No easy path to using rainwater

All gung-ho to do my thing for the environment, about six weeks ago I purchased a JoJo tank and got a plumber to attach a brand new pump motor with a controller.
I also arranged to have gutters diverted to the tank. This has proved to be a great success. However, my neighbours questioned why I was using municipal water. When I replied that this was  harvested rainwater, I was greeted with disbelief.
A day or two later, my wife saw the neighbour accompany a Siza Water official enter my premises to inspect and take photographs. I went to Siza Water and requested to know who had entered my premises and why. I produced proof that I had registered my rainwater tank with Siza.
The same inspector then met me at my home and inspected the system. She was suitably impressed and I requested email confirmation that I was no longer under threat of a R3 000 fine.
The next day I was told that the senior directors had decided that it was undesirable for people to use hosepipes in conjunction with their rainwater tanks, that the water could only be used with a watering can.
This latest news renders the time and money that I have spent on buying and installing a pump with a controller as a total waste. Nowhere could one have read or heard of this until now.
DEREK ADAMI
Ballito

Sembcorp Siza managing director Shyam Misra replies:
We did receive a complaint of non-adherence to the water restrictions, being the use of a hosepipe and a watering can. At the outset it must be noted that the use of a watering can is not in violation of the restrictions, however the usage of hosepipes has been banned from the very first restrictions. All complaints regarding the disregard of the water restrictions are investigated by our staff and their report thereafter forwarded to us to take the appropriate steps.
We wish to firstly commend Mr Adami for installing the Jojo tank and practising rain water harvesting. I think the problem that arose is that the complainant was of the opinion that Mr Adami was utilising the potable water supply for irrigation.
When the complaint was received we dispatched a staff member to take the respective water samples to verify if the water used for irrigation was from the potable supply or the utilisation of rain water. Our sample revealed that the water was from the potable water supply. However it is important to note that our staff member was informed that in order to utilise the tank, the potable water supply is required to be switched off. Hence we are not in a position to provide any verification of the installation being legal and if allowed to, we would send out our technical manager to inspect the installation as well as test the system for, once operational, to not be utilising the potable water supply. If Mr Adami could contact our office and ask for Kobus Fourie this will be arranged.
We apologise if Mr Adami thinks we trespassed on his property and I assure you that this has already been dealt with internally as this is not how we instruct our staff to conduct themselves.
As a service provider we are between a rock and a hard place with regard to these investigations.  Our aim as a responsible service provider is to try to assist to prolong the capacity of Hazelmere Dam, thereby minimising any future inconvenience to the consumers we serve.