In Lesotho, South Africa and many other African countries, devices that restrict consumers to only use water that they have paid for in advance are being promoted as a way to fund better water infrastructure. A problematic approach, church water experts warn, as it endangers the poorest of the poor's access to this indispensable necessity of life.
Pre-paid water meters work very much like pre-paid cell phones. People buy a card with a credit corresponding to a certain amount of water. When the card is inserted into a machine - either a household's water meter or at a public fountain - water can be tapped until the card is empty. Whereas cell phones usually enable the owner to call emergency numbers even when the credit is used up, the pre-paid water meters, however, cannot take into account how urgent a person's need for water is.
Michael Windfuhr, human rights director of the evangelical German agency Bread for the World, and member of the Ecumenical Water Network steering group says: "The pre-paid water meters are highly problematic. If you run out of money, and the card is empty, you cannot afford water for basic needs. This is a violation of the human right to water. It should be impossible to be disconnected from water, since it is a basic need for every human being."
Water saving at the expense of the poor
With the old system, where people paid bills after using the water, they could not be cut off from the water without a warning, Windfuhr explains. Now they can suddenly find themselves without safe drinking water supply and be forced to use possibly unhealthy water sources.
Windfuhr also argues that most problems regarding water are due to policy, and not an issue of scarcity. "In very dry countries, you can still see irrigated golf courses. In Burkina Faso, some people daily use 250 to 400 litres of water, while other people do not have the 50 litres they need a day. In areas with real scarcity it is nonetheless important to supply people with water."
The example of pre-paid water supply in Johannesburg, South Africa demonstrates the danger of discrimination against the poor, according to Molefi Ndlovu of the Centre for Civil Society in Durban.
