Solving the national water crisis: smart water meters could get South Africa off the starting block

Tumi Chamayou, Chief Enterprise Business Officer at MTN Business South Africa There’s much to enjoy about the hot, dry weather conditions that have come to characterise South African summers. The summers of the past three years however, have also brought with them a harsher reality: growing water shortages due to infrastructural failures, service interruptions and a growing deficit compounded by climate change. These deep-seated issues require long-term solutions rather than quick fixes – particularly if those reforms are truly designed to reap far-reaching results for all South Africans citizens and businesses.

Smart water technology and advanced metering systems offer a sustainable, accessible and financially viable way forward. Examples from around the world illustrate the effectiveness of this technology. Foremost on this list of case studies isLondon’s Thames Water Initiative, a multi-billion pound initiative to upgrade the city’s ageing infrastructure, reduce pollution, improve water quality and manage water usage.

Foremost on this list of case studies is , a multi-billion pound initiative to upgrade the city’s ageing infrastructure, reduce pollution, improve water quality and manage water usage. The deployment of over 1 million smart meters has made it possible to build a pay-as-you-go system where citizens only pay for what they use. The real ingenuity of this data however, lies in its ability to generate and analyse high volumes of real-time data, with up to 24 reads a day.

[paywall]

Equipped with this information, municipalities can identify and repair leaks before they become costly, reduce water loss and provide better service delivery. Similarly,several Polish citieshave seen intelligent water management solutions cut water losses by about 30% within a few months, illustrating the potential of digital smart water systems to reduce unaccounted-for water. have seen intelligent water management solutions cut water losses by about 30% within a few months, illustrating the potential of digital smart water systems to reduce unaccounted-for water.

Moving eastward to Singapore reveals a similarcase study, where pilot trials of smart meters resulted in water savings of as much as 5% nationally. , where pilot trials of smart meters resulted in water savings of as much as 5% nationally.

[/paywall]