11).

Among the water boards supplying the larger metropolitan areas, Rand Water is calling for a 14,1 percent increase (from R3,48 a kilolitre to R3,97) and Amatola for between an eight and 8,8 percent increase. Bushbuckridge Water is proposing a 12,46 percent increase. “Bulk water tariffs are not proposed by the department, but are determined by the water boards,” the document states.

Further, it notes that tariff increases for the current (2010/11) financial year “must be tabled on or before March 15 if the increases are to take effect from July 1, 2010″. It says a consultation process has been held with municipalities about the proposed tariff hikes.

Under a section titled “Impact of Tariff Increases on the End Users”, the document says that water accounting at municipalities is “often not ring-fenced, therefore it is difficult to assess impact of tariff on end users”. Further, water boards needed to raise funds to finance capital expenditure on infrastructure over the next five years “estimated to exceed R10 billion”.

During her briefing last month, Sonjica said any water tariff increase would have to go through an “extensive” consultation process before it could be enforced. “We are a participatory democracy. Any matter related to a hike of a water tariff has to go through an extensive consultation process… with all of the water users of South Africa,” she said at the time.

Officials at the department of water affairs were not immediately available for comment on Tuesday. Sonjica is currently out of the country.

- Sapa

The South African Local Government Association (Salga) has been formally notified of NERSA’s approval of a 28.9% tariff increase. This will be a rate at which municipalities will purchase bulk electricity from Eskom. This is [...]]]> Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) - partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 08 April 2010

The South African Local Government Association (Salga) has been formally notified of NERSA’s approval of a 28.9% tariff increase. This will be a rate at which municipalities will purchase bulk electricity from Eskom. This is higher than the rate at which other non-municipal users will buy from Eskom. Non-municipal bulk purchases will purchase at 23.5% and 18.7%.

Adding to this dire state of affairs for municipalities, the water boards have also applied for significant price increase, averaging at 16.84% (for bulk water sold to municipalities).

This is happening in a municipal operating environment which is not favourable to big rates and service charges increases, given the recent economic recession, rising unemployment.

Currently a majority of Water Service Authorities operate their water distribution businesses at a deficit and will therefore not afford to pay hugely increased bulk water tariffs.

Salga appeals to the Minister of Water Affairs to carefully scrutinize the proposed tariff increases by water boards and the factors that drive such proposed increases before deciding on whether to grant them or not.

Extract from article: ‘Your municipal bill is set to rocket’ – jacaranda.fm