Capetonian schools have saved over 21 million litres of water since starting in November.
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. The Smart Water Meters 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.
Since starting the initiative in November 2017, they have installed 112 smart meters and have saved nearly 21 million litres of water. The meters were created in partnership with Bridgiot, a spin-out company from the University of Stellenbosch.
The meters have meant that enough water has been saved to:
- Cover 11,500 peoples daily allowance.
- Give 500,000 people 8 glasses of water a day.
- Give an average household water for 4000 days.
- Flush 166,667 toilets.
“Bridgiot’s smart water meters measure and report water use by the minute by transmitting user-friendly consumption information to an internet app‚ and users are notified of any unexpected usage patterns via SMS and email.”
The Shoprite group asked corporates to pledge meters to more schools and has also given their shoppers the opportunity to donate towards the meters at till points from as little as R5.00.
You can view the live dashboard of the schools’ water usage here.
Not only are these schools saving water, they have been able to drastically cut down costs. One school has saved nearly R3800.00 per day since the installation.
Aside from all the good being done for these schools. The retailer has taken some serious water saving steps at their various branches as well. The company has suspended all truck and trailer washes, they have stopped watering their gardens and have placed bricks into all the cisterns of the toilets within their stores.
They have also distributed water tanks and the installation of grey-water systems at its community food gardens across South Africa.
It is really great seeing corporate SA taking an active role in working through the water crisis.
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