Peter van Niekerk, Bellville
It was with interest that I read your article regarding Reverend Mac Gillicuddy-Day’s water consumption problem (“Family bears burden of water device”, Off My Trolley, April 19).
The solution to similar problems is in fact really simple:
1 Read the water meter weekly and record the numeric values. Any anomalies will immediately be apparent.
2 Register on the City of Cape Town’s website for internet services. This will enable you to complete your monthly water meter reading by yourself. The municipality also takes readings from time to time in order to ensure that no one is cheating. Moreover, estimations are now no longer an issue.
3 Pay your monthly municipal bill via debit order. This precludes the possibility of finding oneself in arrears. I have been following this procedure for a long time now and have never had any problems.
Clearly Reverend Mac Gillicuddy-Day did not manage her water usage well and as a result the high usage came as an unpleasant surprise. Even if she had only followed step one, she would have been able to foresee a problem.
In conclusion, I really enjoy your column and hope you will continue with the column far into the future
