Water prepayment meters and the poor

1. Water prepayment metersand the poor Derek G Hazelton Manager TSE Water Services

2. Main sections of the presentation • Why focus on water prepayment meters? • Aims of the presentation • Who are the opposition? • What sector policies do the opposition support? • What are the main points of disagreement? • Overcoming the opposition to metering • Overcoming the opposition to prepayment meters • Developing a code of good practice

3. Why focus on water prepayment meters? • Because water is the most important service delivered to the poor; and • To try and keep the presentation simple I am focusing on water prepayment meters: Other utilities can still use this presentation as a basis for their thinking.

4. Aims of the presentation • Assist utilities understand; • the reasons for the opposition, and • how they can overcome them. • Assist opposition parties; • consider prepayment meters holistically, and • help them negotiate with utilities Against the growing opposition to the use of water prepayment meters in poor areas, this presentation aims to:

5. Who are the opposition? The opposition comprises four groups: • Groups that are mobilising poor communities to challenge government to be more pro-poor • Community members who are resisting water utilities’ decision making • The South African Municipal Workers’ Union; and • Most recently, the National Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on water Affairs and Forestry

6. What sector policies dothe opposition support? • The priority to overcome backlogs • High tariffs for excessive usage • Overall water demand management

7. Main points of disagreement Opposition is based on the belief that: • Utilities are primarily interested in overcoming their own problems • A free basic amount of 25 litres per person per day is too little, especially in urban areas • This is made worse by utilities basing the free amount on a per ‘customer unit’ basis Many oppose any water metering of the poor, and want prepayment meters banned

8. Overcoming the opposition to metering This requires: • Increasing the free basic amount to 50 litres per person per day • Allocating this amount on a per person basis

9. Overcoming the opposition to metering cont The Strategic Framework for Water Services, approved by Cabinet in September 2003, supports these recommendations, where sustainable Ensuring sustainability is likely to mean some form of targeting

10. Targeting free basic water

11. Overcoming the opposition to prepayment meters • Engage with customers enthusiastically, always considering their fears and needs in a truly caring non-threatening manner; and • Act openly and give all customers real choices without pressurising them into accepting prepayment meters. The latter will result in mixed areas, with both conventional meters and prepayment meters

12. Overcoming the opposition to prepayment meters cont One of SAMWU’s objections to prepayment meters is job losses through meters not being read. However, utilities who manage their UAW diligently will continue to read all their customers meters on a monthly basis

13. Developing a code of good practice • To protect customers from the power of utilities, and • To free utilities from having to negotiate with each community from zero: • DWAF and DPLG should facilitate the development of a compulsory code of good practice for the installation of domestic prepayment water meters

14. Developing a code of good practice cont Many of the benefits of such a project will be sacrificed unless: • All stakeholders are adequately represented at drafting meetings; and subsequently • Public comment is actively sought

15. Sample clauses for a code of good practice Let me finish by proposing a few clauses for inclusion in a code of good practice: • Customers shall be able to accumulate at least 14 days worth of their free allowance from days they do not use all their full allowance. • The device shall be programmed to measure the free allowance on a cycle of not more than 24 hours duration.

16. Sample clauses for a code of good practice cont • The device shall be programmed to measure and display the minimum one-hour usage over each 24-hour period and warn customers of any likely on property leakage. • The device shall, at least, record the number of cut-offs that occur each standard metering period, due to a credit control instruction.

17. Sample clauses for a code of good practice cont • Meters shall be programmed, if so desired by the customer, not to cut off the water supply for at least 5 days due to a lack of credit, to ensure customers have access to local credit vending stations even when there are public holidays. • No customer attributes or attribute may be used to downgrade customers’ options with respect to how they pay for water.

18. Afterword For further information on what the opposition to prepayment meters may think, refer: Prepayment meters and the low-income utility consumer Available at <www.fsonline.com/downloads/PREPAY.pdf>