The eThekwini Water and Sanitation unit is adopting more stringent measures to curb the scourge of illegal water connections in the municipality.

The unit presented these measures along with the strategies used to locate these illegal connections to the Human Settlements and Infrastructure Committee earlier this week.

The committee recommended that the Water Amnesty Programme be extended for another two to five years to enable the Unit to intensify its drive and locate illegal connections in the City.

Over the years, the City has implemented a number of initiatives to reduce non-revenue water. While most of the efforts have produced positive results, illegal water connections remain a challenge.

Currently illegal water connections contribute to about 15 percent of non-revenue water according to the municipality.

Some of the municipality’s initiatives include reconnecting those who have been found tampering with their meters, so that they can start paying for the water they consume.

A customer, whose water connection was removed because it was found that they were tampering with the water meter, will be now be allowed to apply for another connection after a period of 12 months and can also apply for debt relief.

The current water policy did not allow for a customer’s water connection to be reinstated if the reason for the connection being removed was as a result of tampering.