21 Sep 2022

Water Utilities Corporation (WUC) says it would do away with the habit of estimating meter readings, come next month.

The corporation’s chief executive officer, Mr Gaselemogwe Senai made the announcement during a media briefing on Tuesday Setembber 20, and urged members of the public to cooperate with the employees by making their residences accessible for meter reading.

He said the initiative would also reduce the number of customer complaints about high water bills.

Meanwhile, Mr Senai revealed that the corporation was owed P1.031 billion, P780 million of which was owed by domestic customers. 

He said although the debt was high, it was a slight reduction from the P1.203 billion, which was owed at the end of March last year.

Mr Senai revealed that although domestic customers consumed about 94 per cent of the water distributed by WUC, they only contributed about 27 per cent of its total revenue because they were charged way below the cost of water production. 

He said government, industry and business, which consumed less water, contributed more to the company revenue, adding, however, that the corporation’s financial position remained stable despite the huge debt.

He said aged debt remained a concern, which the corporation was resolving through intensified debt analysis, supported by steadfast debt collection methods.

Mr Senai added that for the year ending March 2022, WUC recorded revenues of just over P2 billion, attributable to the tariff increase introduced last year, implementation of revenue maximisation strategies such as reduction in non-revenue water and improvement in new customer connections, among others.

“The major contributor of this revenue has been government and council at 59 per cent, but ironically government only consumes 1.8 per cent of the water distributed,” he said.

In the new tariffs, industry and business were transferred into the same category with government, hence paying a little above the production of water expenses.

On the current water situation, Mr Senai said all dams, except Gaborone and Molatedi, were above 70 per cent capacity, adding that the levels were sufficient to sustain water supply until the next rainy season.

He further added that WUC would continue to receive full allocation from Molatedi Dam in South Africa, in line with the agreement between the two countries, as the dam level was above 33 per cent capacity.

He lamented that there were still villages that faced severe water shortage, among them Molepolole and Maun and their surrounding villages.

“We augment supply to these places through bowsing,” he said, which he explained, came at a loss to WUC as bowsed water was not billed.

Mr Senai also informed the media that WUC continued to lose water due to dilapidated infrastructure, leading to frequent pipe leaks and bursts, meter  reading estimations and authorised unbilled consumption, especially through bowsing to ungazetted areas. Ends