Stop water going down the drain
Water Awareness Award
Finalist: Rand Water’s Water Wise Living Campaign
Michelle Nel
In many Gauteng communities more than half the water used each day literally goes down the drain without achieving anything of value.
This is what spurred Gauteng water utility Rand Water to develop its Water Wise Living Campaign. Many of the solutions to water wastage by consumers are as simple and inexpensive as replacing worn washers in taps, but people need to know how to do this.
“Gauteng has limited natural water supplies, so it’s vital that we use water as efficiently as possible,” says Karin Louwrens, brand marketing manager of Water Wise. “Only a serious commitment to wise water use can prevent the building of yet another dam and higher tariffs.
“Although it is readily accepted that water in Africa is too cheap, an uncontrolled price hike will hurt poor consumers and the economy.”
The Water Wise Living Campaign was introduced to tackle wastage in homes after the success of Rand Water’s previous awareness-raising Wise Gardening Campaign.
Rand Water conservatively estimates that 27% of the water it supplies enters the sewage system through leaking taps and toilet cisterns, as well as leaks into the ground. This is R1,6-million a day at Rand Water tariffs.
A further 25% of water is used inefficiently pavements are hosed instead of swept and irrigation systems are run even when it’s raining. Together this amounts to 52% or almost 1,6-million kilolitres of water wasted each day.
The Water Wise Living Campaign inspires the township and suburban market to manage water consumption hands on. “We believe in empowering people with positive knowledge, rather than telling them what not to do,” Louwrens explains.
A recent study in Tembisa by the CSIR has shown that a saving of 37% can be obtained in an average household by repairing domestic leaks.
Among township households, the biggest problem is domestic leaks, which can be easily fixed. In suburban households most water is used on gardens. This can be drastically cut by using water-wise gardening techniques such as mulching and planting indigenous plants.
The objectives of the campaign have been to create awareness about water wastage, to drop wastage from 27% to 15% and to reduce inefficient use of water from 25% to 10%.
Many people have been reached by the campaign: promotions at taxi ranks have reached 2,4-million people, in magazines reached 2,2-million, in newspapers 1,4-million and on the Internet 640?000. The total reach was estimated at 11,5-million people yet the cost was only 8c a person a shrewd use of resources.