Media Release
Minister of Education Debbie Schäfer
Western Cape

15 November, 2017

WCED joins Shoprite/ Cape Talk Challenge and calls for more pledges by the Private Sector.

Statement by Minister Debbie Schäfer, Minister of Education

Following the success of the Bridgiot digital water metering system in reducing water consumption at Hector Peterson High School in Wallacedene, we are pleased to announce that we plan to expand the number of schools receiving the digital water metering system from 100 to 270, if the Shoprite/Cape Talk challenge is successful.

We have put in place an agreement with Bridgiot and Shoprite to drive a campaign to encourage the private sector and any other donors to contribute to installing the meters on a 60/40 basis.

In terms of the agreement, the WCED will provide funds to schools to cover 40% of the installation and operating costs, if donors contribute 60% to the costs.

Shoprite has already taken the lead by announcing that they will cover installations at 100 schools in the Western Cape. We thank them for their generous contribution.

I must also thank the team at Cape Talk, for the support that they are giving to this challenge.

We now aim to target a further 170 schools, bringing the total to 270 schools. We are therefore calling for more pledges from other businesses to help save water at our schools.

The campaign thus far is proving to be a success, with an additional 100 water metres being pledged thus far.

The parties have agreed to work together to ensure significant water saving in local communities by reducing water usage at schools.

The plan is to install the system at 270 schools within four months in the greater Cape Town area.

The longer term goal is to install smart metering at all schools in the Western Cape to save every possible drop of water.

We plan to install the systems as soon as possible, before the December holidays, because the system has shown that detecting leaks early can save considerable amounts of water.

Bridgiot will be responsible for providing meters and a water consumption management service to participating schools. They will work with schools to deal with problems, as they have done at Hector Peterson High School.

The system has helped the school to cut water consumption from 47 000 litres a day to 9 000 litres, a daily saving of 38 000 litres. Other schools have also reported large savings.

The 270 schools could save up to 10 million litres a day, if they achieve the kinds of savings achieved so far by Hector Peterson Secondary. This will not only relieve pressure on our water supply, but will also help to reduce the costs of schools for municipal services.

This is an excellent example of the private sector rising to the challenge of a crisis, and working with all parties on a solution. I must thank each and every company that has pledged to this water meter initiative.

With government, the media, the private sector as well as our universities joining hands and pooling skills, efforts, and resources, we can tackle the water crisis and save water "Better Together" for the benefit of our learners and our province.


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