SA’s water problems have new ally: Smart meters

Scaling smart water management.

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Beyond South Africa’s energy concerns, a quieter crisis is emerging; the steady decline of our water infrastructure. Municipalities across the country are grappling with ageing pipelines, growing urban demand, rising non-revenue water losses and tightening budgets. But behind the scenes, one innovation is starting to offer real solutions: smart water metering.

For many South Africans, smart meters may still feel like a distant concept, but across major metros and smaller municipalities, thousands of connected water meters are now feeding real-time data to utilities. Instead of relying on outdated manual readings, often conducted infrequently, with estimation errors and billing disputes, smart meters offer instant, precise consumption tracking.

But what makes these devices ‘smart’ is not just the meter itself. The real magic lies in how that data is collected, transmitted and used to transform water management across South Africa. And that’s where IOT (internet of things) and companies like Sigfox SA come into the picture.

South Africa loses an estimated 47% of its municipal water through leaks, illegal connections, faulty meters and unbilled consumption, a figure referred to as "non-revenue water". For many municipalities already struggling financially, these losses translate directly into lost revenue that could otherwise fund critical service delivery.

At the same time, residents often experience frustrating billing inconsistencies, delayed meter readings, and in some areas, no readings at all. This erodes trust between consumers and municipalities.

Smart water metering aims to close this gap by automating the entire measurement and reporting process. Every drop used is recorded instantly and sent to cloud platforms that municipal teams can access from anywhere.

Key benefits include:

• Accurate, real-time consumption data — no more estimated bills.
• Immediate leak detection, allowing municipalities to act before major damage occurs.
• Transparent billing, reducing disputes between municipalities and residents.
• Reduced operational costs, as manual meter readers are no longer required.

While smart meters have existed globally for years, the South African context presents unique challenges; sprawling informal settlements, older infrastructure and limited technical capacity in smaller municipalities.

Here’s where IOT connectivity becomes critical. Traditional mobile networks are often too costly and power-hungry for large-scale metering projects. IOT networks, like Sigfox SA’s low-power wide-area network (LPWAN), offer a far more affordable, long-range alternative.

Sigfox SA’s 0G network currently covers over 95% of South Africa, with:

• Nearly 1 500 base stations across the country.
• More than 1 million active IOT devices already connected.
• Low power requirements that enable smart meters to function for up to 10 years on a single battery.

Because the network requires minimal infrastructure and maintenance, municipalities can deploy smart meters even in rural or hard-to-reach areas without worrying about cellular black spots or heavy operational costs.

One of South Africa’s most successful smart water metering deployments recently unfolded in the Eastern Cape, a region often overshadowed by the larger metros of Gauteng and Cape Town.

In partnership with Vodacom and Macrocomm, Sigfox SA supported the installation of 150 000 smart water meters across the metro. This marks one of the largest municipal smart metering projects in the country.

Early results are promising:

• Billing accuracy has improved substantially, reducing lost revenue for the municipality.
• Non-revenue water losses are declining, thanks to early leak detection.
• Residents have greater visibility into their own consumption, helping drive more responsible water use.
• Service delivery complaints linked to billing have decreased.

Importantly, this project proves that large-scale IOT deployments are viable well beyond South Africa’s main economic hubs.

While accurate billing is often the initial goal, smart metering unlocks multiple long-term benefits:

• Water conservation: Real-time alerts empower both households and municipalities to respond to waste immediately.
• Disaster prevention: Early warnings can prevent burst pipes and costly infrastructure damage.
• Budget stability: Reducing losses helps municipalities better manage limited financial resources.
• Urban planning: Consumption data offers valuable insights into urban growth patterns.
• Job creation: Technicians, IOT specialists, data analysts and system integrators are needed to build and maintain these systems.
• Carbon footprint reduction: Fewer field visits for manual readings means lower vehicle emissions.

South Africa’s water crisis will not be solved overnight. But smart metering represents one of the clearest, most actionable ways for municipalities to take back control over their resources.

Scaling smart water management. (Image: Supplied)

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Crucially, solutions like Sigfox SA’s 0G network show that the technology doesn’t need to be expensive or complex to deliver real impact. By leveraging low-power connectivity, municipalities can scale up without massive capital expenditure.

As more cities follow the Eastern Cape’s example, South Africa is laying the foundation for smarter, more resilient utility management – one meter at a time.

For more information on Sigfox-enabled smart water metering solutions, you can read IoT Technology Enables Utilities To Operate More Efficiently or visit https://sigfoxsa.co.za/ or contact sales@sigfoxsa.co.za.