# Regulatory Compliance Category > Consumer Protection Act Forum > [Question] water supply

## murdock

i contacted the water department this morning when i found that there was no water...i was given a refernece number and told there was a pipe burst in the area...an hour later a plumber arrived and found that the flow limiter they installed is faulty...when i got home from work tonight i found that i still had no water...so i contacted the water department again and was told that the limter was faulty...so i asked how they were planining on providing me with my 300 litres of water today as it is a right i have living in south africa...i was told the people who work on the flow limiters dont work on weekends and so tough luck for me...i must wait till monday and they will send someone out and fix it...

my question is so what now...were does the consumer protection act protest us with stuff like this and does anyone have any ideas as to how i can resolve this problem with actually going and cutting the pipes so that the water flies all over the place to get them to send out a plumber to fix the problem. :Banghead: 

i actually  dont need their water because i have 12000 litres stored on my property...after all this rain my tanks are were over flowing...but its the principle and the f&*^k you attitude which i received when i contacted them.

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## Dave A

As I understand it, it's not an issue covered by the CPA as municipalities are exempt.

The "right to water" arises from the Constitution. I suppose you could appoint legal counsel to apply to high court for an urgent interdict which will probably only be acted on by Monday at the earliest...
or wait for Monday.

 :Beta1:  Maybe this is why disgruntled communities burn municipal offices and the like.

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## murdock

and they wonder why people bypass their systems...this will be my sole objective next week...to find the necessary pieces that if this issue happens again i will have a backup plan...the way i see it i have a right to the 300 litres so making emergency modifications to the system to ensure my constitutional right shouldnt be illegal.

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## murdock

> As I understand it, it's not an issue covered by the CPA as municipalities are exempt.



and i wonder why...they must know something about municipalities.

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## daveob

> i actually  dont need their water because i have 12000 litres stored on my property...after all this rain my tanks are were over flowing


I was thinking of you on Monday. We had 56mm of rain and I had connected my 'extension' from the down-pipe to the pool ( which needed filling ). A calc of the change in water level : a staggering 3500 liters, and that's just from the front side of the roof. 

By my estimate, with a 5000 liter tank, at around 8 liters per flush, that's 625 flushes, and even with a family of 4 it should last around 2 months.

Next investment is definately going to be two 5000 liter jojo tanks !!

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## murdock

just remember water standing for 2 months can create a whole new set of problems in your life...smell...mozzies...and unless the tanks are higher than the toilets you have to install pumps...which consume electricity...and require maintenance...you need to look into the water per litre cost as opposed to the electricity per kw to run the pumps...i havent done a calculation yet because my pumps are 12 volt dc bilge pumps..used for boats.

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## Justloadit

Ahhh this is where a small pressure tank, a solar panel a battery comes into play. You are then off the grid. The pressure tank will ensure sufficient pressure to do your flushing, the battery is to store the energy from the sun for two reasons, one for the current required by the pump for the short duration to maintain the pressure and also to run the pump when the sun is down. The solar panel simply keeps the battery with charge. An off the grid solution.

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## Sparks

Will they crediting your unavailable water quota?

Unbelievably, yes! Provided you use it before the meter reading. The daily consumption is calculated monthly by average, so you can run the 300L p/d into your tanks once it is available  :Smile:

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## murdock

no and the water you dont use you can just dump because it is not carried over...what you dont use you loose.

i fill my tanks with any additional water left over...or go around and flush all the toilets.

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## BuyNoEvil

The exemption to the provisions of the CPA in respect of municipalities does not extend to "high density municipalities" as defined in the PFMA. Thus all the provisions of the CPA apply between Mudock, as consumer, and his municipality if he stays in in one of these areas.

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Dave A (07-Oct-11)

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## Dave A

> The exemption to the provisions of the CPA in respect of municipalities does not extend to "high density municipalities" as defined in the PFMA.


Thanks for pointing that out. I had corrected myself on that point in another thread - forgotten about this one though.

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