Reducing water losses is a priority for Johannesburg Water. These are made up of leakages on transmission and distribution mains, reservoir and storage overflows and leakages on service connections.
Category: Practical case studies
Reducing business risk through municipal leakage reduction: Emfuleni, South-Africa
The integrated Orange-Senqu River System supplies water to 60% of South Africa’s economy and to neighbouring Lesotho, Botswana and Namibia; it is under extreme water stress and severe water shortages could be experienced in the near future.
Reducing water losses in Municipalities: Key issues and pointers to implementation
Saving water and water demand management (WDM) in general can be quite confusing to a municipality wishing to embark on some form of water loss reduction activities. A lot of work has taken place in South African and internationally to support water loss reduction in order to save money.
Pressure management in municipalities: Sebokeng and Evaton, South Africa
Maintenance of water supply networks in many low income urban areas in South Africa has been neglected over the last 30 years and has resulted in serious service delivery problems and wastage of water.
Metering of non-revenue water: Ekurhuleni, South-Africa
Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM) is the industrial heartland of South Africa and supplies approximately 314 000 000m3 /year to 800 000 households. Metering of the top consumers in EMM had not been a high priority for many years with the result that many of the supply meters to existing consumers were either broken or unreliable with non revenue water estimated to be around 50% of the water being used.
Leakage reduction in primary schools: Upington, South Africa
This project was undertaken to reduce unacceptable levels of leakage at the Keidebees and Vele Langa Primary Schools in Upington. The cost of the benefits were documented so that the process could serve as a model for other schools and public buildings.
Experiences with advanced water metering in South Africa
Advanced water metering is part of a larger movement towards smart networks and intelligent infrastructure. In high-income countries, advanced metering technology is generally focused on the need to obtain meter readings without human intervention. However, in South Africa and other developing countries, advanced water metering is driven by the need to provide services to previously unserved communities and deal with the problems caused by rapid urbanisation.
Policy and Regulations
The purpose of the report is to understand how water footprints may contribute to sustainable management of water in South Africa primarily in the industrial sector, and to explore linkages between water and energy and the concept of water offsetting.
Water demand management scheme: Drakenstein, South Africa
Over a period of approximately 12 years, Drakenstein Municipality lowered the non revenue water from over 33% to just under 11% and currently ranks amongst the best municipalities in South Africa with regards to water use efficiency.
Guidelines for Pressure Management
This document includes the results from eight pressure management pilot projects undertaken in South Africa, using the PRESMAC Pressure Management Program which has been developed for the South African Water Research Commission.