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Emfuleni Local Municipality is losing millions of litres of expensive treated water due to unattended leaking water pipes that are a result of ageing infrastructure that is not regularly maintained by the municipality.

Leaky ageing pipes, illegal network connections, failing infrastructure, faulty metering and outdated systems are wasting between 45-57% of the municipality’s procured water.

The municipality's failure to attend to reported water leaks within the recommended times causes a loss of revenue for utilities and an increase in rates for water users.

The total cost of bulk water purchases for the municipality in 2020/2021 was over R1 billion, of which at least R592 million was the total material loss incurred in June 2021.

This means that 56% of the municipality’s water purchase is unaccounted for due to crumbling and old water infrastructure.

Between 2016 and 2022, the cost of water has increased by 57%. Given this increase, it is imperative that Emfuleni Local Municipality quickly adopt effective water control practices.

Adopting effective water control measures is a smart investment that will ease the burden on consumers, preserve water resources and set the standard for responsible governance and resource protection.

Many parts of Gauteng are already facing a water crisis the least Emfuleni can do is manage its water system properly to avoid further wastage of this precious resource.

Issued by Cllr Dady Mollo - DA Constituency Head: Emfuleni South