30 ENVIRONMENT and ENERGY
<< Continued from page 29
• The president of South Africa , Jacob Zuma , in his 2010 State of the Nation Address stressed that measures would have to be implemented to halve water losses by 2014 . [ Editor ’ s note : despite good efforts by some municipalities , we are far from halving the water losses ]. The NDP is also in support of the implementation of WCWDM in all sectors .
Therefore , all sectors need to move with urgency in the implementation of WCWDM measures .
WCWDM in local government Local government or the water services sector ’ s water use is estimated at around 23 % of South Africa ’ s consumption ( including domestic and industrial use ). Projections indicate that , together with industry , this is the sector with the largest expected future growth in demand , which will require continuous planning to balance supply and demand , thus making the implementation of WCWDM important . The local government sector offers the greatest opportunity for WCWDM due to the expected growth in water demand in this sector .
During droughts , some WCWDM measures are often enforced by local government through water restrictions ; however , an appropriate municipal water control ( metering ) and pricing structure ( billing and revenue collection ) could ensure that these measures become routine .
A study commissioned by the Water Research Commission ( WRC ) in 2012 on the status of non-revenue water , found that only 132 usable data sets could be produced from 237 local and metropolitan municipalities in the country due to poor data and information management .
• The 2015 results from the study indicate that there has been a gradual increase in non-revenue water ( NRW ) over the past six years , with the figure standing at 36.8 % ( 1 580 million m 3 / a from an urban consumption of about 4 300 million m 3 / a ). This is on par with the rest of the world ( world average of 36.2 %). Water losses , however , are estimated at around 25 % ( about 1 080 million m 3 / a ).
• In many municipal water supply schemes , the figures are even worse , with NRW up to 90 % in 2015 .
• In terms of a loss in revenue , these losses account for more than R7-billion per annum .
This is unacceptable in a water-scarce country and municipalities will have to enhance their efforts to reduce water losses / NRW to become financially sustainable and to manage South Africa ’ s water resources sustainably .
Second part continued in the April issue . PA
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Source Department of Water and Sanitation .