How to find and fix leaks on your property to avoid excessive usage and warning letters

10 September 2021

One leaking toilet can waste between 2 600 and 13 000 litres of water per month, depending on the flow rate of the leak.

Did you know:

One leaking toilet can waste between 2 600 and 13 000 litres of water per month, depending on the flow rate of the leak.
• A leaking tap can waste between 400 and 2 600 litres of water per month.

Residents of Cape Town are reminded that, in terms of the City of Cape Town Water By-law, the property owner is required to ensure water is not allowed to run to waste on their properties. Many residents are not aware that undetected or underground leaks on their plumbing could be adding significantly to their water bills, and wasting precious water. These kinds of minor undetected leaks are much more common than most people would imagine.

Equipping residents with tips on how to find and fix leaks is important, particularly for registered indigent households who need to make sure their water use remains below the extended usage limit of 15 000 litres each month. This amounts to an average of 500 litres per day for the total household. This is the new approved usage limit for indigent residents, as part of a new approach to domestic water metering. Should indigent households exceed this limit for three consecutive months, despite warnings, a flow restricting disk will be inserted on their meter. This will limit water supply to 6 000 litres per month for a period of 12 months.

Residents can see the City’s useful guides on how to save water and use grey water safely at www.capetown.gov.za/savewater

More information about the new domestic metering approach and tips on knowing how to read your water meter to avoid surprise billing is available here: /media-and-news/getting-to-know-your-water-meter-to-avoid-bill-shocks

HOW RESIDENTS CAN FIND AND FIX LEAKS QUICKLY AND EFFECTIVELY AND BY DOING THIS, SAVE MONEY

Steps to check for leaks on the property:

Step 1: Stop all water use. Close all the taps on the property and do not flush the toilet.

Step 2: Check and record the water meter reading.

Step 3: Wait for at least 15 minutes and take another reading. Make sure that nobody has opened a tap or flushed the toilet since the meter reading was taken.

Step 4: If there is a difference, then the leak will have to be fixed. If the number on the meter has increased, then it means that a leak has been detected and fast action will need to be taken.

Step 5: Unless it is a simple DIY job, residents are encouraged to call a plumber to fix the leak.

Three simple tests to detect a toilet leak:

Listen for the water trickling into the toilet bowl.

Press a piece of toilet paper against the inside back surface of the bowl. If it gets wet, you probably have a leak.

Put 15 drops of food colouring into the toilet cistern. If after 15 minutes the water in the toilet bowl has changed colour, then there is a leak. If you cannot afford to call a plumber to fix a serious toilet problem, use the little stopcock/angle valve tap at the base

Subsidising residents who are economically vulnerable and marginalised remains a priority, and the City will continue to provide relief in the form of water allocations at no charge to registered indigent persons, comprising approximately 40% of households in the metro. The City’s indigent support water allocation is the largest in the country.

Insofar as there is capacity to do so, the City will assist with leak fixing for households who have not received this assistance previously.

Logging service requests
Residents are encouraged to report burst pipes or leaks in streets and public spaces by using one of the following options (Please provide the street address, and get a reference number):

• Online www.capetown.gov.za/servicerequests
• Email water@capetown.gov.za
• SMS 31373 (maximum 160 characters. Standard rates apply)
• Call 0860 103 089

Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office

water meter water leaks