Mon Feb 19 09:19:00 UTC 2018
One hundred and ten schools saving 21 million litres of water which translates to a total saving of R1,1 million in just over three months.
These figures indicate the success of the Shoprite Group’s Smart Water Meter Challenge, launched in November last year. These savings also come at a time when people living in the Western Cape are being urged to intensify efforts to save water as the worst drought in a century shows no signs of abating.
Shoprite’s water-saving initiative involves the installation of smart water meters that measure and report on water use by the minute. It also includes plumbing maintenance and interventions to affect behavioural change among learners and their teachers.
Shoprite committed to installing smart water meters at 100 of the top water-using schools in Cape Town and in addition, 82 corporates pledged to install a further 260 smart water meters.
One of these schools and a top performer in terms of water savings is Yomelela Primary School in Khayelitsha.
The school’s water use averaged 49.5 kL per day before the installation of the smart water meter and without any water-saving interventions. Since installation and with plumbing maintenance its usage was reduced by 79% to 10.3 kL per day in the first few days of February. This amounts to a daily monetary saving of R3 800. In a 45-day period, the school achieved a total saving of 1.7 million litres of water, which translates to a cumulative financial saving of R 98 000.
Another way the Group is reaching out to communities facing water shortages is with its till-point donation facility, through which Shoprite and Checkers customers can give R5 or more to its Disaster Relief Fund. All donations to the fund will go toward water relief efforts in Cape Town and other drought-stricken areas.