Mr Marcus Monyakeni DWS Comms Specialist with Ms Kedi Moshodi Corporate Social Investment Specialist from CCBSA testing the newly installed tap.
Excelsior
The Department of Water and Sanitation in Free State has joined hands with Water and Sanitation Forum in Excelsior and Coca Cola Beverages South to assist community members on fixing leaking taps in their yards.
This is part of ongoing efforts by the department and sector partners to drastically reduced the loss of water through leakages and encourage everyone to play a meaningful role in the water value chain. The partnership between the department, its forum members and Coca Cola Beverages South Africa is a culmination of concerted efforts born out of the National Water Month, spearheaded by the department in March to bring to the fore water on the national agenda as the most important resource in our lives.
Furthermore, during Water Month, the department and its partners educate and raise awareness about conservation of water amongst other activities throughout the month.
This partnership seeks to educate community members about the role they need to play in conserving water, particularly leakages in their own yards. This is to ensure that they are aware of their responsibilities and not expect their local municipality to fix leaking taps and pipes in their homes and do it themselves.
In most instances leaking taps are as a result of warn rubbers inside the tap. This can simply be replaced and the tap will be sealed again. Community members in Excelsior also complained that their copper taps were being stollen and were advised to fit plastic taps as they work just as well and will denture theft.
Kedi Moshodi, Corporate Social Investment Specialist from CCBSA said that Coca Cola is very passionate about reducing leaks in South Africa hence they support the water month annually.
“Majority of our business is based on water and as part of our social responsibility we reinvest in the communities that support our business”, said Moshodi. Ms Moholo a resident of Excelsior expressed her gratitude to DWS and CCBSA for fixing her leaking tap.
“As a pensioner I was unable to fix the tap myself, this is a great initiative as my tap was leaking and wasting allot of water”, said Moholo. She requested that the Department and Coca Cola continue to assist others like her who are in need of taps.
The Department’s, Deputy Director for Water Sector Collaboration, Mr Ananias Mamabolo reminded the community of Excelsior that South Africa is a water scarce country and everything possible should be done to reduce the loss of potable water in the households. Fixing leaks before they become out of hand is a big contribution to securing water availability for future generations.
According to the Water Research Commission (WRC) almost 40% of the total municipal water supplied in South Africa is lost before it reaches municipal customers from industry and households. This translates to a massive loss in revenue for Water Services Providers.
