Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa July 2018 | Page 20

PROPERTY
TECHNOLOGY
BUYER SHO W
Every drop counts
Saving water gets a smart solution
T
he drought in the Western Cape has changed most
South Africans’ thinking around water usage and the
future of the country’s water supplies. Punitive tariffs
and the urgent need for self-regulation have forced us to re-
think how we go about using, conserving and optimising our
use of this scarce resource.
A South African company, recognizing the need for cre-
ating a sustainable home and a more empowered consumer,
has produced a smart water management solution to answer
the growing need for the monitoring of water usage at your
fingertips.
Dhasi Naidoo, Chief Strategy Officer at Ontec Systems,
explains: “GaugeIT allows for the evolution of a smarter,
more engaged consumer, by empowering them with near-real
time water consumption information directly on their mobile
devices. Besides the financial benefits to consumers, it will
empower them to proactively monitor their consumption
patterns, adjust their usage behaviours and thus contribute to
making a meaningful difference towards the country’s water
conservation objectives.”
Despite the recent rains in the region, dam levels in the
Western Cape remain at a critically low point. In addition,
according to Weather SA, the uncertainty of anticipated sea-
sonal rainfall remains an alarming concern.
The City of Cape Town recently announced that the re-
gion’s residents should continue to adhere to the restrictions
that have been set.
“The Department of Water and Sanitation requires Cape
Town to get down to a collective usage target of 450 million
litres per day. It remains important to get as close to it as pos-
sible to ensure that water resources are stretched in the face of
further rainfall uncertainty,” said the City’s Executive Deputy
Mayor, Alderman Ian Neilson.
GaugeIT is introduced at a time when the City of Cape
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Town is also tightening legislation around water usage, with
amendments to the Water By-Law passed on May 31, many
of which will affect residents. The new regulations require
landlords to “keep record of consumption for each residential
unit…” and new developments have been ordered to “install
water conservation and demand management systems…”
The City is making it clear that it wants greater individ-
ual water consumption accountability, says Damian Padachi,
Chief Executive Officer at Ontec. “GaugeIT’s biggest val-
ue propositions are to create awareness and to empower the
consumer to make better decisions with resources,” concludes
Padachi.
“We aspire to migrate our communities to-
wards Smarter Living and empower them to
take control of their own environments.”
KEY FEATURES
Near real-time hourly monitoring;
Early leak detection alarms;
High usage threshold warnings;
In addition to these core benefits,
consumers that have been restricted
to a daily water quota by the Utility,
now have the ability to closely moni-
tor their own usage to avoid running
out of water prematurely;
Consumers can also compare their water
consumption with the utility bill to ensure
alignment.
DATE: Saturday 21 July and Sunday 22 July
VENUE: Durban Exhibition Centre
OPENING TIMES: 09:00am - 17:00pm
Visit www.propertybuyershow.com to register.
Use promocode “REIM” to activate your free pass.