Johannesburg - Residents should get accurate water readings in the future.
And they should not be concerned about high estimates which they are likely to receive in the next few months, as these bills will be adjusted soon.
Joburg Water (JW) says it is currently in the process of migrating from having some meters read by contractors to full in-house meter reading.
Member of the mayoral committee for environment and infrastructure services, Anthony Still, said this process has involved the recruitment and training of meter reading staff. During the transition, there has been an increase in the numbers of customers billed on estimated consumption.
“Residents’ bills may be higher than usual as the estimated consumption has been based on more days than the normal billing cycle of 30 days. Residents are, however, assured that the billing system will automatically adjust billing once an actual reading is taken. Residents must also remember that consumption at levels above 20 000 litres/month is currently subject to an increased drought related tariff structure.”
He said the situation would soon be normalised and it is expected that the estimated reading percentage will decrease significantly from the next billing cycle.
Still said the city’s meter readers could be identified by their JW branded blue overalls or bright yellow bibs. In addition, each of them carries JW staff ID with their name and employee number. If in doubt, residents can verify whether a person is an actual Johannesburg Water meter reader by visiting the website (www.johannesburgwater.co.za), where their photographs and names are clearly listed.
Residents with queries on their accounts are encouraged to contact any of the city walk-in centres, he said, adding that it was advisable to continue to pay an average amount whilst the query is being resolved.
“We also would like to advise residents to immediately settle their accounts or approach the city to make payment arrangement as soon as they receive a pre-termination notice to avoid the inconvenience associated with disconnections.”
With regards to disconnections, residents should note the following;
* JW technicians and those of its approved service providers are not authorised to enter into any negotiations with residents. Therefore residents should never offer or entertain any offers of payment to stop or delay a disconnection. Any such attempts should be reported immediately
*.JW technicians, and those of its approved service providers, are not authorised to remove meters from residents’ property during a disconnection. Again any attempts to do this should be reported.
* While every effort is made to reconnect service in the shortest possible time after credit control action, residents should allow for up to 48 hours for a reconnection request to be actioned. It should be noted that payment at a city revenue centre will reflect on the system sooner than the alternative pay points available.
Consumers can also read their own meters as a check and send their readings and account number to [email protected]. This must be done on the day that meters are read in their suburb. The appropriate day can be found by ascertaining the billing “portion” on the front page of the bill – this will indicate a letter from A to U. The meter reading schedule corresponding to these “portions” is available on the JW website.