Blanket water limit is not a fair deal

I AM a pensioner who lives in a family home in Empangeni’s suburbs with a disabled wife – also a pensioner – and an adult disabled son.

I care for my young grandchild who lives with me, and there are eight people who permanently live in my dwelling.

My question about the fines that are being implemented by the city for water usage of more than 15kl per month is this: How is this fair to all households?

My neighbour and his wife live alone in a home the same size as mine. They both work all day and use very little water.

Our home has a very strict water usage policy in place and we are completely focused on water conservation on every level.

But even in doing this, I cannot run a healthy, water-wise home on this much water.

We do not use our hosepipe, recycle our waste water and do not have a swimming pool. We restrict shower times and still, this amount of water is an unrealistic goal for us.

How am I able to voice my grave concerns to city officials, who must understand that I am not financially able to pay the fines they are threatening to issue me?

I know there must be hundreds – if not thousands – of residents who are doing all they can to conserve water, but who are living on the bare minumum in these very tough financial times.

Where is the voice of reason in this situation, and who can we get comment from to get clarity on this matter?

I understand that we will have our water cut off if we do not pay our bills or water fines – and then how will I support my children, wife and grandchild?

The national census data held by the city will prove the number of people in each household, and will reflect that one water limit for every household is not fair.

D WYNGAARD

Empangeni