shloboe boe
Sunday News Reporter
A pilot project of prepaid water meters being run by Chegutu Town Council has drawn the attention of six local authorities, including Plumtree Town Council.
The councils met in Chegutu last week to explore the feasibility of the system.
The pilot project, implemented by Bhungane Investments, is in its second month of a three-month trial run. The system allows residents to pay for the water they consume, rather than being charged a fixed monthly rate.
Plumtree water technician, Mr Nkosiphile Dube, said prepaid water meters will improve revenue collection for councils as residents will only pay for what they would have used, giving council more money for water purification. This will also reduce the need for councils to go after residents for unpaid bills.
“The past experience has taught us that there is a huge gap in prepaid water meter efficiency in Zimbabwe and maybe the whole of Southern Africa,” Mr Dube said.
Bhungane Investments CEO, Mr Innocent Hadebe, said they have developed a software that addresses the challenges faced by councils in the past. The software is designed to be easily readable and fixable by local engineers.
“One of the biggest challenges councils faced was software emanating outside the country, which had instructions in foreign languages that very few could understand,” Mr Hadebe said.
“To counter this, we developed our own software here in Zimbabwe.”
A Chegutu resident who is part of the pilot project, Ms Cynthia Sibanda said she is happy with the prepaid water meter. She previously spent between $40 and $50 a month on water, which is likely to be reduced to less than $20 with the prepaid system.
“So far, it has worked well. We bought units worth $10, and by the look of things, the water will last us the whole month.
“I believe the prepaid water meter also gives me the advantage of setting my budget and also conserving water as I will be strict on the water use,” she said.
Chegutu Municipality’s Wash junior engineer, Mr Prince Babrus said they considered prepaid water meters to increase revenue collection and reduce water losses. He said they saw other municipalities facing challenges after adopting the smart meter system hence they felt a pilot would be more appropriate to assist in proper decision-making.
“We also wanted to factor in other rates like refuse collection and sewage to ensure payments are seamless.
“The challenge is bigger than water bills, it’s about exploring a system that will enable us to get people to pay their bills,” he said.
Ruwa Town Council financial director, Ms Fatima Mhithi said prepaid water meters will help the council to improve revenue collection in line with President Mnangagwa’s call to action where councils are required to reduce their debt recovery period.
She said low-density customers are inclined towards prepaid water as they want to ensure they are paying for actual consumption without being subjected to estimation.
