Steel and tube supplier Stewarts & Lloyds Pipes & Fittings is supplying water meters, manufactured by international manufacturing group Honeywell Kent, to a residential area in Vryburg, in the North West, as part of a water-saving project.

Being commissioned to deliver 8 000 water meters, the company delivered the first 300 in May and 1 500 last month. Stewarts & Lloyds plans to deliver the remaining 6 200 water meters over the next three years.

The project is headed by a private civils company and the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati district municipality and aims to to save water and create awareness among residents of their water to avoid water being wasted.

Stewarts & Lloyds Pipes and Tubes civils and exports manager Farhana Tayob tells Engineering News that the water meter portion of the project is valued at about R4-million and the entire water project at about R50-million.

“This project is a trial for Vryburg, and if all goes well, the knock-on effect will allow for more towns and areas to be targeted.”

She adds that once the residents are aware of how to efficiently use, monitor and save water, millions of litres of water a year will no longer be wasted in this area.

Additionally, residents will now be billed correctly by the municipality, as the meters are accurate and reliable.

Meanwhile, the imported Honeywell Kent water meters are assembled in South Africa using original-equipment manufacturer parts and local staff.

Tayob explains that the plastic meters are an above-ground assembly, which allows for not only easier access but also simpler monitoring by residents and the relevant municipality.

“We did initially experience a challenge with the communication between the water meter and current municipal system,” she adds, but notes that this was “easily mitigated” by the Stewarts & Lloyds team, as well as a representative from the manufacturer who went to site to asses and resolve the issue.

The installers were also shown how to correctly clean the installation area, and implement quality and standards checks so that no foreign objects, such as stones or dirt, negatively affect the installation.

“We continue to educate the installers on best practice to avoid any obstacles or delays.”

Tayob stresses that the company never treats any job as supply only, but strives to create solutions together to improve a system’s operational capability in the long term.

The company understands that South Africa is a water-scarce country, hence its “making every effort” in helping as many households as possible to gain access to this resource.

Water is a basic necessity, and Stewarts & Lloyds prides itself in being able to offer a water-saving solution to South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, Tayob concludes.