Proactive water savings: Know your numbers to keep track of your usage

5 February 2023

Cape Town needs to reduce collective water usage, to stay below the proactive water savings target of using less than 850 million litres of water daily. Knowing how to read your water meter and monitoring it is a simple way of keeping track of how much water is being used on your property, and can help prevent water wasted through undetected leaks and avoid unexpected high bills.

Let’s be water-wise and work together to use less water now.

We need to do this because Cape Town experienced below-average rainfall in 2022 and dam levels are now 62% and dropping every week. There is a real risk of another below-average winter rainfall season ahead, so we need to keep our dams fuller for longer. Also, sustained high stages of load-shedding can disrupt drinking water production and reticulation, which may affect high-lying residential properties in particular. So we need to keep our reservoirs fuller for longer too. See more here: https://bit.ly/3wQLtwj

‘More than 680 000 meters are recording the amount of water being used at properties all across the city. Regularly reading their own meters can help residents identify increases in water usage that could signify a leak. This avoids unwanted surprises when the next monthly bill arrives.

‘We want to equip our residents by sharing tips on how to read your water meter to check how much you're using, or to confirm a leak. This helps monitor and manage their usage. There are also useful tips on how to find and fix leaks on your property as well as top 10 ways how to use less water in your homes this summer.

‘Team Cape Town, let’s all do the right thing and work together to stay below the collective daily usage target of 850 million litres. We are in this together so we are all encouraged to manage our water usage responsibly,’ said Councillor Siseko Mbandezi, acting Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation.

How to read my meter?

Open your water meter box. If the lid is closed, you can usually open it with something like a screwdriver.
No matter what type of water meter it is, the black numbers represent thousands of litres, called kilolitres, and red numbers represent litres.
Water charges are based on the number of kilolitres of water used on the property every month. If you are submitting your own readings to the City (e.g. if your meter is difficult for meter readers to access), you only need to supply the black numbers when submitting your reading.
Water meters continually record the amount of water that passes into a property throughout the lifespan of the meter. The tally on the meter does not reset from month to month. Subtract the previous reading from your current reading to determine usage for the period between readings.

Monitoring your meter readings to check how much you're using or to confirm a leak

Check how much the numbers on the meter increase to see how much water is being used. Monitor this on a regular basis e.g. weekly or monthly, and keep a written record.
To check if you have a leak, first stop all water use in the house and note how much the meter reading is. Then wait about 15 minutes, and check the meter reading again. If the numbers have gone up, it means you probably have a leak.

For more information on how to read your meter, see these videos and leaflet/s and other materials in three languages at www.capetown.gov.za/savewater:

English: https://youtu.be/9LCaf2tkyDI

Afrikaans: https://youtu.be/rl2q3ydEpq4

IsiXhosa: https://youtu.be/xj0JXKhU57w

Leaflet: https://bit.ly/3rWORCF

Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office