OSHIKUKU – The Oshikuku Town Council may soon do away with mechanical water meters if they are
satisfied with the results on the ultrasonic water meter currently being piloted at the town.
As part of the pilot, 10 ultrasonic water meters (or digital water meters) were installed at the town on Tuesday. Speaking at the installation an associate of Afrihost, Sidney de Long, said the ultrasonic
meter is more accurate than the current meters as it only bills water that has been used or has
passed through the meter. De Long is from South Africa.
According to De Long the current water meters do not provide accurate results as it calculates air, movements around it and also bills for water wasted. De Long said the water meters being piloted
have proven to save water and increase revenue in South Africa, and in Europe and other
African countries where it is already in use.
An advantage of the new water meter is that the monitor also informs when there is a burst pipe or leakage in the system. “We are introducing the ultrasonic water meter because we want to be on par with the
industrial revolution. We want municipalities to have accuracy on their billing in order for
them to save water and increase their revenue; the mechanical meters have wear and tear and they tend to lose accuracy,” said De Long.
Another advantage of the ultrasonic water meter is that the owner of the property can now trace the water usage on their cellphone as the water meter captures relevant information, including identity and contact numbers. At the moment, De Long said, they are only piloting the meter but once the study
is done and based on the results, the council can decide what they would opt for.
The meter now costs about N$3 000 and has so far been installed in about 4 000 homes
in South Africa. De Long calls on other local authorities to come on board to do piloting in order to increase revenue. The Namibian associate and co-founder Natie Nkandi said they have done presentations
at various local authorities and appealed to authorities to liaise with Oshikuku for the results.
An assistant artisan who joined the team in the field Abraham Tomanga said residents have previously complained of high billing and believes that the new system could help in solving such complaints.