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BENCHMARKING OF WATER LOSS,

WATER USE EFFICIENCY AND NON-

REVENUE WATER IN SOUTH AFRICAN

MUNICIPALITIES (2004/05 to 2015/16)

July 2017

Prepared by: Business Intelligence Support Team

ii

Document control

PEP: WP11084 (WP11047-PEP4): National WS Master Plan: Water Conceptual Design and Strategic Analysis Related to Feasibility/IRS/Non-Revenue and Other Related Study Categories

Title of document: Benchmarking of Water Loss, Water Use Efficiency and Non-Revenue Water in South African Municipalities (2004/05 to 2015/16)

PEP leader: WA Wegelin

PEP team members: RS McKenzie, T Godzwana, S Barnard

Author(s) of document: WA Wegelin

Contributors: T Godzwana, S Barnard

Reviewer: A Wensley

Report status: Final

Date: July 2017

Issued to: A Wensley

Keywords: Business Intelligence Support, NRW, Water losses, Efficiency, all municipalities

Version control

Version Date Comments

Final Draft June 2017

Final July 2017

Approval

WRP (Pty) Ltd

Approved for WRP (Pty) Ltd by:

________________________________

________________________________

WA Wegelin, PrEng Date

Project Manager

DEPARTMENT OF WATER AND SANITATION

Directorate: Water Services Macro Planning

Approved for Department of Water and Sanitation by:

______________________________

________________________________

A Wensley, PrEng Date

Project Manager

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Business Intelligence Support

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

INTRODUCTION

The “National Development Plan – Vision 2030” (NDP) and the Second Edition of the National Water

Resource Strategy (NWRS2) state that reducing growth in water demand is just as important as

increasing its supply. South Africa is a water-stressed country and is facing a number of water

challenges and concerns, which include security of supply, environmental degradation and resource

pollution, and the inefficient use of water. In light of the urgency to protect our water resources and

the adverse effects of climate change, the NWRS2 submits that water conservation and water

demand management (WCWDM) should be one of the top priorities, and measures to reconcile

demand and supply in order to provide for the national goals of a better life for all through job creation

and inclusive economic growth.

Progress made with the implementation of WCWDM can only be measured against an accurate

baseline. The last comprehensive baseline assessment, of non-revenue water (NRW) and water

losses in South Africa, was published in 2015 with the No Drop publication of First Order Assessment

of Water Loss, Water Use Efficiency and Non-Revenue Water in Municipalities (DWS and SWPN,

Oct 2015). The key objectives of this study were as follows:

report on system input volume, non-revenue water, water loss and efficiency trends, based on

2004/05 to 2015/16 municipal financial year data

calculate a 2015/16 water balance for each municipality where no better information exists

disseminate non-revenue water / water loss benchmarking information in municipalities,

government organisations and consumers throughout South Africa to create awareness.

RESULTS

The estimated 2015/16 water balance, for all municipalities, indicate water losses of

1414.49 million m3/a (35.9%) and NRW of 1632.93 million m3/a (41.0%). These figures are higher

than the 2012/13 No Drop assessment of 27.6% water losses and 34.6% NRW. The 2013/14

No Drop assessment was based on 71 data sets, with an SIV of 2 997.6 million m3/a. The increased

water losses and NRW are attributed to the improved estimate of water losses and NRW in category

B3 and B4 (rural) municipalities.

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The estimated national water balance for 2015 /16, broken down per province is summarised in the

table below. The highest and lowest figure for each key performance indicator are highlighted in red

and green respectively.

Province Population SIV (m3/annum) NRW (m3/annum) % NRW % WL l/c/d ILI

EC 4 477 918 332 151 376 158 647 165 47.8% 45.0% 200 4.8

FS 2 723 028 207 835 805 106 908 574 51.4% 46.6% 209 4.8

GT 12 978 281 1 473 100 700 528 839 540 35.9% 27.4% 305 5.8

LIM 4 225 967 281 235 907 155 016 679 55.1% 55.1% 182 1.3

KZN 8 491 508 697 751 184 327 444 107 46.9% 43.0% 225 6.2

NW 3 039 995 206 496 825 105 577 898 51.1% 51.1% 186 4.7

NC 1 085 944 94 205 305 45 418 308 48.2% 45.5% 238 7.1

WC 6 108 993 482 695 411 102 720 237 21.3% 16.7% 201 2.4

MP 3 622 506 270 990 713 129 852 490 47.9% 43.9% 205 4.3

National 46 754 140 4 046 463 225 1 659 588 711 41.0% 35.9% 233 5.3

Gauteng is the largest water user in the country, and with KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape, account

for 66% of the total demand. Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal account for 52% of the NRW by volume.

Limpopo has the highest percentage NRW and water losses but these figures are contradicted by a

low litres / capita / day (l/c/d) and infrastructure leakage Index (ILI). This needs further investigation.

Western Cape is the overall best performing province. Gauteng has the highest per capita

consumption due to the high number of wet industries in the supply area.

To obtain an understanding of the water loss trends in the country, the water balance information for

107 municipalities, which submit information on a regular basis, was analysed. The system input

volume for the 107 municipalities has been consistently increasing since 2006 and the NRW has

been increasing since 2013. Water losses seemed to improve until 2014 but have subsequently

deteriorated again to 2012 levels. The municipalities have been tracking the projected water demand

without WCWDM and they are unlikely to achieve their 2017 targets.

System Input Volume = 4046.463

Water losses = 1452.329Real Losses = 1150.079 Real Losses = 1150.079

Non-revenue water = 1659.589

Authorised consumption = 2594.135

Apparent losses = 302.249 Apparent losses = 302.249

Revenue water = 2386.875

Unbilled authorised = 207.260 Unbilled unmetered = 153.987

Billed authorised = 2386.875

Billed unmetered = 412.301

Billed metered = 1974.574

59.0%

41.0% 35.9%

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The figure above shows that NRW has increased in the past two years but is influenced, in some

areas, by the imposed water restrictions. NRW tends to increase as the SIV reduces. More

municipalities are also indicating some of their water losses as unbilled unmetered consumption.

This shift emphasises the extent of leakage on private properties and the need for metering and

billing systems, mechanisms to control consumer demand, the War-on-Leaks programme and

consumer education and awareness.

The figure below shows that the per capita consumption has remained constant over the past 5

years, which is commendable, but WCWDM efforts must be elevated considering these figures are

significantly above international benchmarks of approximately 180 ℓ/c/d and the country is one of the

30 driest in the world.

25.6% 28.4% 29.5%34.2% 36.8% 36.6% 35.7% 34.3% 33.6% 34.9% 36.0% 36.7% 36.2% 36.7%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

-

500 000 000

1 000 000 000

1 500 000 000

2 000 000 000

2 500 000 000

3 000 000 000

3 500 000 000

Jun-05 Jun-06 Jun-07 Jun-08 Jun-09 Jun-10 Jun-11 Jun-12 Jun-13 Jun-14 Jun-15 Jun-16 Jun-17 Jun-22

% N

on-r

even

ue W

ater

Sys

tem

Inpu

t Vol

ume

(m³/

annu

m)

Billed metered Billed unmetered Non-Revenue water Projected SIV without WDM Projected SIV with WDM % Non-revenue water

5.25.8 5.9

6.7

7.36.9

6.0

5.2

4.3 4.2

5.5 5.3 5.4 5.3

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

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500 000 000

1 000 000 000

1 500 000 000

2 000 000 000

2 500 000 000

3 000 000 000

3 500 000 000


Infr

astr

uctu

re L

eaka

ge In

dex

Sys

tem

Inpu

t Vol

ume

(m³/

annu

m)

Billed metered Billed unmetered Unbilled metered Unbilled unmetered Commercial / Apparent losses Physical / Real losses Infrastructure Leakage Index (ILI)

23 2

49 5

95

23 9

27 3

54

24 3

71 2

83

25 0

15 3

77

25 4

39 9

82

27 3

77 4

69

28 3

96 7

87

28 8

17 4

05

29 3

64 4

16

29 9

16 0

35

30 5

22 9

02

31 2

52 9

34

30 5

22 9

02

31 2

52 9

34

273

274

283

277

291

271

257

260

247

235 26

7

262

265

262

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

0

5 000 000

10 000 000

15 000 000

20 000 000

25 000 000

30 000 000

35 000 000


Lit

res

/ cap

ita

/ day

Po

pu

lati

on

Population served Litres / capita / day

Targets Targets

Targets

Targets

v

CONCLUSION

The Eastern Cape municipalities have not achieved their 2016 targets and have been tracking the

projected water demand without WCWDM. Municipalities in the Eastern Cape are unlikely to achieve

their 2017 targets. The estimated 2015/16 water balance, for all municipalities in the Eastern Cape,

indicates water losses of 149.61 million m3/a (45.0%) and NRW of 158.65 million m3/a (47.8%). The

water balance has a low confidence due to the limited number of data sets and is highly influenced

by the Nelson Mandela Bay and Buffalo City metros, which account for 55% of the total demand.

In the Free State, Mangaung has been enforcing water restrictions since July 2015 and it exceeded

its June 2016 target by 12.2 million m³/a or 16%. Only Mangaung submits information on a regular

basis and leakage levels fluctuate considerably. It is difficult to assess if any progress is being made

with the reduction of NRW and water losses. The estimated 2015/16 water balance, for all

municipalities in the Free State, indicates water losses of 96.91 million m3/a (46.6%) and NRW of

106.91 million m3/a (51.4%). The water balance has a low confidence due to the limited number of

data sets. WCWDM must be implemented as a matter of priority to sustain current trends and

considering that water restrictions have already been imposed in several Free State municipalities.

There is significant scope for improvement in reporting levels, data accuracy and a reduction of

system input volume, NRW, water losses and efficiency.

Gauteng has been unable to reduce their demand in the past 9 years, although water use efficiency

seems to have been improving in the past 5 years. The estimated 2015/16 water balance, for all

municipalities in Gauteng, indicates water losses of 404.07 million m3/a (27.4%) and NRW of

528.84 million m3/a (35.9%). NRW and water loss levels have come down, which is commendable,

but WCWDM implementation levels must be elevated to ensure the targets of the Greater Vaal

reconciliation strategy are achieved. There is significant scope for improvement in the reduction of

system input volume, NRW, water losses and efficiency. Data accuracy and reporting are excellent

at metro-level but can improve for some of the smaller municipalities.

KwaZulu Natal has managed to maintain their system input, leakage levels and per capita

consumption in the past 5 to 6 years. The estimated 2015/16 water balance, for all KwaZulu-Natal

municipalities, indicates water losses of 299.80 million m3/a (43.0%) and NRW of 327.44 million m3/a

(46.9%). There is however, significant scope for improvement in the reduction of system input, NRW

and water losses in the province and WCWDM implementation levels must be elevated to ensure

the targets of the KZN Metropolitan areas reconciliation strategy are achieved, especially with the

looming / imposed water restrictions in the province. Data accuracy and reporting are excellent at

metro and secondary city level but there is significant scope for improvement in reporting levels and

data accuracy for the smaller municipalities.

The Limpopo province has been unable to reduce their demand in the past 9 years and water use

efficiency is at an all-time high of 209 ℓ/c/d. The estimated 2015/16 water balance, for all

municipalities in Limpopo, indicates water losses and NRW of 155.02 million m3/a (55.1%). The

water balance has a low confidence due to the limited number of data sets. Leakage levels and

NRW are also consistently increasing and WCWDM must be implemented as a matter of priority.

There is significant scope for improvement in reporting levels, data accuracy and reduction of system

input volume, NRW, water losses and efficiency.

The Mpumalanga province has been unable to reduce their demand in the past 8 years with some

signs of improvement in 2013, although this requires further investigation. The estimated 2015/16

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water balance, for all North West municipalities, indicates water losses and NRW of

105.58 million m3/a (51.1%). The water balance has a low confidence level due to the low number

of data sets. NRW and water losses have reduced slightly over the past 8 years despite a significant

increase in the system input volume and WCWDM must be implemented as a matter of priority.



The North West province has been unable to reduce their demand in the past 9 years, except for

2011, and shows significant growth in the past 2 years. The estimated 2015/16 water balance, for

all North West municipalities, indicates water losses and NRW of 105.58 million m3/a (51.1%). NRW

have reduced slightly in the past year but water losses are consistently increasing. WCWDM must

be implemented as a matter of priority. There is significant scope for improvement in reporting levels,

data accuracy and reduction of system input volume, NRW, water losses and efficiency.

Northern Cape has managed to maintain their system input, NRW and per capita consumption in

the past 5 to 6 years. The estimated 2015/16 water balance for all Northern Cape municipalities


water balance has a medium confidence level and is highly influenced by //Khara Hais (Upington)

and Sol Plaatjie (Kimberley) which accounts for approximately 67% of the demand. Increased efforts

are required by municipalities to implement WCWDM to ensure targets are achieved and water

restrictions are mitigated in the driest province. There is significant scope for improvement in

reporting levels, data accuracy, reduction of system input, NRW and water losses in the province.

The Western Cape has been doing well to maintain their system input volume for the past 3 to 4

years, while reducing their water losses and per capita consumption. The 2015/16 water balance for

the 20 data sets, indicates water losses of 80.48 million m3/a (16.7%) and NRW of 102.7 million m3/a

(21.3%). Municipalities must continue their current trends and increase their efforts to implement

WCWDM.

Nationally, the system input volume has been consistently increasing since 2006 but the NRW has

been improving since 2011 and water losses since 2009. The estimated 2015/16 water balance, for

all municipalities, indicate water losses of 1462.01 million m3/a (36.1%) and NRW of

1659.59 million m3/a (41.0%). Per capita consumption has remained almost constant over the past

9 years, which is commendable, but WCWDM efforts must be elevated considering these figures are


30 driest in the world. The reduction in NRW is encouraging but the figures are highly influenced by

the metros that have made considerable progress to reduce their non-revenue water while there is

significant scope for improvement in most of the other municipalities. The reduction in water losses

is mainly due to the shift of water losses to unbilled consumption in the water balance.

Only continuous monitoring and analyses will provide a credible benchmark against which the

progress made with the implementation of WCWDM may be measured. WCWDM must be

implemented as a matter of urgency in all provinces, especially with the looming and reported

droughts in the country. There is significant scope for improvement in reporting levels, data accuracy

and reduction of system input, NRW, water losses and improved efficiency across the country.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

The following recommendations are suggested to address the progress made with the

implementation of WCWDM in the eight large water distribution systems.

Maintenance of the reconciliation strategies must continue and be used to monitor the progress

made in the implementation of WCWDM. Municipalities must actively participate and report at

these meetings and use the outcomes to prioritise resources and budgets.

Municipalities should increase their efforts to achieve the targets set under the various water

reconciliation strategies to ensure water security. Targets need to be reviewed and reported on

a regular basis.

Too many local municipalities are not aware of the reconciliation strategies or expect DWS to

provide the necessary funding to implement these strategies. Municipalities must be reminded

of their responsibilities in terms of the Water Services Act and actively participate, budget through

the Integrated Development Plans (IDP) process and implement the results from the

reconciliation strategies.

Budgets are allocated towards new infrastructure projects through ACIP, MWIG, RBIG, MIG, etc.

funding programmes but the management of these funds is fragmented with emphasis on new

infrastructure and insufficient focus on WCWDM.

Ongoing monitoring and reporting of municipal NRW and water loss performance by DWS

against determined targets and baselines is critical.

Monitoring and reporting on water balances by municipalities could become more self-regulatory

if a policy is implemented that no new infrastructure projects will be funded unless the

municipality can provide actual consumption figures and proof that their water losses are under

control. The International Water Association’s water balance should become the backbone of

all water related management and decision support systems.

Municipalities should increase their efforts to reduce NRW and the negative impact it has on their

ability to generate own income and run a viable water business.

Municipalities should, through on-going awareness programmes, encourage the consumer to

appreciate the value of water and enforce the user pays principle.

Municipalities should increase payment levels, encourage consumer fixing of leaks, and

prosecution of illegal water connections and reduce theft of water.

Municipal asset management needs to be improved to ensure greater sustainability of water

supply services.

There are close correlation between operations, maintenance, low water losses and NRW.

Municipalities should implement proactive operations and maintenance programmes to coincide

with WCWDM programmes.

Closer involvement and collaboration with National Treasury and CoGTA is critical to ensure

issues related to funding of WCWDM programmes, metering and billing issues are resolved with

municipal finance departments.

WCWDM should be included in the performance plans of organisations and senior executives to

ensure execution and achievement of these plans.

On-going provision of mentorship to municipalities through the DWS Regional Offices is critical.

DWS Regional Offices / CMAs must upscale their skills and capacity to provide WCWDM support

to municipalities, monitoring and reporting.

viii

Some Regional Offices appointed a PSP to provide support with the development of reporting

templates, meeting with municipalities to confirm targets, analyse the water balance information

and provide feedback. The reporting structures in these regions are well established and all

municipalities are reporting on a quarterly basis. The initiative was supported by Regulations

sending directives to municipalities who did not respond. A similar approach could be followed

for all the other provinces to improve communications and water balance reporting.

The Regulations Relating to Compulsory National Standards and Measures to Conserve Water

(R509, 2001) state that a water services institution must fit a suitable water volume measuring

device or volume controlling device to every user connection to control demand. Many

municipalities do not comply with this regulation which results in excessive leakages on private

properties through leaking taps and toilets as there is no incentive for consumers to fix their

leaks. DWS should consider a policy whereby water services institutions are forced to either

measure and control or fix leaks on private properties, but government cannot continue to fund

new infrastructure projects to supplement leakage as a result of poor operations and

maintenance. DWS is already encouraging the fixing of leaks through the War on Leaks

programme.

The national non-revenue water assessment completed in 2011 suggests that 45% of

municipalities cannot provide basic information such as monthly consumption figures. One of

the key challenges with gathering the information is the poor communication channels with

municipalities which includes resigned staff and a considerable number of private e-mails.

Discussions also indicate that in some cases municipalities are unwilling to provide the

information as it reflects badly on them or they feel that the information has already been

submitted through the WSDP, various questionnaires, RPMS, Green drop, Blue drop etc.

Government needs to revisit communication channels with municipalities. Communications

should be more formal, avoid duplication and targeted at senior management in the organization.

In this regard, the circulars provided by National Treasury provide clear guidelines to

municipalities and communications are only with the mayor, municipal manager and CFO.

The results from the No Drop audit must be used to motivate for funding in the next financial

year. The No Drop incentive-based regulation programme should be rolled-out as planned in

conjunction with the other Drop programmes to elevate WCWDM in the municipal environment.

DWS should also enforce its regulatory mandate to penalise municipalities that do not comply.

Closer involvement and collaboration with CoGTA and SALGA is critical to address issues

relating to human resources' skills and capacity in municipalities, as well as resolving payment

for services and unauthorised water use.

Closer collaboration is required with other national, provincial and local departments that are big

water users. These include Departments of Education, Correctional Services, Public Works and

Housing to ensure leakages and wastage are brought under control.

The recommendations of the Second Edition of the National Water Resource Strategy (DWA,

June 2013), which calls for greater emphasis on meeting specific targets to reduce water loss,

must be implemented. WCWDM measures will have multiple benefits in terms of the

postponement of infrastructure augmentation, mitigation against climate change, support to

economic growth and ensuring that adequate water is available for equitable allocation.

The recommendations of South Africa’s National Development Plan (Vision for 2030)(NPC,

2013), which calls for clear national and local targets to be achieved by 2017 and 2022, must be

implemented.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 1

1.1 BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................ 1

1.2 OBJECTIVES .................................................................................................................... 2

1.3 IWA WATER BALANCE .................................................................................................... 2

1.4 WATER BALANCE SHEET ............................................................................................... 4

1.5 MUNICIPAL CATEGORISATION ...................................................................................... 7

1.6 2015/16 SAMPLE SIZE ..................................................................................................... 7

1.7 2015/16 ESTIMATED WATER BALANCE ......................................................................... 8

2 LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................ 10

2.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 10

2.2 NO DROP 2015 NATIONAL FIRST ORDER ASSESSMENT .......................................... 11

2.3 NO DROP 2015 FULL METRO ASSESSMENT .............................................................. 12

2.4 NO DROP 2015 BENCHMARKING REPORT ................................................................. 13

2.5 OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION ......................................................................... 15

3 WATER BALANCE TRENDS ............................................................................... 16

3.1 EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE ......................................................................................... 16

3.2 FREE STATE PROVINCE ............................................................................................... 18

3.3 GAUTENG PROVINCE ................................................................................................... 20

3.4 KWAZULU-NATAL PROVINCE ....................................................................................... 22

3.5 LIMPOPO PROVINCE .................................................................................................... 24

3.6 MPUMALANGA PROVINCE ........................................................................................... 26

3.7 NORTH WEST PROVINCE ............................................................................................. 28

3.8 NORTHERN CAPE PROVINCE ...................................................................................... 30

3.9 WESTERN CAPE PROVINCE ........................................................................................ 32

3.10 NATIONAL WATER BALANCE TRENDS ....................................................................... 34

3.11 WATER BALANCE COMPARISON ................................................................................ 36

3.12 2015/16 KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS PER CATEGORY ................................... 36

6 CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................... 42

7 RECOMMENDATIONS ......................................................................................... 44

Appendix A : Municipal water balance scorecards

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ACRONYMS

CARL Current Annual Real Losses

DWS Department of Water and Sanitation

IDP Integrated Development Plan

ILI Infrastructure Leakage Index

IWA International Water Association

KPI Key Performance Indicator

NDP National Development Plan – Vision for 2030 (2011)

NRW Non-Revenue Water

NWRS2 National Water Resource Strategy 2 (2013)

SIV System Input Volume

UARL Unavoidable Annual Real Losses

WCWDM Water Conservation Water Demand Management

WSA Water Services Authority

WSP Water Services Provider

1

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND

The “National Development Plan – Vision for 2030” (NDP) states that reducing growth in water

demand is just as important as increasing its supply. The NDP assumes it is possible to achieve an

average reduction in water demand of 15% below baseline levels (“business as usual levels”) in

urban areas by 2030. Detailed targets have been set for different areas through the Reconciliation

Strategies and the All-Town Studies. The NDP also calls for a dedicated national water conservation

and water demand management (WCWDM) programme by 2012, with clear national and local

targets for 2017 and 2022.

The Second Edition of the National Water Resource Strategy (NWRS2) builds on the first National

Water Resource Strategy (NWRS1) published in 2004. The purpose of the NWRS2 is to ensure that

national water resources are protected, used, developed, conserved, managed and controlled in an

efficient and sustainable manner. The NWRS2 acknowledges that South Africa is a water-stressed

country and is facing a number of water challenges and concerns, which include security of supply,

environmental degradation and resource pollution, and the inefficient use of water. In light of the

urgency to protect our water resources and the adverse effects of climate change, the NWRS2

submits that WCWDM should be one of the top priorities, and measures to reconcile demand and

supply in order to provide for the national goals of a better life for all through job creation and

economic growth.

Progress made with the implementation of WCWDM can only be measured against an accurate

baseline. The last comprehensive baseline assessment, of non-revenue water (NRW) and water

losses in South Africa, was published in 2015 with the No Drop publication of First order assessment

of water loss, water use efficiency and non-revenue water in municipalities (DWS and SWPN, Oct

2015). The first order No Drop assessment was undertaken in 2014 as part of the 2014 Blue Drop

Assessment and focussed on all municipalities in South Africa. The No Drop component focussed

on three (3) key performance areas, namely water balance, strategy and planning, and performance

and compliance. The report was based on 2013/14 data and key outcomes included:

A total of 4 712 677 (87.6%) of all connections were metered and 669 936 (12.4%) were

unmetered

In total, 30% of the water supply systems obtained >50% No Drop score, with the balance of

70% attaining <50%. An overall National No Drop Score of 56.5% was achieved, which falls

within the No Drop category of “Average Performance”. Water Services Authorities (WSA)

need to achieve above 90% to achieve No Drop certification

Up to 51% of the 152 water services authorities had proper or partial WCWDM Strategies and

Plans in place, and were busy with some form of implementation in the field. Coupled with

38% to 40% of WSAs having proper or partial Water Balances in place, and a savings potential

of R 3 billion/annum, this makes a strong case to focus on improvement in the quality of

planning and the intensity and acceleration of implementation. Of concern was that 62% of

WSAs did not have WCWDM contained within their Integrated Development Plans (IDP).

The national water balance for the 2012/13 audit year showed a total System Input Volume

(SIV) of 2 997.58 million kl/annum of which 2 168.97 million kl/a (72.4%) was authorised

consumption and 828.61 million kl/a (27.6%) was water losses. The water losses was made

2

up of 165.32 million kl/a (20%) apparent losses and 663.29 million kl/a (80%) real losses, which

result in a NRW of 1 038.05 million kl/annum (34.6%).

A total volume of 1 038.05 million kl/annum was lost as NRW which, calculated at a unit cost

of R 6 / kl, amounted to R 6,228 million per annum for the country as a whole. By implementing

WCWDM projects, a potential saving of 331.65 million kl/annum could be achieved, which

translates to R1 989.9 million per year.

Reporting by all municipalities is therefore very important as it facilitates transparency, awareness,

provides management information for decision support systems and provides warning mechanisms

for councils, officials, business, industry, residents and Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS)

to monitor water security, improve municipal performance and improve efficiency among consumers.

1.2 OBJECTIVES

The key objectives of this study were as follows:

Report on SIV, NRW, water loss and efficiency trends, based on 2004/05 to 2015/16 municipal

financial year data

Calculate a 2015/16 water balance for each municipality where no better information exists

Disseminate NRW / water loss benchmarking information in municipalities, government

organisations and consumers throughout South Africa to create awareness.

1.3 IWA WATER BALANCE

The modified International Water Association (IWA) water balance was accepted as the standard

reporting format for NRW and water losses in South Africa in the late 1990s. The IWA water balance

is now generally accepted throughout most countries in the world as the most standard, robust and

comprehensive approach to report on NRW / water losses. The IWA water balance was slightly

modified for South Africa to include free basic water.

Modified IWA water balance

3

System input volume (SIV) represents the potable volume input to the water supply system

from the water utility’s own sources, as measured at the water treatment works (WTW) outlet,

allowing for all known errors (i.e. errors on bulk water meters) as well as any water imported

from other sources, also corrected for known bulk metering errors;

authorised consumption is the volume of metered and / or unmetered water used by registered

customers, the water utility and others who are implicitly or explicitly authorised to do so by the

water utility, for residential, commercial and industrial purposes;

water losses is the sum of the physical and commercial losses and is calculated as the

difference between the SIV and the authorised consumption. In most countries, water losses

are also considered to be unaccounted for water (UFW) although the exact definition of UFW

can vary from country to country;

billed authorised consumption is effectively the revenue water, and is the volume of authorised

metered and unmetered consumption which is billed by the water utility and paid for by the

customer;

unbilled authorised consumption is the volume of authorised metered and unmetered

consumption that is not billed or paid for;

commercial losses or apparent losses are made up from the unauthorised consumption (theft

or illegal use), plus all technical and administrative inaccuracies associated with customer

metering. If commercial losses are reduced, generally more revenue will be generated by and

for the water utility;

real losses are the physical water losses from the pressurised system, up to the point of

measurement of customer use. In most cases, real losses represent the unknown component

in the overall water balance. The purpose of most water balance models is therefore to

estimate the magnitude of real losses so that the water utility can gauge whether or not it has

a serious leakage problem. Real losses are generally calculated as the difference between

total losses and estimated commercial losses; and

NRW is the volume of water supplied by the water utility but for which it receives no income.

NRW incorporates unbilled (metered or unmetered) authorised consumption, apparent /

commercial losses and real / physical losses.

Once the water balance has been calculated, various key performance indicators (KPI) can be

calculated to measure the performance of the water supply system. With the water balance and

KPIs available, the water utility can determine which components must be targeted first to improve

efficiency, reduce commercial losses, physical losses or NRW. Once the main water loss

contributing components have been identified and quantified, it is important to identify the most

effective WCWDM intervention to address these losses. It is therefore important to obtain a clear

understanding of what impact various WCWDM interventions would have to ensure that targets are

achieved. Alignment of the IWA water balance against various WCWDM interventions is shown in

the figure below.

4

1.4 WATER BALANCE SHEET

A two-page water balance sheet is included in Appendix A for each municipality. Cognisance

should be taken of the following:

All information was provided by the respective municipalities or Water Services Authority

unless otherwise indicated

The water balance sheet is divided into four sections to ease the capturing and display of

information. The four sections include input data, water balance calculations, key performance

indicators and graphics

Target water balance and

possible savings

Potential savings from

various interventions

Syste

m I

nput

Vo

lum

e

Auth

orised

consum

ption

Billed authorised consumption Community awareness

Unbilled authorised consumption

Bylaws and enforcement

Potential savings from increased

water use efficiency

Implemented

through

Retrofit and removal of

wasteful devices

Tariff setting

Wate

r lo

sses

Unavoidable annual

commercial losses

Meter accuracy and

assumption errors

Economic level of commercial

losses reduction

Data transfer errors

Potential savings from a reduction

in commercial losses

Implemented

through

Data analysis and

assumption errors

Theft and unauthorised

consumption

Unavoidable annual

real losses

Pressure

reduction

Economic level of physical

losses reduction

Active and passive

leakage control

Potential savings from reduction

in physical losses

Implemented

through Mains

replacement

Speed and quality

of repairs

5

White cells require an input value, while yellow cells are calculated. The municipality is

required to provide only 15 values per annum to complete the sheet. The 15 values are split

between basic information, such as the population served, and the water balance information.

The basic information is used to calculate key performance indicators. The water balance

component follows the format of the IWA water balance

All volumes are in kℓ/annum (kℓ = m3 = 1000 litres) and based on the municipal financial year

(July to June). Data for “Year ending - Jun-05” therefore means water supply and demand

figures from July 2004 to June 2005

All underlined values were calculated using trends and / or averages based on previous years

The last two columns indicate the 2017 and 2022 targets in line with the NDP requirements

The targets were obtained from the relevant reconciliation and all town strategies, unless

otherwise indicated

Targets could not be obtained for all municipalities and were therefore only included for

selected municipalities where sufficient information was available. The analysis, evaluation,

interpretation and monitoring on the progress made with the implementation of WCWDM in

each province are therefore based on limited data sets

The provincial and district water balances are based on the sum of the municipalities located

within the province or district

The municipalities listed are in accordance with the boundary reform at the time of the

municipal election of 3 August 2016.

Example IWA Water Balance Diagram (million m3/annum)

A typical 2015/16 IWA water balance, with percentages for water losses, revenue and non-revenue

water, is shown for each municipality and province as shown in the example below:-

Example NRW trend

NRW consists of all unbilled authorised consumption and water losses. The example NRW trend

graph below shows the increase or decrease in volume and percentage NRW. It also shows the

projected demand with and without WCWDM as included in the DWS reconciliation or all town











59.8%

40.2% 27.4%

6

strategies, unless otherwise indicated. The 2017 and 2022 targets were obtained from the

reconciliation or all town strategies should be achieved to meet the objectives of the NDP.

Example water losses trend

Water losses consist of apparent or commercial losses and real or physical losses and typically

includes all losses on the municipal side (up to the consumer meter) of the reticulation system. Some

municipalities do however, include internal plumbing losses as part of their water losses, although

this should be indicated as unbilled authorised consumption. The water losses trend graph therefore

indicates the increase or decrease in volume, apparent or commercial losses and real or physical

losses. The Infrastructure Leakage Index (ILI) which is an indication of the physical leakage is shown

on the right-hand axis. The 2017 and 2022 targets were obtained from the municipality or estimated

based on historical and current performance.

Example population versus System Input Volume trend (litres / capita /day)

The per capita consumption (litres / capita / day) is based on the system input volume divided by the

population served. The system input volume includes commercial and industrial demand. The 2017

and 2022 targets are based on the projected water demand and population figures.

10.8%

19.0%13.0% 15.2% 14.9% 13.2% 16.0%

12.4%17.4% 14.6% 15.9% 18.7%

14.6% 14.6%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

-

1 000 000

2 000 000

3 000 000

4 000 000

5 000 000

6 000 000

7 000 000

8 000 000


% N

on-r

even

ue W

ater

Sys

tem

Inpu

t Vol

ume

(m³/

annu

m)


2.7

4.5

3.8 3.93.5

2.52.1

2.4

1.8 1.7

2.32.0 1.9

2.1

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

-

2 000 000

4 000 000

6 000 000

8 000 000

10 000 000

12 000 000

14 000 000

16 000 000

18 000 000

20 000 000


Infr

astr

uctu

re L

eaka

ge In

dex

Sys

tem

Inpu

t Vol

ume

(m³/

annu

m)

Billed metered Billed unmetered Unbilled metered Unbilled unmetered Commercial / Apparent losses Infrastructure Leakage Index (ILI)

Targets

Targets

7

1.5 MUNICIPAL CATEGORISATION

The data was categorised according to the Municipal Infrastructure Investment Framework (MIIF)

and per province. The MIIF categorisation is as follows:

Category May 2011

Aug 2016

Short description

Long Description

A 8 8 Metros Metropolitan municipalities

B1 19 19 Major cities Secondary cities, local municipalities with the largest budgets

B2 27 25 Minor cities Municipalities with a large town as core

B3 110 100 Rural dense Municipalities with relatively small population and significant proportion of urban population but with no large town as core

B4 70 61 Rural scattered Municipalities which are mainly rural with, at most, one or two small towns in their area

Total 234 213

1.6 2015/16 SAMPLE SIZE

The number of available data sets compared to the 2011/12 DWS study, 3% No Drop (DWS, 2015)

study and The State of non-revenue water in South Africa (WRC, 2012) are shown in the following

table. It is clear from the table that the submission of data by municipalities is deteriorating and a

matter of concern. The data sets provided in this report were sourced through the DWS Regional

offices and very few municipalities were contacted directly. The submission of data is especially

poor in the Eastern Cape, Free State, North West, Limpopo and Mpumalanga. Most municipalities

in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape and about 50% to 70% in Northern Cape are

submitting data on a regular basis.

76 5

60

78 8

27

79 5

68

82 0

45

82 7

66

95 2

81

98 3

58

99 2

28

100

662

102

147

103

791

107

875

109

611

115

758

388

408

435

418

412

365

348

363

366

376

378

352 45

6 550

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

0

20 000

40 000

60 000

80 000

100 000

120 000

140 000


Lit

res

/ cap

ita

/ day

Po

pu

lati

on


Targets

8

Category State of NRW in

SA (2009/10) DWS (2011/12) 3% No Drop

(2012/13) 2015/16

A 8 8 8 8

B1 18 17 15 15

B2 26 21 15 15

B3 55 56 49 43

B4 25 20 14 26

Total 132 122 101 107

Total municipalities 234 234 234 213

Sample size 56% 52% 43% 50%

1.7 2015/16 ESTIMATED WATER BALANCE

All previous benchmarking reports calculated the national water balance based on an extrapolated

sample size. The national water balance is highly influenced by the metro and secondary city data,

which has high confidence level while data for the category B3 and B4 municipalities have a low

confidence and are poorly represented in the sample size. The extrapolated results provided NRW

figures between 35 to 40% depending on the methodology followed. To make a proper assessment

of the state of water losses in each province, a water balance was estimated for each municipality

where no information was available. The water balance was calculated as follows and calibrated if

necessary based on available information.

Municipal category

Average l/c/d consumption above RDP

Average l/c/d consumption below RDP

Red Book design figure (Table 9.11) Billing

efficiency

A 300 55 Very high development level = 260 to 480 l/c/d

Yard connections = 55 l/c/d (typical)

90%

B1 250 55 High development level = 130 to 280 l/c/d


70%

B2 200 55 High development level = 130 to 280 l/c/d


50%

B3 150 55 Moderate to high development level = 80 to 145 l/c/d


30%

B4 100 25 Yard connections = 50 to 100 l/c/d

Standpipe = 10 to 50

10%

The water balance components were calculated as follows:

System input volume = Average consumption x population served

o The population served were obtained from the 2016 StatsSA Community Survey

Free Basic Water (FBW) = 6 kl x number of indigent households

o The number of indigent households were obtained from the Division of Revenue Bill

(2016/17 to 2018/19)

Billed consumption = (Total households - indigent households - unserved households) x

average consumption x billing efficiency

9

o The number of households was obtained from the 2016 StatsSA Community Survey

and Division of Revenue Bill (2016/17 to 2018/19)

o The average consumption and billing efficiency were obtained from the table above

NRW = SIV - FBW - billed consumption

In most cases, close correlation were obtained between historical data and the calculated value. For

larger municipalities and municipalities supplied from bulk service providers the average

consumption tended to be higher than expected. These communities are often supplied from large

water supply schemes at a higher level of development.

The tables below show the distribution of National Treasury’s 2016 equitable share per municipal

category and province. An indigent household is defined as a household with an income of less than

R 2300 per month.

Category Number of

households

Number of indigent

households % Indigent

Free basic water allocation

(m3/annum)

System Input volume

(m3/annum)

% billed consumption

A 6 560 289 3 287 219 50% 236 679 789 2 204 322 416 11%

B1 2 301 265 1 263 093 55% 90 942 678 714 128 992 13%

B2 1 235 172 726 120 59% 52 280 637 278 917 501 19%

B3 1 988 542 1 268 049 64% 91 299 461 428 026 024 21%

B4 3 132 593 2 342 651 75% 168 670 823 421 068 293 40%

Total 15 217 861 8 887 132 58% 639 873 388 4 046 463 225 16%

The results indicate that almost 9 million households or 58% are considered indigent and the

municipality receive equitable share on a monthly basis from National Treasury for the provision of

free basic water of 6 kl/month. Free basic water is billed at a zero rate and forms part of the

authorised billed metered or unmetered consumption in the IWA water balance. The free basic water

allocation in the category B4 municipalities is significant and means that on average the NRW cannot

be more than 60%. Limpopo has the highest percentage indigent households in the country.

Province Number of

households

Number of indigent

households (<R 2300 pm)

% Indigent

Free basic water allocation

(m3/annum)

System Input volume

(m3/annum)

% billed consumption

EC 1 733 805 1 187 761 69% 85 518 788 332 151 376 26%

FS 845 236 523 800 62% 37 713 618 207 835 805 18%

GT 4 183 543 2 091 387 50% 150 579 894 1 473 100 700 10%

KZN 2 638 912 1 659 922 63% 119 514 360 697 751 184 17%

LP 1 488 967 1 052 087 71% 75 750 240 281 235 907 27%

MP 1 147 059 705 259 61% 50 778 622 270 990 713 19%

NC 315 069 177 888 56% 12 807 951 94 205 305 14%

NW 1 138 712 704 370 62% 50 714 638 206 496 825 25%

WC 1 746 785 798 324 46% 57 479 307 482 695 411 12%

Total 15 238 087 8 900 799 58% 640 857 418 4 046 463 225 16%

10

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 INTRODUCTION

Various previous assessments of NRW have been undertaken in South Africa since the standard

IWA methodology was introduced in the late 1990s. The following main reports provide the

background to the latest assessment:

2002 – Development of a simple and pragmatic approach to benchmark real losses in potable

water distribution systems in South Africa. WRC Report TT 159/01 by Mckenzie and Lambert.

2005 – Benchmarking of Leakage from Water Reticulation Systems in South Africa. WRC

Report TT 244/05 by Mckenzie and Seago.

2007 – Non-Revenue Water in South Africa. WRC Report TT 300/07 by Seago and Mckenzie.

2012 – The State of Non-revenue Water in South Africa (2012). WRC Report TT by Mckenzie,

Siqalaba and Wegelin.

2013 - Metropolitan Municipality Non-Revenue / Water Loss Assessment by DWA Water

Services Directorate: Planning and Information - Business Intelligence Team.

2013 – Secondary City Non-Revenue / Water Loss Assessment by DWA Water Services

Directorate: Planning and Information - Business Intelligence Team.

2014 – National Non-Revenue / Water Loss Assessment by DWA Water Services Directorate:

Planning and Information - Business Intelligence Team.

2014 - A 2011/12 Assessment of Non-Revenue and Water Losses in South Africa by DWA

Water Services Directorate: Planning and Information - Business Intelligence Team.

2015 - No Drop Report - First order assessment of water loss, water use efficiency and non-

revenue water in municipalities, DWS and SWPN, Oct 2015.

2015 No Drop Report - The status of water loss, water use efficiency and non-revenue water

in metropolitan municipalities, DWS and SWPN, Oct 2015.

2015 No Drop Report - Benchmarking of Water Loss, Water Use Efficiency and Non-Revenue

Water in South African Municipalities (2004/05 to 2012/13), DWS and SWPN, Oct 2015.

These assessments provided updated and more reliable information on municipal water use than

the previous estimates, and in each case, the available database was expanded to include additional

municipalities which had not previously provided any useful information.

Key results from the latest three studies are summarised in the following section while the remaining

studies are available from the Water Research Commission (WRC) or the Department of Water and

Sanitation (DWS).

11

2.2 NO DROP 2015 NATIONAL FIRST ORDER ASSESSMENT

The purpose of this study was to provide an overview of the status of

municipalities as pertaining to their water losses, non-revenue water and

water use efficiency, based on the 2012/13 financial year. The

assessment is fully documented in the 2015 report entitled “2015 No Drop

Report - First order assessment of water loss, water use efficiency

and non-revenue water in municipalities, DWS and SWPN, Oct 2015”.

Based on verified evidence and data sets, the No Drop audit concluded

that all 152 water services authorities participated in the No Drop

assessment. Data sets were received for 71 water services authorities,

representing a total population of 32 580 710 and 9 043 534 households

which is approximately 62% of the country’s total population. These

households are supplied via a total mains network of 121 449 km and 5 382 613 connections, with

an average of 44 connections per km pipeline. A total of 4 712 677 (87.6%) of all connections are

metered and 669 936 (12.4%) are unmetered. The average system pressure is 45 m, ranging

between 52 m and 36 m reported by the various municipalities.

A total of 949 water supply systems have been assessed. In total, 30% of the water supply systems

obtained >50% No Drop score, with the balance of 70% attaining <50%. An overall National No

Drop Score of 56.5% was achieved, which falls within the No Drop category of ‘Average

Performance”. This (weighted) national score bodes well for the future of WCWDM in the country,

given that it is a first time assessment and steep learning curve for the municipalities. The higher

score is positively influenced by the good scores obtained by the metropolitan municipalities and

some of the municipalities with larger capacity systems.

Up to 51% of the 152 water services authorities have proper or partial WCWDM Strategies and Plans

in place, and are busy with some form of implementation in the field. Coupled with 38% to 40% of

WSAs having proper or partial Water Balances in place, and a savings potential of R 3 billion/annum,

this makes a strong case to focus on improvement in the quality of planning and the intensity and

acceleration of implementation. Of concern is that 62% of WSAs do not have WCWDM contained

within their IDPs. This is a fundamental requirement to ensure that projects are rolled out in the field.

Regulatory letters to Mayors and Municipal Managers, annexed to their No Drop results, will serve

to rectify this omission.

The National Water Balance for the 2012/13 audit year shows a total SIV 2 997.58 million kl/annum

of which 2 168.97 million kl/a (72.4%) is Authorised Consumption and 828.61 million kl/a (27.6%) is

Water Losses. The Water Losses is made up of 165.32 million kl/a (20%) apparent Losses and

663.29 million kl/a (80%) real losses, which result in a NRW of 1 038.05 million kl/annum (34.6%).

A total volume of 1 038.05 million kl/annum is lost as NRW which, calculated at a unit cost of R 6 / kl,

amounts to R 6,228 million per annum for the country as a whole. By implementing WCWDM

projects, a potential saving of 331.65 million kl/annum can be achieved, which translates to

R1 989.9 million per year. Savings in excess of R 3 billion can be projected if all 152 water services

authorities’ water balances are considered. The potential savings that can be realised by investing

in WCWDM in Category A and B1 municipalities is 84% of the national savings potential.

12

Water use efficiency is typically one of the key performance indicators and reported at national

government level. The average water use efficiency is 237 ℓ/c/d and 234 ℓ/c/d for the Provinces and

the WSA Categories, respectively. The reported efficiencies are significantly above the international

benchmark of 180 ℓ/c/d and municipalities must continue to plan for improvement towards an

average consumption of below 200 ℓ/c/d.

2.3 NO DROP 2015 FULL METRO ASSESSMENT

This report is the first full No Drop audit of metropolitan municipalities. The

assessment is fully documented in the 2015 report entitled “2015 No Drop

Report - The status of water loss, water use efficiency and non-

revenue water in metropolitan municipalities, DWS and SWPN, Oct

2015”.

All metros have strategies and business plans to address the NRW, water

losses and efficiency. Significant progress has been made with the

implementation of these strategies and business plans, but there is still a

lack of political support, budgets, alignment to the Department’s

reconciliation strategies and understanding of the possible consequences

of water restriction. The targets set under the various reconciliation

strategies are included in the NDP and NWRS2 and it is critical that these targets are achieved to

avoid possible water restriction and the subsequent detrimental economic impact. All metros must

revise their strategies and business plans to ensure targets are achieved and the risk of water

restrictions is minimised.

Asset management has a direct impact on WCWDM. Without proper operation and maintenance, it

will not be possible to monitor the water losses in a distribution system and perform basic functions

such as metering, billing and cost recovery. All metros could improve the operations and

maintenance of their assets, which have a direct impact on water loss control.

No water services authority would be able to implement WCWDM without the necessary staff

capacity and skills. Most WCWDM activities and preventative maintenance could be performed as

part of the daily operation and maintenance of the system. Staff capacity and skills obtained the

second lowest score of all the criteria and should be addressed as a matter of priority. A standard

must be developed to specify the skills and capacity required to operate and maintain a water

distribution system.

The information used to prepare a monthly water balance is, in general, credible, plausible and

readily available. Proper management, reading and billing of consumer meters cannot happen if

there is not a good relationship between the finance and technical departments. The finance and

technical departments in all metros should interact on a daily basis to ensure consumer meters are

properly installed, repaired, inspected, read and billed. All metros should strive to meter and bill,

based on actual meter readings, to ensure the financial sustainability of the metro and customer

satisfaction.

Key performance indicators and compliance with the water demand management regulations

contributed most to the overall score. Metros should endeavour to fix all leaks within 48 hours of

becoming aware thereof, improve water losses, NRW and efficiency and implement pressure

13

management. Improved compliance and performance will significantly improve the overall score of

all metros. The large number of unmetered connections and deemed (flat rate) consumers must be

addressed as a matter of priority to promote water use efficiency and generate income for the metros.

The results indicate that average system pressures are high and there is scope for aggressive

pressure reduction in all metros. Pressure reduction is a cost effective WCWDM measure and

should be implemented as a priority.

All metros have the necessary policies and bylaws, but enforcement could be improved through

political support and additional human resources. Metros will receive the benefit through reduced

water theft, consumer awareness and equality.

There is significant scope for increased community awareness in all metros. Consumers need to be

made aware that South Africa is a water scarce country and the value of water should be

appreciated. Community awareness programmes will improve the relationship between the metro

and its customers, create more informed consumers and reduce the risk of service delivery unrest.

Metros could benefit from WCWDM programmes through improved service delivery, sustainable

resources, financial viability, social and economic improvement. The key WCWDM interventions

identified by the metros, include pressure management, top consumer audits, household leak repair

programmes, metering of unmetered properties and water reuse, have been proven to provide a

very good return on investment, with payback periods of less than 3 years.

Metros require approximately R 2 billion per annum to fund their WCWDM programmes and currently

have a shortfall of R 500 million. A 10% reduction in SIV and reducing NRW to 25% can generate

approximately R 2 billion additional income for metros, through reduced water purchases and

increased water sales. There is a business case for obtaining funding from financial institutions, as

the estimated savings are equivalent to the average annual budget required for WCWDM.

2.4 NO DROP 2015 BENCHMARKING REPORT

This report is an update of the first comprehensive baseline assessment, of

NRW and water losses in South Africa, which was made in 2012 with the

publication of the The State of Non-revenue water in South Africa (2012)

(WRC, Report TT522/12). The assessment is fully documented in the 2015

report entitled “Benchmarking of Water Loss, Water Use Efficiency and

Non-Revenue Water in South African Municipalities (2004/05 to

2012/13), DWS and SWPN, Oct 2015”

The Eastern Cape has managed to maintain leakage levels and per capita

consumption in the past 5 years but, especially with the looming drought

situation, there is significant scope for improvement in reporting levels, data

accuracy and a reduction of NRW and water losses.

The Free State has been unable to reduce their demand in the past 9 years and water use efficiency

is at an all-time high of 270 ℓ/c/d. Leakage levels fluctuate considerably and it is difficult to assess if

any progress is being made with the reduction of NRW and water losses. WCWDM must be

implemented as a matter of priority, considering that water restrictions have already been imposed

in Mangaung metro. There is significant scope for improvement in reporting levels, data accuracy

and a reduction of system input volume, NRW, water losses and efficiency.

14


seems to have been improving in the past 5 years. NRW and water loss levels have come down,

which is commendable, but WCWDM implementation levels must be elevated to ensure the targets

of the Greater Vaal reconciliation strategy are achieved. There is significant scope for improvement

in the reduction of system input volume, NRW, water losses and efficiency. Data accuracy and

reporting are excellent at metro-level but can improve for some of the smaller municipalities.


consumption in the past 5 to 6 years. There is however, significant scope for improvement in the

reduction of system input, NRW and water losses in the province and WCWDM implementation

levels must be elevated to ensure the targets of the KZN Metropolitan areas reconciliation strategy

are achieved, especially with the looming / imposed water restrictions in the province. Data accuracy

and reporting are excellent at metro and secondary city level but there is significant scope for

improvement in reporting levels and data accuracy for the smaller municipalities.


efficiency is at an all-time high of 205 ℓ/c/d. Leakage levels and NRW are also consistently increasing

and WCWDM must be implemented as a matter of priority. There is significant scope for

improvement in reporting levels, data accuracy and a reduction of system input volume, NRW, water

losses and efficiency.


signs of improvement in 2013, although this requires further investigation. NRW and water losses

have reduced slightly over the past 8 years despite a significant increase in the system input volume




The North West province has been unable to reduce their demand in the past 9 years and have

shown significant growth in the past 2 years. NRW have reduced slightly in the past year but water

losses are consistently increasing. WCWDM must be implemented as a matter of priority. There is

significant scope for improvement in reporting levels, data accuracy and a reduction of system input

volume, NRW, water losses and efficiency.


the past 5 to 6 years. Increased efforts are required by municipalities to implement WCWDM to

ensure targets are achieved and water restrictions are mitigated in the driest province. There is

significant scope for improvement in reporting levels, data accuracy and a reduction of system input,

NRW and water losses in the province.

Municipalities in the Western Cape have been doing well to maintain their system input volume for

the past 3 to 4 years, while reducing their water losses and per capita consumption. Municipalities

must continue their current trends and increase their efforts to implement WCWDM.


been improving since 2011 and water losses since 2009. Per capita consumption has remained

almost constant over the past 9 years, which is commendable, but WCWDM efforts must be elevated

considering these figures are significantly above international benchmarks of approximately 180 ℓ/c/d

and the country is one of the 30 driest in the world.

15

The reduction in non-revenue water is encouraging but the figures are highly influenced by the

metros that have made considerable progress to reduce their non-revenue water while there is


is mainly due to the shift of water losses to unbilled consumption in the water balance. This shift

emphasises the extent of leakage on private properties and the need for metering and billing

systems, mechanisms to control consumer demand, the War-on-Leaks programme and consumer

education and awareness.






2.5 OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Population and households served figures were obtained from the DWS

National Water Services Knowledge System (https://www.dwa.gov.za/wsks/).

These figures are compiled by DWS, in close collaboration with StatsSA, and are

used for all planning purposes, including the development of Water Services

Development Plans. Any household with access to potable water, regardless of

the level of service, is considered served. Municipalities should contact the

Directorate Water Services Planning and Information if they disagree with any of the figures.

Number of metered and unmetered connections was obtained from Census 2011 and

Community Survey 2016, where all house and yard connections were considered metered.

The balance between households served and metered connections were considered

unmetered connections. Municipalities should update this information from their billing system.

Close correlation between households served and number of connections is expected, except

in some municipalities with a high number of townhouse developments, with single connection,

or backyard dwellers.

https://www.dwa.gov.za/wsks/

16

3 WATER BALANCE TRENDS

The water balance trends for the nine provinces and a national perspective are provided in the

following sections. The water balance sheet for each municipality is included in Appendix A.

3.1 EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE

Reporting in the Eastern Cape has been very poor in recent years with only the Nelson Mandela Bay

and Buffalo City metros submitting water balance information on a regular basis. The DWS regional

office has no active WCWDM reporting and meeting programme in place.

The estimated 2015/16 water balance, for all municipalities in the Eastern Cape, indicates water

losses of 149.61 million m3/a (45.0%) and NRW of 158.65 million m3/a (47.8%). The water balance

has a low confidence due to the limited number of data sets and is highly influenced by the Nelson

Mandela Bay and Buffalo City metros, which account for 55% of the total demand. These figures

are slightly higher than the 2012/13 No Drop assessment of 40.3% water losses and 44.5% NRW.

The No Drop assessment was based on 19 data sets with a SIV of 219.75 million m3/a. The increase

is due to the increased losses in the metros and the inclusion of all category B3 and B4 municipalities,

which tend to have less budget and resources with subsequent higher losses and NRW.

The water balance and trends for the Eastern Cape are based on the two plausible data sets of the

metros of a possible 33 municipalities. NRW and water loss trends for the Eastern Cape metros

show a gradual increase from 2011 until 2016. The drop in demand from 2009 to 2011 is mainly

due to the water restrictions imposed in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro. Indications are that the

system input volume is quickly returning to previous levels since the lifting of the drought restrictions.

NRW has increased significantly in the past year but water losses have improved slightly. The results

indicate that metros in the Eastern Cape have not achieved their 2016 targets and have been

tracking the projected water demand without WCWDM. Municipalities in the Eastern Cape are

unlikely to achieve their 2017 targets.











52.2%

47.8% 45.0%

17

The ILI for the two metros reached an all-time high of 6.6 in June 2015. In 2016, the ILI reduced to

5.6 due to an increase in commercial losses and unbilled consumption and not reduced real losses.

Per capita consumption for the two metros increased from 2005 and peaked in 2009 at 276 ℓ/c/d.

Since 2010 the per capita consumption has averaged 246 ℓ/c/d. The reduction in the per capita

consumption from 2015 to 2016 is due to a correction in the population figures and not as a result of

improved efficiency.

The Eastern Cape has managed to maintain leakage levels and per capita consumption in the past

7 years but, especially with the looming drought situation, there is significant scope for improvement

in reporting levels, data accuracy and a reduction of SIV, NRW and water losses.

31.84% 31.98%36.57% 37.09% 38.51% 38.39%

42.31% 40.71% 43.27% 41.26% 40.82%46.30%

31.32%24.28%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

-

50 000 000

100 000 000

150 000 000

200 000 000

250 000 000


% N

on-r

even

ue W

ater

Sys

tem

Inpu

t Vol

ume

(m³/

annu

m)


4.6 4.5 4.4

5.55.7

5.35.6

4.6

5.75.3

6.6

5.6

3.6

2.9

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

-

20 000 000

40 000 000

60 000 000

80 000 000

100 000 000

120 000 000

140 000 000

160 000 000

180 000 000

200 000 000


Infr

astr

uctu

re L

eaka

ge In

dex

Sys

tem

Inpu

t Vol

ume

(m³/

annu

m)


1 50

9.60

1 53

9.94

1 57

0.42

1 60

1.38

1 63

0.77

1 73

5.04

1 78

7.88

1 80

3.43

1 82

1.02

1 83

8.35

1 85

7.29

1 98

7.46

2 00

7.91

2 17

0.92

253

251

259

272

276

247

228

239

242

253

254

244

217

226

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

0

500

1 000

1 500

2 000

2 500


Lit

res

/ cap

ita

/ day

Po

pu

lati

on

('00

0)


Targets

Targets

Targets

18

3.2 FREE STATE PROVINCE

Reporting in the Free State has been very poor in recent years with only Mangaung metro submitting

water balance information on a regular basis. The DWS regional office has no active WCWDM

reporting and meeting programme in place.

The estimated 2015/16 water balance, for all municipalities in the Free State, indicates water losses

of 96.91 million m3/a (46.6%) and NRW of 106.91 million m3/a (51.4%). The water balance has a

low confidence due to the limited number of data sets. These figures are significantly higher than

the 2012/13 No Drop assessment of 30.7% water losses and 36.5% NRW. The No Drop assessment

was based on 11 data sets with a SIV of 204.15 million m3/a. The fluctuation is attributed to the poor

quality of data for the province. The water balance information is highly influenced by the Mangaung

metro and Matjhabeng municipality, which accounts for approximately 52% of the demand.

The water balance trend for the Free State is based on Mangaung metro as no other municipality is

submitting water balance information on a regular basis.

The SIV in Mangaung grew consistently from 2005 to 2014 with a slight improvement in 2011. SIV,

NRW and water losses have improved since 2014, mainly as a result of the WCWDM interventions

and 20% water restrictions undertaken in Mangaung municipality. The SIV, NRW and water losses

are expected to return to previous levels once the water restrictions have been lifted.

Mangaung has been enforcing water restrictions since July 2015 and it exceeded its June 2016







Unbilled authorised = 9.999Unbilled unmetered = 1.180




40.1% 42.4%

52.3% 51.1% 52.2% 50.3%

31.0%

43.1%49.9%

46.6%40.0% 40.9%

34.5%

25.9%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

-

20 000 000

40 000 000

60 000 000

80 000 000

100 000 000

120 000 000


% N

on-r

even

ue W

ater

Sys

tem

Inpu

t Vol

ume

(m³/

annu

m)


48.6%

51.4% 46.6%

Targets

19

target by 12.2 million m³/a or 16%. The NRW of Mangaung remains above 40% for the past 10

years. Mangaung has been tracking the projected demand with WCWDM and will most likely

achieve its 2017 target if water restrictions remain in place.

ILI for Mangaung has steadily been declining since 2009 and reached an all-time low of 3.1 in June

2016. The results are encouraging and should be sustained. The ILI for Mangaung is below the

national average of 5.8.

Per capita consumption in Mangaung improved significantly in the past two years as a result of

WCWDM interventions and 20% water restrictions but remains high compared to the national

average of 233 litres per capita per day. Per capita consumption is an indication of water use

efficiency and high consumption could be as a result of poor metering and billing systems and lack

of awareness among consumers.

WCWDM must be implemented as a matter of priority to sustain current trends and considering that

water restrictions have already been imposed in several Free State municipalities. There is

significant scope for improvement in reporting levels, data accuracy and a reduction of system input

volume, NRW, water losses and efficiency.

4.24.7

7.0 7.17.6

7.0

5.34.8

4.1 4.3

3.3 3.1

5.14.6

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

-

20 000 000

40 000 000

60 000 000

80 000 000

100 000 000

120 000 000


Infr

astr

uctu

re L

eaka

ge In

dex

Sys

tem

Inpu

t Vol

ume

(m³/

annu

m)


571

836

586

703

600

973

613

631

627

125

689

738

711

129

715

725

720

159

724

473

729

107

739

382

744

111

759

425

299

299 33

1

337

346

314

297

309

312

327

311

268 31

3 355

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

0

100 000

200 000

300 000

400 000

500 000

600 000

700 000

800 000


Lit

res

/ cap

ita

/ day

Po

pu

lati

on


Targets

Targets

20

3.3 GAUTENG PROVINCE

Reporting in the Gauteng has been good with most municipalities submitting water balance

information on a regular basis. The DWS regional office has an active WCWDM reporting

programme in place and is lauded for their efforts to implement active monitoring and reporting

mechanisms..

The estimated 2015/16 water balance, for all municipalities in Gauteng, indicates water losses of

404.07 million m3/a (27.4%) and NRW of 528.84 million m3/a (35.9%). The water balance has a high

confidence level and is highly influenced by City of Johannesburg, City of Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and

Emfuleni, which account for 95% of the demand. These figures are slightly higher than the 2012/13

No Drop assessment of 25.8% water losses and 34.5% NRW. The No Drop assessment was based

on 6 data sets with a SIV of 1337.54 million m3/a.

The water balance trends for the Gauteng are based on 6 (60%) plausible data sets of a possible

10 municipalities. The municipalities include City of Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, City of Tshwane,

Emfuleni, Lesedi and Midvaal municipalities, which accounts for approximately 96% of the demand.

NRW and water losses have remained stable for the past 5 years but SIV has been consistently

increasing. Municipalities in Gauteng have been tracking the high population no WCWDM projection

and it is unlikely that the 2017 target will be achieved. There is a noticeable increase in the unbilled

consumption, which was previously included in the water loss component of the water balance.











21.8%25.1% 26.0%

34.0% 35.7% 35.9% 38.3%34.9% 34.5% 36.6% 36.2% 35.7%

29.1%24.1%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

-

200 000 000

400 000 000

600 000 000

800 000 000

1 000 000 000

1 200 000 000

1 400 000 000

1 600 000 000

1 800 000 000


% N

on-r

even

ue W

ater

Sys

tem

Inpu

t Vol

ume

(m³/

annu

m)


64.1%

35.9% 27.4%

Targets

21

Water losses have remained almost constant in the past 5 years with signs of improvement in 2013

but have subsequently returned to 2012 levels of 6.6 in 2016. The ILI for the six municipalities is

above the national average of 5.8.

Per capita consumption has effectively remained constant over the past 6 years. The per capita

consumption is based on the total system input volume and include industrial and commercial use.

Ekurhuleni is the metro with the highest number of wet industries.

Gauteng has been unable to reduce their demand in the past 11 years, although water use efficiency,

NRW and water losses have remained almost constant. WCWDM implementation levels must be

elevated to ensure the targets of the Vaal reconciliation strategy are achieved. There is significant

scope for improvement in the reduction of system input volume, NRW, water losses and efficiency.

Data accuracy and reporting are excellent at metro level but can improve for some of the smaller

municipalities.

5.7

6.45.7

7.3 7.56.9

7.9

6.6

5.86.4

6.7 6.6

4.6

3.8

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

-

200 000 000

400 000 000

600 000 000

800 000 000

1 000 000 000

1 200 000 000

1 400 000 000

1 600 000 000


Infr

astr

uctu

re L

eaka

ge In

dex

Sys

tem

Inpu

t Vol

ume

(m³/

annu

m)


8 91

6 21

1

9 17

9 31

1

9 31

2 17

5

9 52

5 69

0

9 65

2 52

2

10 5

41 8

51

10 9

43 7

20

11 1

52 0

63

11 4

23 8

76

11 6

98 7

53

11 9

94 1

20

12 1

77 0

23

12 4

84 4

76

13 0

06 4

53

339

329

342

335

342

307

317

314

315

314

315

312

271

286

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

0

2 000 000

4 000 000

6 000 000

8 000 000

10 000 000

12 000 000

14 000 000


Lit

res

/ cap

ita

/ day

Po

pu

lati

on


Targets

Targets

22

3.4 KWAZULU-NATAL PROVINCE

Reporting in the KwaZulu-Natal has been good with most municipalities submitting water balance

data on a regular basis. The DWS regional office has an active reporting and meeting programme

in place and is lauded for their efforts to implement active monitoring and reporting mechanisms.

The estimated 2015/16 water balance, for all KwaZulu-Natal municipalities, indicates water losses

of 299.80 million m3/a (43.0%) and NRW of 327.44 million m3/a (46.9%). Some of water balance

data sets submitted by the municipalities are questionable and the provincial water balance has a

medium confidence level. These figures are higher than the 2012/13 No Drop assessment of 37.6%

water losses and 40.4% NRW. The No Drop assessment was based on 12 data sets with a SIV of

541.54 million m3/a.

The water balance trends for the KwaZulu Natal are based on 4 plausible data sets of a possible 44

municipalities. These municipalities are eThekwini metro, Msunduzi, Newcastle and City of

uMhlathuze, which account for approximately 69% of the demand.

SIV and NRW for the KwaZulu Natal show a gradual increase from 2011. Water losses have

improved slightly over the same period but there is a noticeable increase in the unbilled consumption,

which was previously included in the water loss component of the water balance. The four

municipalities have been tracking the projected water demand without WCWDM and it is unlikely

that they will achieve their 2017 targets.











33.7% 36.1% 37.5% 39.7% 41.8% 40.3%35.6% 37.3% 38.1% 39.8% 41.0% 42.1%

30.4%25.0%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

-

100 000 000

200 000 000

300 000 000

400 000 000

500 000 000

600 000 000


% N

on-r

even

ue W

ater

Sys

tem

Inpu

t Vol

ume

(m³/

annu

m)


53.1%

46.9% 43.0%

Targets

23

Per capita consumption in KwaZulu Natal has remained almost constant in the 5 years except for

the last year which shows a reduction as a results of the water restriction enforced in most of the

municipalities.

KwaZulu Natal has managed to maintain leakage levels and per capita consumption in the past 5

years. With the enforced water restrictions in the province, there is significant scope for improvement

in reporting levels, data accuracy and a reduction of system input, NRW and water losses in the

province.

9.810.4 10.6

11.4 11.4 10.9

7.5 7.76.8 6.9 6.9

6.5

5.14.4

0.0

2.0

4.0

6.0

8.0

10.0

12.0

-

100 000 000

200 000 000

300 000 000

400 000 000

500 000 000

600 000 000


Infr

astr

uctu

re L

eaka

ge In

dex

Sys

tem

Inpu

t Vol

ume

(m³/

annu

m)


3 91

2.26

4 01

3.69

4 10

5.25

4 20

2.63

4 29

2.98

4 25

3.52

4 41

3.56

4 47

7.40

4 55

4.65

4 63

1.45

4 71

4.46

4 87

8.22

4 96

5.69

5 23

1.64

276

277

280

288

292

299

278

281

280

285

283

267

231

248

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

0

1 000

2 000

3 000

4 000

5 000

6 000


Lit

res

/ cap

ita

/ day

Po

pu

lati

on

('00

0)


Targets

Targets

24

3.5 LIMPOPO PROVINCE

Reporting in the Limpopo has been very poor in recent years with only Polokwane municipality

submitting water balance information on a regular basis. Despite several attempts, the DWS regional

office has been unsuccessful to establish active reporting and meeting programmes.

The estimated 2015/16 water balance, for all municipalities in Limpopo, indicates water losses and

NRW of 155.02 million m3/a (55.1%). The water balance has a low confidence due to the limited

number of data sets. The NRW and water loss figures are slightly higher than the 2012/13 No Drop

assessment of 51.4%. The No Drop assessment was based on 12 data sets, of a possible 25

municipalities, with an SIV of 247.91 million m3/a.

The water balance trends for the Limpopo are based on 5 (23%) plausible data sets of a possible

22 municipalities. The data accuracy has a very low confidence level since very few municipalities

submit water balance data on a regular basis. Polokwane is the only secondary city included in the

data set and accounts for only 15% of the total demand. The other large users are rural

municipalities such as Greater Tzaneen, Ba-Phalaborwa and Thulamela (Thohoyandou).

The NRW and water trends indicate consistent growth in system input volume, NRW and water

losses over the past 9 years with a slightly improvement from 2010 to 2012. Urgent attention must

be given to the implementation of WCWDM as the water demand already exceeds the supply in

large parts of the province.

The ILI for Limpopo is unrealistically low considering the high NRW and poor efficiency. For analysis






Revenue water = 126.219Billed authorised = 126.219



29.1%25.4%

43.9%49.2% 55.2%

45.5% 46.9% 46.0%

0.0% 0.0%

51.6% 53.9%

34.6%

25.2%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

-

10 000 000

20 000 000

30 000 000

40 000 000

50 000 000

60 000 000

70 000 000

80 000 000

90 000 000

100 000 000


% N

on-r

even

ue W

ater

Sys

tem

Inpu

t Vol

ume

(m³/

annu

m)


44.9%

55.1% 55.1%

25

purposes, it was assumed that all systems are 100% pressurised. StatsSA Community Survey 2016,

however, indicates that Limpopo has a 40% reliability of supply, the lowest in the country. The ILI is

expected to increase with accurate number of connections, average pressure, time pressurised and

length of mains. An ILI of between 4 and 8 is expected based on international standards.

Per capita consumption for Limpopo indicates consistent growth from 2012 to 2016 and is currently

at an all-time high of 209 ℓ/c/d. The growth in per capita consumption aligns with the growth in SIV,

NRW and water losses. The growth could be an indication of deteriorating municipal structures and

the ability to meter and bill based on actual consumption.


efficiency is at an all-time high of 209 ℓ/c/d. Leakage levels and NRW are also consistently increasing




2.11.7

3.5

4.2

5.1

2.2

1.2 1.1

0.0 0.0

1.3 1.4

0.80.6

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

-

10 000 000

20 000 000

30 000 000

40 000 000

50 000 000

60 000 000

70 000 000

80 000 000

90 000 000

100 000 000


Infr

astr

uctu

re L

eaka

ge In

dex

Sys

tem

Inpu

t Vol

ume

(m³/

annu

m)


804.

35

845.

02

882.

97

920.

56

955.

29

1 02

1.73

1 07

4.55

1 08

1.67

1 09

2.78

1 10

4.11

1 12

0.59

1 17

6.02

1 19

3.71

1 27

2.88

176

161 18

2

192

203

203

194

178

0 0

208

209

187

189

0

50

100

150

200

250

0

200

400

600

800

1 000

1 200

1 400

Jun-05 Jun-06 Jun-07 Jun-08 Jun-09 Jun-10 Jun-11 Jun-12 Jun-13 Jun-14 Jun-15 Jun-16 Jun-17 Jun-22L

itre

s / c

apit

a / d

ay

Po

pu

lati

on

('00

0)


Targets

26

3.6 MPUMALANGA PROVINCE

Reporting in the Mpumalanga has been very poor in recent years with no municipality submitting

water balance information on a regular basis and there are no active reporting systems in place.

The estimated 2015/16 water balance, for all municipalities in Mpumalanga province, indicates water

losses of 118.86 million m3/a (43.9%) and NRW of 129.85 million m3/a (47.9%). The water balance

has a medium confidence level and is highly influenced by the four secondary cities of Govan Mbeki,

Emalahleni, Steve Tshwete and Mbombela, which account for 56% of the demand. These figures

are significantly higher than the 2012/13 No Drop assessment of 39.2% water losses and 39.8%

NRW. The No Drop assessment was based on five data sets with a SIV of 76.6 million m3/a.

The water balance trends for the Mpumalanga are based on eight plausible data sets of a possible

17 municipalities. It is difficult to assess the trend due to the poor data quality but NRW, water losses

and the SIV seem to have increased over the past two years.

The ILI for Mpumalanga is unrealistically low considering the high NRW and poor efficiency. For

analysis purposes, it was assumed that all systems are 100% pressurised. StatsSA Community

Survey 2016, however, indicates that Mpumalanga has a 58% reliability of supply. The ILI is

expected to increase with accurate number of connections, average pressure, time pressurised and

length of mains. An ILI of between 4 and 8 is expected based on international standards.











42.3%47.0%

40.3%

54.2%

48.3%51.3% 53.0%

47.8%

29.4% 30.0%

39.9% 41.2%

31.2%23.7%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

-

20 000 000

40 000 000

60 000 000

80 000 000

100 000 000

120 000 000

140 000 000

160 000 000

180 000 000


% N

on-r

even

ue W

ater

Sys

tem

Inpu

t Vol

ume

(m³/

annu

m)


52.1%

47.9% 43.9%

Targets

27

Per capita consumption seems to have stabilised at between 241 and 249 ℓ/c/d. The per capita

consumption is high for the level of development and WCWDM should be implemented as a matter

of priority.

The Mpumalanga province has been unable to reduce its demand in the past 10 years. NRW and

water losses have remained stable over the past 10 years, despite an increase in the system input

volume. There is significant scope for improvement in reporting levels, data accuracy and a

reduction of system input volume, NRW, water losses and efficiency.

0.9

1.5

1.0 0.9

1.5

1.9

1.01.1

0.50.4

1.2 1.2

0.8

0.6

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.8

2.0

-

20 000 000

40 000 000

60 000 000

80 000 000

100 000 000

120 000 000

140 000 000

160 000 000

180 000 000


Infr

astr

uctu

re L

eaka

ge In

dex

Sys

tem

Inpu

t Vol

ume

(m³/

annu

m)


1 13

8.18

1 16

8.71

1 19

6.86

1 23

3.44

1 26

0.09

1 47

8.63

1 53

3.20

1 55

2.19

1 57

8.31

1 60

4.80

1 63

5.60

1 73

5.31

1 76

8.29

1 91

7.32

169

259

201

140

246

246

137 19

2

124

90

249

241

215

212

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

0

500

1 000

1 500

2 000

2 500


Lit

res

/ cap

ita

/ day

Po

pu

lati

on

('00

0)


Targets

Targets

28

3.7 NORTH WEST PROVINCE

Reporting in the North West has been very poor in recent years with no municipality submitting water

balance information on a regular basis and there are no active reporting systems in place.

The estimated 2015/16 water balance, for all North West municipalities, indicates water losses and

NRW of 105.58 million m3/a (51.1%). The water balance has a low confidence level due to the low

number of data sets. Water losses are well above the 2012/13 No Drop assessment of 26.5% but

the NRW is in line at 48.2%. The No Drop assessment was based on 3 data sets with a SIV of

94.2 million m3/a.

The water balance trends for North West are based on 7 (11%) plausible data sets of a possible

18 municipalities. Madibeng, Rustenburg, Ventersdorp / Tlokwe and City of Motlosana, all

secondary cities, are included in the data set. Water balance information in North West province is

exceptionally poor and it is difficult to assess the trend. Water losses and NRW seem to be

increasing which is expected considering the lack of monitoring, evaluation and reporting.

The estimated 2015/2016 ILI for North West is in line with expected international standards of

between 4 and 8 but is expected to increase with improved average pressure, time pressurised,

length of mains and number of connection figures. The ILI for the others years seems too low for

the high levels of leakage and NRW.






Revenue water = 100.919Billed authorised = 100.919



16.0%23.9% 26.2% 23.7%

64.8%

40.1%

26.7%

37.4%

48.2%

0.0%

45.4%49.9%

36.9%28.9%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

-

20 000 000

40 000 000

60 000 000

80 000 000

100 000 000

120 000 000

140 000 000

160 000 000

180 000 000


% N

on-r

even

ue W

ater

Sys

tem

Inpu

t Vol

ume

(m³/

annu

m)


48.9%

51.1% 51.1%

Targets

29

Per capita consumption has been increasing consistently in the North West. The current per capita

consumption of 204 ℓ/c/d is in line with the level of development and considered the most realistic

estimate. The per capita consumption for most other years seems unrealistically low.

The North West province has been unable to submit plausible data sets in the past 9 years, and it is

difficult to assess the NRW, water loss and demand trends. WCWDM must be implemented as a

matter of priority. There is significant scope for improvement in reporting levels, data accuracy and

a reduction of system input volume, NRW, water losses and efficiency.

0.8

1.7 1.51.0

6.1

4.3

1.7 1.72.0

0.0

2.7

4.5

3.1

2.4

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

-

20 000 000

40 000 000

60 000 000

80 000 000

100 000 000

120 000 000

140 000 000

160 000 000


Infr

astr

uct

ure

Lea

kage

Ind

ex

Syst

em In

pu

t V

olu

me

(m³/

ann

um

)


1 37

9 22

3

1 43

0 55

7

1 47

3 85

2

1 51

2 33

0

1 55

1 53

9

1 72

8 76

7

1 80

3 00

5

1 81

8 33

2

1 83

9 43

3

1 86

0 38

1

1 88

9 26

3

1 94

1 38

1

1 97

9 63

2

2 18

4 95

1

80

121

99

76

174

178

123

89

140

0

138

204

191

189

0

50

100

150

200

250

0

500 000

1 000 000

1 500 000

2 000 000

2 500 000


Lit

res

/ cap

ita

/ day

Po

pu

lati

on


Targets

Targets

30

3.8 NORTHERN CAPE PROVINCE

Reporting in the Northern Cape has been reasonable with approximately 50% of the municipalities

submitting water balance information on an irregular basis. The DWS regional office has an active

reporting programme in place.

The estimated 2015/16 water balance for all Northern Cape municipalities indicates water losses of

42.0 million m3/a (44.6%) and NRW of 44.5 million m3/a (47.3%). The water balance has a medium

confidence level and is highly influenced by //Khara Hais (Upington) and Sol Plaatjie (Kimberley)

which accounts for approximately 67% of the demand. These figures are well above the 2012/13

No Drop assessment of 37.1% water losses and 38.1% NRW. The increase is attributed to the

inclusion of municipalities that have little or no understanding of their water losses and NRW. The

water losses and NRW in these municipalities tend to be above the average for municipalities who

have a clear understanding of their water balance. The No Drop assessment was based on 14 data

sets, with an SIV of 62.4 million m3/a.

The water balance and trends for the Northern Cape are based on 14 (52%) plausible data sets of

a possible 27 municipalities. NRW, water losses and system input volume increased consistently

from 2005 to 2010, but have improved over the past three years. The drop in demand and spike in

NRW and water losses during 2011 is unclear and requires further investigation. Municipalities have

managed to control their demands at the same levels for the past 6 to 7 years, which is

commendable.











17.5%

29.4%33.6% 34.0% 33.0%

37.8%

50.7%

38.1% 35.9%

0.0%

47.3% 47.3%

0.0% 0.0%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

-

10 000 000

20 000 000

30 000 000

40 000 000

50 000 000

60 000 000

70 000 000

80 000 000

90 000 000

100 000 000


% N

on-r

even

ue W

ater

Sys

tem

Inpu

t Vol

ume

(m³/

annu

m)


52.7%

47.3% 44.6%

31

The estimated 2015/2016 ILI for Northern Cape is in line with expected international standards of

between 4 and 8.

Per capita consumption reduced from 2009 to 2013, which is commendable and could be an

indication of the WCWDM interventions taking effect in the province.


the past 5 to 6 years. Increased efforts are required by municipalities to implement WCWDM to

ensure targets are achieved and water restrictions are mitigated in the driest province. There is

significant scope for improvement in reporting levels, data accuracy and a reduction of system input,

NRW and water losses in the province.

10.3

12.5

6.0

11.510.7

4.23.4 3.6

0.0

4.4

7.1

0.0 0.0

0.0

2.0

4.0

6.0

8.0

10.0

12.0

14.0

-

10 000 000

20 000 000

30 000 000

40 000 000

50 000 000

60 000 000

70 000 000

80 000 000

90 000 000

100 000 000

Jun-06 Jun-07 Jun-08 Jun-09 Jun-10 Jun-11 Jun-12 Jun-13 Jun-14 Jun-15 Jun-16 Jun-17 Jun-22

Infr

astr

uctu

re L

eaka

ge In

dex

Sys

tem

Inpu

t Vol

ume

(m³/

annu

m)


824

858

844

319

862

651

885

217

903

173

1 00

8 01

0

1 04

2 22

5

1 04

8 42

9

1 05

7 08

2

1 06

5 91

1

1 07

7 47

6

1 08

5 94

4

1 09

7 79

9

1 12

3 43

8

240

255

257

226

240

216

176

175

180

0

127 18

2

0 0

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

0

200 000

400 000

600 000

800 000

1 000 000

1 200 000


Lit

res

/ cap

ita

/ day

Po

pu

lati

on


32

3.9 WESTERN CAPE PROVINCE

Reporting in the Western Cape is very good with >95% of municipalities submitting water balance

information on a regular basis. The DWS regional office has an active reporting programme in place

and is lauded for their efforts to implement active monitoring and reporting mechanisms.

The 2015/16 water balance for the 20 data sets, indicates water losses of 80.48 million m3/a (16.7%)

and NRW of 102.7 million m3/a (21.3%). The water balance has a high confidence level and is highly

influenced by City of Cape Town, Drakenstein, Stellenbosch and George which, account for

approximately 77% of the demand. These figures compare well with the 2012/13 No Drop

assessment of 15.8% water losses and 20.5% NRW. The No Drop assessment was based on 18

data sets, with an SIV of 444.3 million m3/a.

The water balance and trends for the Western Cape are based on 20 (80%) plausible data sets of a

possible 25 municipalities. Municipalities in the Western Cape have maintained their system input

and NRW in the past 3 to 4 years and water losses have been significantly reduced. The reduction

could be attributed to the continuous driving, monitoring and reporting, by both the DWS Regional

office and municipalities.


Water losses = 80.482 Real Losses = 64.788 Real Losses = 64.788









22.0% 21.3% 19.7% 21.2% 23.8% 24.0%20.6% 19.8% 20.3% 20.8% 21.7% 21.3%

18.1% 16.1%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

-

100 000 000

200 000 000

300 000 000

400 000 000

500 000 000

600 000 000

700 000 000

800 000 000


% N

on-r

even

ue W

ater

Sys

tem

Inpu

t Vol

ume

(m³/

annu

m)


78.7%

21.3% 16.7%

Targets

33

Per capita consumption has consistently been decreasing since 2009, which is commendable.


the past 3 to 4 years, while reducing their water losses and per capita consumption. Municipalities

must continue their current trends and increase their efforts to implement WCWDM.

3.4 3.3 3.33.5

3.9 3.9

2.9

2.52.6

2.22.6

2.4

2.92.7

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

-

100 000 000

200 000 000

300 000 000

400 000 000

500 000 000

600 000 000

700 000 000


Infr

astr

uctu

re L

eaka

ge In

dex

Sys

tem

Inpu

t Vol

ume

(m³/

annu

m)


4 68

2 52

8

4 81

5 36

9

4 86

7 85

4

5 02

6 71

3

5 07

8 06

1

5 45

0 34

2

5 63

3 97

4

5 71

9 78

8

5 83

5 85

7

5 95

3 81

0

6 07

8 94

7

6 10

8 99

3

6 23

7 42

9

6 40

4 43

5

232

235

253

251

257

235

210

226

203

198

208

201 24

4

262

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

0

1 000 000

2 000 000

3 000 000

4 000 000

5 000 000

6 000 000

7 000 000


Lit

res

/ cap

ita

/ day

Po

pu

lati

on


Targets

Targets

34

3.10 NATIONAL WATER BALANCE TRENDS

The estimated 2015/16 water balance, for all municipalities, indicate water losses of

1462.01 million m3/a (36.1%) and NRW of 1659.59 million m3/a (41.0%). These figures are higher

than the 2012/13 No Drop assessment of 27.6% water losses and 34.6% NRW. The No Drop

assessment was based on 71 data sets, with an SIV of 2 997.6 million m3/a. The increased water

losses and NRW are attributed to the improved estimate of water losses and NRW in category B3

and B4 municipalities.

The estimated national water balance for 2015 /16, broken down per province, is summarised in the

table below. The highest and lowest figure for each key performance indicator are highlighted in red

and green respectively.

Province Population SIV (m3/annum) NRW (m3/annum) % NRW % WL l/c/d ILI

EC 4 477 918 332 151 376 158 647 165 47.8% 45.0% 200 4.8

FS 2 723 028 207 835 805 106 908 574 51.4% 46.6% 209 4.8

GT 12 978 281 1 473 100 700 528 839 540 35.9% 27.4% 305 5.8

LIM 4 225 967 281 235 907 155 016 679 55.1% 55.1% 182 1.3

KZN 8 491 508 697 751 184 327 444 107 46.9% 43.0% 225 6.2

NW 3 039 995 206 496 825 105 577 898 51.1% 51.1% 186 4.7

NC 1 085 944 94 205 305 44 582 022 47.3% 44.6% 238 7.0

WC 6 108 993 482 695 411 102 720 237 21.3% 16.7% 201 2.4

MP 3 622 506 270 990 713 129 852 490 47.9% 43.9% 205 4.3

National 46 754 140 4 046 463 225 1 659 588 711 41.0% 36.1% 233 5.3

Gauteng is the largest water user in the country, and with KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape, account

for 66% of the total demand. Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal account for 52% of the NRW by volume.

Limpopo has the highest percentage NRW and water losses but these figures are contradicted by a

low l/c/d and ILI. This needs further investigation. Western Cape is the overall best performing

province. Gauteng has the highest per capita consumption due to the high number of wet industries

in the supply area.

To obtain an understanding of the water loss trends in the country, the water balance information for

107 municipalities, which submit information on a regular basis, was analysed as indicated in the

figures below. The system input volume for the 107 systems has been consistently increasing since











59.0%

41.0% 36.1%

35

2006 and NRW has been increasing since 2013. Water losses seemed to improve until 2014 but

have subsequently deteriorated again to 2012 levels. Municipal demands have been tracking the

projected water demand without WCWDM and they are unlikely to achieve their 2017 targets.

NRW has increased in the past two years but is influenced, in some areas, by the imposed water

restrictions. NRW tends to increase as the SIV reduces. More municipalities are also indicating

some of their water losses as unbilled unmetered consumption. This shift emphasises the extent of

leakage on private properties and the need for metering and billing systems, mechanisms to control

consumer demand, the War-on-Leaks programme and consumer education and awareness.

As shown in the figure below, per capita consumption has remained constant over the past 5 years,

which is commendable, but WCWDM efforts must be elevated considering these figures are


30 driest in the world. The per capita consumption is also significantly higher compared to the

previous study, The State of non-revenue water in South Africa (WRC, 2012) which was estimated

at 235 ℓ/c/d.

25.6% 28.4% 29.5%34.2% 36.8% 36.6% 35.7% 34.3% 33.6% 34.9% 36.0% 36.7% 36.2% 36.7%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

-

500 000 000

1 000 000 000

1 500 000 000

2 000 000 000

2 500 000 000

3 000 000 000

3 500 000 000


% N

on-r

even

ue W

ater

Sys

tem

Inpu

t Vol

ume

(m³/

annu

m)


5.25.8 5.9

6.7

7.36.9

6.0

5.2

4.3 4.2

5.55.2 5.4 5.2

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

-

500 000 000

1 000 000 000

1 500 000 000

2 000 000 000

2 500 000 000

3 000 000 000

3 500 000 000


Infr

astr

uctu

re L

eaka

ge In

dex

Sys

tem

Inpu

t Vol

ume

(m³/

annu

m)


Targets

Targets

36

3.11 WATER BALANCE COMPARISON

The results from this study, compared to the 3% No Drop (DWS, 2015) figures and The State of non-

revenue water in South Africa (WRC, 2012) are shown in the following table. The highest and lowest

figure for each key performance indicator are highlighted in red and green respectively.

State of NRW in SA (2009/10) 3% No Drop (2012/13) 2015/16 Nat Benchmark

Category No % NRW ILI l/c/d No % NRW ILI l/c/d No % NRW ILI l/c/d

A 8 34.3% 8.2 291 8 32.3% 5.4 280 8 34.4% 5.3 283

B1 18 41.3% 7.4 241 15 41.5% 6.5 261 19 48.1% 5.9 260

B2 26 30.5% 5.7 230 15 26.2% 4.8 321 25 44.3% 4.4 204

B3 55 37.0% 4.7 164 49 37.1% 4.2 217 100 52.7% 4.2 172

B4 25 72.5% 7.8 65 14 49.5% 4.0 90 61 49.6% 3.4 158

Total 132 36.8% 6.8 235 101 34.6% 6.2 252 213 41.0% 5.3 237

The results indicate that NRW has increased, physical losses have improved and per capita

consumption has remained almost constant. The NRW increase is attributed to the inclusion of

municipalities that have little or no understanding of their water losses and NRW. The water losses

and NRW in these municipalities tend to be above the average for municipalities who have a clear

understanding of their water balance.


progress made with the implementation of WCWDM can be measured. WCWDM must be



and a reduction of system input, NRW, water losses and improved efficiency across the country.

3.12 2015/16 KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS PER CATEGORY

The key performance indicators per municipal category are shown in Figure 3.1 to Figure 3.5.

23 2

49 5

95

23 9

27 3

54

24 3

71 2

83

25 0

15 3

77

25 4

39 9

82

27 3

77 4

69

28 3

96 7

87

28 8

17 4

05

29 3

64 4

16

29 9

16 0

35

30 5

22 9

02

31 2

52 9

34

30 5

22 9

02

31 2

52 9

34

273

274

283

277

291

271

257

260

247

235 26

6

260

265

260

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

0

5 000 000

10 000 000

15 000 000

20 000 000

25 000 000

30 000 000

35 000 000


Lit

res

/ cap

ita

/ day

Po

pu

lati

on


Targets

37

Figure 3.1: 2015/16 estimated system input volume

The average SIV per municipality is 18.7 million m3/a. This figure is highly influenced by the category A and B1 municipalities, which account for

73% of the total SIV. The total estimated SIV for the country is 4020.27 million m3/a.

100 000

1 000 000

10 000 000

100 000 000

1 000 000 000

Buf

falo

City

eThe

kwin

i

Eku

rhul

eni

Ste

llenb

osch

Ste

ve T

shw

ete

New

cast

le

Sol

Pla

atjie

City

of u

Mhl

athu

ze

Mbo

mbe

la

Vul

ameh

lo

Gre

ater

Kok

stad

uMdo

ni

Mos

sel B

ay

Msu

kalig

wa

Daw

id K

ruip

er

Sal

danh

a B

ay

Bre

ede

Val

ley

Kin

g S

abat

a D

alin

dyeb

o

Kar

eebe

rg

Lain

gsbu

rg

Ubu

ntu

!Khe

is

Mag

aren

g

Tok

olog

o

Kou

-kam

ma

Mam

usa

Dik

gatlo

ng

Tsw

elop

ele

Dip

ales

eng

End

umen

i

Cap

e A

gulh

as

Man

tsop

a

Kop

anon

g

Maf

ube

Nke

toan

a

Sun

day'

s R

iver

Val

ley

Um

voti

Vic

tor

Kha

nye

Maq

uass

i Hill

s

eDum

be

Ndl

ambe

Am

ahla

thi

uMuz

iwab

antu

The

ewat

ersk

loof

Tsw

aing

Tha

ba C

hweu

Lese

di

Lekw

a

Ray

mon

d M

hlab

a

Ram

otsh

ere

Moi

loa

Aba

qulu

si

Ba-

Pha

labo

rwa

Nka

ndla

Nta

bank

ulu

Ndw

edw

e

Mfo

lozi

Eng

cobo

Um

hlab

uyal

inga

na

Em

alah

leni

uMsh

wat

hi

Um

lala

zi

Mol

emol

e

Um

zim

vubu

Aga

nang

Nya

nden

i

Gre

ater

Tau

ng

Mnq

uma

Man

deni

Elia

s M

otso

aled

i

Mos

es K

otan

e

Bus

hbuc

krid

ge

Syst

em In

pu

t V

ou

me

(m3 /

ann

um

)

Jun-16 Category average National average

B1 = 37.6 million m3/a

A= 275.4 million m3/a

B2 = 10.7 million m3/a B3 = 4.21 million m3/a B4 = 6.79 million m3/a

Average = 18.65 million m3/a

38

Figure 3.2: Volume non-revenue water

The average volume NRW per municipality is 7.65 million m3/a. This figure is highly influenced by the category A and B1 municipalities, which

account for 66% of the total NRW. The potential for savings are the greatest in these municipalities. The total estimated NRW for the country is

1 632.93 million m3/a.

100 000

1 000 000

10 000 000

100 000 000

1 000 000 000

Buf

falo

City

eThe

kwin

i

Eku

rhul

eni

Ste

llenb

osch

Ste

ve T

shw

ete

New

cast

le

Sol

Pla

atjie

City

of u

Mhl

athu

ze

Mbo

mbe

la

Vul

ameh

lo

Gre

ater

Kok

stad

uMdo

ni

Mos

sel B

ay

Msu

kalig

wa

Daw

id K

ruip

er

Sal

danh

a B

ay

Bre

ede

Val

ley

Kin

g S

abat

a D

alin

dyeb

o

Kar

eebe

rg

Lain

gsbu

rg

Ubu

ntu

!Khe

is

Mag

aren

g

Tok

olog

o

Kou

-kam

ma

Mam

usa

Dik

gatlo

ng

Tsw

elop

ele

Dip

ales

eng

End

umen

i

Cap

e A

gulh

as

Man

tsop

a

Kop

anon

g

Maf

ube

Nke

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a

Sun

day'

s R

iver

Val

ley

Um

voti

Vic

tor

Kha

nye

Maq

uass

i Hill

s

eDum

be

Ndl

ambe

Am

ahla

thi

uMuz

iwab

antu

The

ewat

ersk

loof

Tsw

aing

Tha

ba C

hweu

Lese

di

Lekw

a

Ray

mon

d M

hlab

a

Ram

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ere

Moi

loa

Aba

qulu

si

Ba-

Pha

labo

rwa

Nka

ndla

Nta

bank

ulu

Ndw

edw

e

Mfo

lozi

Eng

cobo

Um

hlab

uyal

inga

na

Em

alah

leni

uMsh

wat

hi

Um

lala

zi

Mol

emol

e

Um

zim

vubu

Aga

nang

Nya

nden

i

Gre

ater

Tau

ng

Mnq

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Man

deni

Elia

s M

otso

aled

i

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es K

otan

e

Bus

hbuc

krid

ge

Non

-rev

enue

Wat

er (

m3 /

annu

m)

Jun-16 Category average National average

B1 = 18.07 million m3/a

A= 94.8 million m3/a

B2 = 4.76 million m3/a B3 = 2.22 million m3/a B4 = 3.37 million m3/a

Average = 7.65 million m3/a

39

Figure 3.3: 2015/16 Percentage non-revenue water

The percentage NRW is the highest in the category B3 municipalities followed by category B4, B1, B2 and the lowest being the metros. The

weighted average compares well with previous studies. The average figure is significantly higher than the weighted average due to the influence

of the metros. The NRW for category B4 municipalities is lower than for B3 municipalities due to high number of indigents and equitable share.

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

City

of C

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akgo

mo/

Gre

ater

Tub

atse

uMsh

wat

hi

% N

on-r

even

ue W

ater

Jun-16 Category average National average Weighted average

B1 = 43.8%

A= 36.9%

B2 = 43.9% B3 = 49.0% B4 = 46.3%

Weighted average = 41.0%

Average = 46.7%

40

Figure 3.4: 2015/16 liters per capita per day

The liters per capita consumption is the highest in the metros due to the large number of wet industries. Category B3 and B4 municipalities have

the lowest per capita consumption and is in line with the level of service and level of development.

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

Cit

y o

f C

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n

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ater

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n


B1 = 260

A= 283

B2 = 204 B3 = 172 B4 = 158

Weighted average = 237

Average = 180

41

Figure 3.5: 2015/16 Infrastructure Leakage Index

The average ILI is the highest in the category B1 municipalities followed by the metros. The physical leakage is the lowest in the category B4

municipalities due to the relatively low per capita consumption and NRW.

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

Buf

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of J

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ana

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a K

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amba

thin

i

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ondo

Mam

usa

Dits

obot

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Set

soto

Pho

kwan

e

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ba

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mbe

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si L

anga

libal

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ale

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uber

g

Lepe

le-N

kum

pi

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s M

otso

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i

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ulen

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lala

zi

Nqu

thu

Ints

ika

Yet

hu

Rat

lou

Ngq

ushw

a

Em

alah

leni

Um

zim

khul

u

Gre

ater

Tza

neen

Ubu

hleb

ezw

e

Jozi

ni

Mbh

ashe

Mhl

ontlo

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zum

be

Joe

Mor

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g

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nhau

ser

Infr

astr

uctu

re L

eaka

ge In

dex


B1 = 5.9 A= 5.5 B2 = 4.4 B3 = 4.2 B4 = 3.4

Weighted average = 5.3

Average = 4.2

42

6 CONCLUSIONS

The Eastern Cape municipalities have not achieved their 2016 targets and have been tracking the

projected water demand without WCWDM. Municipalities in the Eastern Cape are unlikely to achieve

their 2017 targets. The estimated 2015/16 water balance, for all municipalities in the Eastern Cape,


water balance has a low confidence due to the limited number of data sets and is highly influenced

by the Nelson Mandela Bay and Buffalo City metros, which account for 55% of the total demand.

In the Free State, Mangaung has been enforcing water restrictions since July 2015 and it exceeded

its June 2016 target by 12.2 million m³/a or 16%. Only Mangaung submits information on a regular

basis and leakage levels fluctuate considerably. It is difficult to assess if any progress is being made

with the reduction of NRW and water losses. The estimated 2015/16 water balance, for all

municipalities in the Free State, indicates water losses of 96.91 million m3/a (46.6%) and NRW of

106.91 million m3/a (51.4%). The water balance has a low confidence due to the limited number of

data sets. WCWDM must be implemented as a matter of priority to sustain current trends and

considering that water restrictions have already been imposed in several Free State municipalities.

There is significant scope for improvement in reporting levels, data accuracy and a reduction of

system input volume, NRW, water losses and efficiency.


seems to have been improving in the past 5 years. The estimated 2015/16 water balance, for all

municipalities in Gauteng, indicates water losses of 404.07 million m3/a (27.4%) and NRW of

528.84 million m3/a (35.9%). NRW and water loss levels have come down, which is commendable,

but WCWDM implementation levels must be elevated to ensure the targets of the Greater Vaal

reconciliation strategy are achieved. There is significant scope for improvement in the reduction of

system input volume, NRW, water losses and efficiency. Data accuracy and reporting are excellent

at metro-level but can improve for some of the smaller municipalities.


consumption in the past 5 to 6 years. The estimated 2015/16 water balance, for all KwaZulu-Natal

municipalities, indicates water losses of 299.80 million m3/a (43.0%) and NRW of 327.44 million m3/a

(46.9%). There is however, significant scope for improvement in the reduction of system input, NRW

and water losses in the province and WCWDM implementation levels must be elevated to ensure

the targets of the KZN Metropolitan areas reconciliation strategy are achieved, especially with the

looming / imposed water restrictions in the province. Data accuracy and reporting are excellent at

metro and secondary city level but there is significant scope for improvement in reporting levels and

data accuracy for the smaller municipalities.


efficiency is at an all-time high of 209 ℓ/c/d. The estimated 2015/16 water balance, for all

municipalities in Limpopo, indicates water losses and NRW of 155.02 million m3/a (55.1%). The

water balance has a low confidence due to the limited number of data sets. Leakage levels and

NRW are also consistently increasing and WCWDM must be implemented as a matter of priority.



43


signs of improvement in 2013, although this requires further investigation. The estimated 2015/16

water balance, for all North West municipalities, indicates water losses and NRW of

105.58 million m3/a (51.1%). The water balance has a low confidence level due to the low number

of data sets. NRW and water losses have reduced slightly over the past 8 years despite a significant

increase in the system input volume and WCWDM must be implemented as a matter of priority.



The North West province has been unable to reduce their demand in the past 9 years, except for

2011, and shows significant growth in the past 2 years. The estimated 2015/16 water balance, for

all North West municipalities, indicates water losses and NRW of 105.58 million m3/a (51.1%). NRW

have reduced slightly in the past year but water losses are consistently increasing. WCWDM must

be implemented as a matter of priority. There is significant scope for improvement in reporting levels,

data accuracy and reduction of system input volume, NRW, water losses and efficiency.


the past 5 to 6 years. The estimated 2015/16 water balance for all Northern Cape municipalities


water balance has a medium confidence level and is highly influenced by //Khara Hais (Upington)

and Sol Plaatjie (Kimberley) which accounts for approximately 67% of the demand. Increased efforts

are required by municipalities to implement WCWDM to ensure targets are achieved and water

restrictions are mitigated in the driest province. There is significant scope for improvement in

reporting levels, data accuracy, reduction of system input, NRW and water losses in the province.


the past 3 to 4 years, while reducing their water losses and per capita consumption. The 2015/16

water balance for the 20 data sets, indicates water losses of 80.48 million m3/a (16.7%) and NRW

of 102.7 million m3/a (21.3%). Municipalities must continue their current trends and increase their

efforts to implement WCWDM.


been improving since 2011 and water losses since 2009. The estimated 2015/16 water balance, for

all municipalities, indicate water losses of 1462.01 million m3/a (36.1%) and NRW of

1659.59 million m3/a (41.0%). Per capita consumption has remained almost constant over the past

9 years, which is commendable, but WCWDM efforts must be elevated considering these figures are


30 driest in the world. The reduction in NRW is encouraging but the figures are highly influenced by

the metros that have made considerable progress to reduce their non-revenue water while there is


is mainly due to the shift of water losses to unbilled consumption in the water balance.






44

7 RECOMMENDATIONS

The following recommendations are suggested to address the progress made with the

implementation of WCWDM in the eight large water distribution systems.

Maintenance of the reconciliation strategies must continue and be used to monitor the progress

made in the implementation of WCWDM. Municipalities must actively participate and report at

these meetings and use the outcomes to prioritise resources and budgets.

Municipalities should increase their efforts to achieve the targets set under the various water

reconciliation strategies to ensure water security. Targets need to be reviewed and reported on

a regular basis.

Too many local municipalities are not aware of the reconciliation strategies or expect DWS to

provide the necessary funding to implement these strategies. Municipalities must be reminded

of their responsibilities in terms of the Water Services Act and actively participate, budget through

the IDP process and implement the results from the reconciliation strategies.

Budgets are allocated towards new infrastructure projects through ACIP, MWIG, RBIG, MIG, etc.

funding programmes but the management of these funds is fragmented with emphasis on new

infrastructure and insufficient focus on WCWDM.

Ongoing monitoring and reporting of municipal NRW and water loss performance by DWS

against determined targets and baselines is critical.

Monitoring and reporting on water balances by municipalities could become more self-regulatory

if a policy is implemented that no new infrastructure projects will be funded unless the

municipality can provide actual consumption figures and proof that their water losses are under

control. The IWA water balance should become the backbone of all water related management

and decision support systems.

Municipalities should increase their efforts to reduce NRW and the negative impact it has on their

ability to generate own income and run a viable water business.

Municipalities should, through on-going awareness programmes, encourage the consumer to

appreciate the value of water and enforce the user pays principle.

Municipalities should increase payment levels, encourage consumer fixing of leaks, and

prosecution of illegal water connections and reduce theft of water.

Municipal asset management needs to be improved to ensure greater sustainability of water

supply services.

There are close correlation between operations, maintenance, low water losses and NRW.

Municipalities should implement proactive operations and maintenance programmes to coincide

with WCWDM programmes.

Closer involvement and collaboration with National Treasury and CoGTA is critical to ensure

issues related to funding of WCWDM programmes, metering and billing issues are resolved with

municipal finance departments.

WCWDM should be included in the performance plans of organisations and senior executives to

ensure execution and achievement of these plans.

On-going provision of mentorship to municipalities through the DWS Regional Offices is critical.

DWS Regional Offices / CMAs must upscale their skills and capacity to provide WCWDM support

to municipalities, monitoring and reporting.

45

Some Regional Offices appointed a PSP to provide support with the development of reporting

templates, meeting with municipalities to confirm targets, analyse the water balance information

and provide feedback. The reporting structures in these regions are well established and all

municipalities are reporting on a quarterly basis. The initiative was supported by Regulations

sending directives to municipalities who did not respond. A similar approach could be followed

for all the other provinces to improve communications and water balance reporting.

The Regulations Relating to Compulsory National Standards and Measures to Conserve Water

(R509, 2001) state that a water services institution must fit a suitable water volume measuring

device or volume controlling device to every user connection to control demand. Many

municipalities do not comply with this regulation which results in excessive leakages on private

properties through leaking taps and toilets as there is no incentive for consumers to fix their

leaks. DWS should consider a policy whereby water services institutions are forced to either

measure and control or fix leaks on private properties, but government cannot continue to fund

new infrastructure projects to supplement leakage as a result of poor operations and

maintenance. DWS is already encouraging the fixing of leaks through the War on Leaks

programme.

The national non-revenue water assessment completed in 2011 suggests that 45% of

municipalities cannot provide basic information such as monthly consumption figures. One of

the key challenges with gathering the information is the poor communication channels with

municipalities which includes resigned staff and a considerable number of private e-mails.

Discussions also indicate that in some cases municipalities are unwilling to provide the

information as it reflects badly on them or they feel that the information has already been

submitted through the WSDP, various questionnaires, RPMS, Green drop, Blue drop etc.

Government needs to revisit communication channels with municipalities. Communications

should be more formal, avoid duplication and targeted at senior management in the organization.

In this regard, the circulars provided by National Treasury provide clear guidelines to

municipalities and communications are only with the mayor, municipal manager and CFO.

The results from the No Drop audit must be used to motivate for funding in the next financial

year. The No Drop incentive-based regulation programme should be rolled-out as planned in

conjunction with the other Drop programmes to elevate WCWDM in the municipal environment.

DWS should also enforce its regulatory mandate to penalise municipalities that do not comply.

Closer involvement and collaboration with CoGTA and SALGA is critical to address issues

relating to human resources' skills and capacity in municipalities, as well as resolving payment

for services and unauthorised water use.

Closer collaboration is required with other national, provincial and local departments that are big

water users. These include Departments of Education, Correctional Services, Public Works and

Housing to ensure leakages and wastage are brought under control.

The recommendations of the Second Edition of the National Water Resource Strategy (DWA,

June 2013), which calls for greater emphasis on meeting specific targets to reduce water loss,

must be implemented. WCWDM measures will have multiple benefits in terms of the

postponement of infrastructure augmentation, mitigation against climate change, support to

economic growth and ensuring that adequate water is available for equitable allocation.

The recommendations of South Africa’s National Development Plan (Vision for 2030)(NPC,

2013), which calls for clear national and local targets to be achieved by 2017 and 2022, must be

implemented.

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