Disputes over high water bills

Tertius Thiart, Flamingo Vlei

Hans Smit is not the only one who has such problems with council (“Measuring high water bill in soft drink cans”, Off My Trolley, November 20).

I recall there were two other people with the same problem.

I have a water bill + sewerage + tax for
R35 0034.92 for the period middle of February 2018 to middle March 2018.

I bluntly refuse to pay it because it is absolutely impossible.

I have never had such a high bill for water since I bought my townhouse in 1989 (with the former Milnerton Municipality).

Many years ago I changed my small garden to make it even smaller.

Most of the garden is now under concrete and tiles.

I have always been a person who saves water. My record can testify that. I save the washing machine water and shower water to use for toilet and plants.

There cannot be a leak, as it would have appeared again.

Council send me snotty letters demanding payment, and then I decided to hand the case over to my attorney.

Council say I must have the water meter checked.

I will not as the meter is not my property, and very unconstitutionally some council by-law makes the water bill the responsibility of the user/ taxpayer if there is a problem. Not acceptable.

Furthermore, council tests it – meaning not a non-independent expert in the field, and I, as taxpayer must pay for it. No way.

In one of the last letters I responded to council’s demands, I said they must please work through my attorney.

Their response: Council doesn’t work through third parties.

My response: Well it is strange because council replied to my attorney several times and even spoke to him more than once.

After that I have not heard a word from them.

Maryrose van Rensburg, Cape Town

If a dripping tap fills a 340ml soft drink can in one minute, then in an hour it will produce 340 x 60 = 20 400 ml. And in a day 20 400 x 24 =
489 600 ml.

In a month 489 600 x 30 = 14 688 000 ml. Which is 14 688 litres = 14.688 kl. Mayco member for water and waste, Xanthea Limberg’s example is correct.

When your reader’s consumption went up by an extra 60kl a month, the extra usage would have filled about 4 x 340 ml soft drink cans a minute.

That’s a soft drink can per minute for each of the bath, garden tap, toilet and shower.

This isn’t as far-fetched as it first sounded, though I don’t dispute his version of the situation.

A drip would have to be very fast and very noticeable to fill a soft drink can in a minute.

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