Dear all,

Several weeks ago we reported on certain decisions that were passed at a Council meet at the City of Cape Town (COCT), which sought to make amendments to the Water By Law Act which only applies to properties in the COCT. The changes to the by-law were published in the Government Gazette on 20 July 2018.

This is therefore now law.

Click HERE to view the link

As a reminder, these included the following:

• Landlords must now keep record of consumption for each residential unit in a multi-tenant complex/block of flats and inform the City if contraventions of water restrictions are taking place – this means water meters will have to now be installed for every unit.
• No irrigation of gardens is allowed between 09:00 and 18:00, including from boreholes and well-points. Previously no irrigation was allowed 10:00 and 16:00 and did not include borehole water.
• Toilets are now only allowed a maximum 6 litre cistern volume (down from 9 litres), and water from shower heads must flow out at no more than 7 litres per minute (down from 9.5 litres/minute). Only when it comes time to replace toilets and showerheads due to age or malfunction must new parts that conform with the revised standards be fitted
• All pools must be fitted with a cover to avoid evaporation when not in use
• All automatic flushing cisterns fitted to urinals must however be replaced immediately with either manually operated systems or properly maintained non-manual apparatus which causes the flushing device to operate only after each use.
• A prepayment meter is now an option, in addition to the Water Meter Device, as a Council water meter.

In addition we have noticed from the changes that well points and wells must now also be registered not just boreholes, and you actually need to apply for consent from the Department of Water and Sanitation in terms of section 39 of the National Water Act,1998 (Act 36 of 1998) if you want to sink a well; well point or borehole.

Failure to comply with this water by-law can land you in jail for up to FIVE years and you can be fined!

Kind Regards,
Robert Krautkrämer