Media Release
Minister of Education Debbie Schäfer
Western Cape

5 December, 2017

Schools save a whopping 7.6 million litres of water, thanks to smart water metering.

Statement by Minister Debbie Schäfer, Minister of Education

Yesterday I visited Hector Peterson Secondary School in Kraaifontein to observe highly effective, smart water metering in action. I am most impressed and very excited about the progress that the school has made since Bridgiot installed the revolutionary Smart Water Meter System.

The Smart Meter System allows consumers to track and manage their water consumption in real time.

This has helped the school to cut water consumption from a whopping 47 000 litres a day to 9 000 litres - a daily saving of 38 000 litres, and thus a monthly saving of just over 1.1 million litres. This also yields a monthly saving of around R50 000.

In total, the school has recorded a saving of R166 904 and 3,650 090 litres over the last three months.

The smart meter system which has been installed at 41 schools has recorded a water saving of 7,629,956 litres and an estimated R375 929. This isl likely to increase as we roll out the device to more schools.

A live dashboard can be viewed here - https://schools.bridgiot.co.za/

Here is a video on how the Smart Water Meter, Dropula works -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-zvG0mjqP4

The University of Stellenbosch developed the Smart Meter System, and started Bridgiot to support the installations. The WCED has partnered with Shoprite, Bridgiot and Cape Talk in a campaign aimed at saving water at schools across Cape Town.

I was joined by our campaign partners to observe how this revolutionary system works at Hector Peterson. School Principal, Mr Mavovana, and the learners have really embraced the new system, with one learner proudly admitting to being the project's 'accounting officer'. I am also impressed at how the school has used the system to educate learners on water saving.

Following the success in reducing water consumption at this school, the WCED joined the Smart Water Meter Challenge campaign to expand the number of schools receiving the digital water metering system from 100 to 270.

Shoprite has undertaken to fund the installation of digital water metering systems at 100 Western Cape schools and has already taken the lead by installing 41 of the 100 meters thus far. They aim to install 50 by the end of 2017. Pieter Engelbrecht, Shoprite's CEO says "At Shoprite, we don't like to wait. We like to execute. If something works - if there's a benefit - we do it. That's our style of business, and that's what South Africa needs if we hope to make a difference."

To date, 353 smart meters have been pledged towards the campaign.

Over 10 million litres of water could be saved every day, if each of the 353 schools reach the kind 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 to schools for municipal services.

We are delighted with the public response, which is a direct result of the extensive coverage of the campaign on Cape Talk. A huge thanks to the entire Cape Talk Team.

Bridgiot is responsible for providing meters and a water consumption management service to participating schools. They will monitor usage together with schools, and advise on how to save water. They are working with schools to deal with problems, as they have done at Hector Peterson High School.

"Bridgiot enables schools to better understand their water usage with cost effective, innovative technology solutions, which inspire behavioural change through education. This help schools to significantly reduce their water bills, which in turn, free up money that can then be applied towards more and important educational purposes" says Nico Pretorius, CEO of Bridgiot.

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.

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

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.

Media enquiries:
Jessica Shelver
Cell: 076 175 0663
Email: Jessica.Shelver@westerncape.gov.za