Water loss reduction in community water supply schemes: a case study investigating the identification of effective techniques

M.Tech.The Water Services Authorities in South africa are currently responsible for the management and operation of rural water supply in the country.Many of these comunity water supply schemes are in poor conditions due to lack of proper operation, maintenance, poor design and/or poor construction with the result that they experience serious water losses through physical losses(leakage)and apparent losses, and often fail to meet the consumer's demand during peak periods.Indications are that substantial quantities of water are lost in the systems due to leakage, wasteful use, illegal connections and meter errors. As a result of these problems, the levels of service delivery are often very poor leading to low cost recovery resulting in water services institutions becoming ineffective and inefficient businesses. The investigation attempted to identify effective techniques and/or strategies for water loss reduction in Dinokana Village (Central District Municipality). The study identified and defined various procedures/methodologies for managing Non Revenue Water in community water supply schemes. Some of the strategies developed from the findings of this research have been implemented with a view of quantitatively verifying their effectiveness