Spikes in water bills mostly result of unidentified leaks
According to experts, the main culprit behind increased water bills is usually undetected leaks.
Several residents have taken to social media to raise concerns over an alleged spike in their water bills.
However, according to experts, the cause is mostly undetected leaks.
A recent post on the Mbombela Electricity, Water Roads and any Service Delivery Information Facebook group by a local, Telanie Smith, questioned why her water bill had doubled in two months. The post quickly gained traction with other residents and plumbing services commenting.
I moved from R300 to R890 per month and latest is R1700 on water from January 2021 to October 2021 how so, we need an explanation on this matter.
“Our water bill has more than doubled over the past two months. My husband went to the Silulumanzi offices to query this, but they claim that we have used that much water, even though the graph statistics on our bill clearly shows a huge spike for the past two months compared to the usage for the first eight months of the year and last year,” said Smith’s post.
Mbombela DA ward councillor Thea Rix said this issue has been ongoing for years, but when investigated, it was found there was always a reason for higher bills.
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Lasea Swift of Swift Group said the spikes were usually caused by a leak. “The easiest way to check for a leak is to close all your taps and if the meter is still running then there is a leak,” she said. “Another way to check for a leak is the toilet. Up to R700 can be added to your water bill due to a leaking toilet.”
Very frustrating, mine moved from R1200 to R3200 in the last two months. Something is wrong. We are three in the house, no swimming pool, my garden is brown. I don’t know where is this water
Swift said one can add a few drops of food colouring to the cistern and then flush, as it made any leaks easier to see.
She said if no leaks could be found, the next step would be to get a plumber. She added that dishwashers also used a lot of water and could dramatically increase your bill.
Some people had commented on Smith’s Facebook post that prepaid water meters were a good option going forward. Swift said, however, that while the prepaid meter helps, 90% of the impact is a mental change to using water. “The meter shows you how much water you are using all the time. One automatically disciplines oneself to start using less.”
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Silulumanzi’s spokesperson, Richmond Jele, said they were requesting that customers provide them with their address and account number in order to accurately investigate and respond. He added that while prepaid meters do provide benefits, customers currently enjoying the free basic charges if they use 6 000kL or less per month, will have to forfeit this benefit.
We were also away for a month. Our Bill is R1300. How is it possible?
“Silulumanzi will be proposing to the local municipality to look at the tariff structure again, and if the same is approved, then, when the next tariff promulgation takes place (July every year), Silulumanzi will roll out the same tariff accordingly, upon which prepaid water meters will be considered going forward.”
Jele added that upon investigation, the reasons behind these higher bills are mostly a direct result of internal water leaks. “There should be no reason to believe bills are inaccurate, however, if errors are suspected, they need to be reported to Silulumanzi immediately,” he said.
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