“More than six thousand kilolitres of water saved in a concerted war against burst pipes and water leaks”
Today, the Deputy Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Ms Rejoice Mabudafhasi embarked on War on Leaks impact assessment as part of the National Water Week activity in Kagiso, Mogale City Local Municipality.
War on Leaks project was launched in 2010 by Deputy Minister Mabudafhasi in conjunction with Mogale City Local Municipality as a comprehensive Water Conservation and Water Demand Management programme to address the prevalent water losses and loss of revenue in the municipality.
The Department of Water Affairs provided an initial amount of R2 million to train the unemployed youth that were working on the targeted 200 households and 21 schools. The training covered amongst others the following areas: Logging, Leak detection, Control valve operation and maintenance and Public participation in Water Conservation and Demand Management.
At least 40 unemployed youths from Kagiso community were recruited to assist in the implementation of the Water Conservation and Water Demand Management programme which encompassed both technical and social intervention in line with the skills development concerns of the municipality.
Speaking at Mogale City, Deputy Minister Mabudafhasi said, she was pleased with the progress made through War on Leaks project. She also thanked all the stakeholders for implementing the project and reducing the water leaks drastically. “Water is needed for our wellbeing, food security and economic development. Make everyday a water day, let us not wait for water week to conserving water. Let us all be water ambassadors, said Mabudafhasi.
The Mayor of Mogale City, Councilor Calvin Seerane also expressed his delight especially with the reduction of the municipality’s water bill as a result of this project. “This intervention has yielded total savings of 6 393kl which represents R25 572 per month monetary savings at a tariff of R4 /kl,” said the Mayor. The mayor committed to strengthen the project further and encourage other municipalities to embark on such activity, to save water, but most importantly to reduce the water bill and ease the burden on the community.
Echoing the sentiments of the mayor were two community members who indicated that before War on Leaks project was implemented their taps did not have handles, meters were not working properly and toilets were leaking. “We are grateful for the great job being done through this project,” said the community members.
Enquiries:
Mava Scott (Chief Director Communication: Department of Water Affairs)
Cell: 082 602 9640
Peter Mbelengwa (Spokesperson for the Deputy Minister)
Cell: 082 611 8197
