Smart water metering: fair billing and transparency

According to official statistics, South Africa has more than 62 million citizens. Its urbanization rate is over 63 % with most people living in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Germiston, Pretoria, Bloemfontein, East London and Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth). In total, there are more than 17 million households with about 15 million of which have access to piped water. Even though there are regulations regarding water metering, a central issue today is the so-called Non-Revenue Water (NRW). This is water that is produced and supplied but not correctly billed or paid for. According to the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), NRW increased to 47 % in 2023 due to physical losses such as leaking pipes, poorly functioning water meters or non-existent water meters. Specifically with regard to water meters, the Water Research Commission (WRC) identifies several weaknesses in South Africa’s metering environment regarding regulations, standards and guidelines, meter testing, meter replacement as well as structural issues. The WRC also refers to technical issues with many water meters used in South Africa. The development of water consumption metering in South Africa is moving towards higher metering quality and better data use. Traditionally, water metering has focused on consumption control, billing and prepaid metering. Smart metering approaches are increasingly linked to operational and financial efficiency, improved revenue collection, leak detection and reduced NRW. The need for better metering is significant because the large connected customer base, as stated above. One solution is the WaterStar M.