The Fine Print: Why You Have No Guaranteed Water Supply
Most of us are guilty of not “reading the fine prints” in our modern world, and it seems as though every service provider that we do business with has endless pages of “terms and conditions”.
The Hidden Clauses: What Your Municipality Doesn’t Owe You
People expect service providers to be fair and open, but sadly we are finding that increasingly, these “protections” are extremely bias against the consumer. This may be acceptable when you are making a purchase from a third party such as a retail outlet, but what about our elected officials in both government and municipalities?
Sure, we pay our account and in so doing, their salaries so they would want to protect us, right?
Interruption Without Notice: The Council’s Right to Cut Flow
Unfortunately, this is not always the case, and many times these “terms and conditions” are hidden in various governmental gazettes and by laws dating back decades, and the only time you can ascertain your exact rights is when you receive the ominous reply from your “city council” regarding your query – that you thought logically would be in your favour – has been rejected or declined with a dismissive “We refer to Provincial gazette 5014, 2nd February 1996, page 12, point 29 etc, etc
You reply that you had no knowledge of these terms and condition and did not sign acceptance to them, but of course you did!
All governmental, quasi-governmental or municipal services have clauses that you understand and agree to the departments “terms and conditions’ when initially apply for the service. All we want to do is receive the services (such as electricity, water & sewerage) so we sign the application form.
Well let’s take an example of the greater Western Cape region (although I’m sure that other municipal regions also have the same protections in place) and their protective conditions regarding water supply. In their “General Conditions of Supply” (Provincial gazette 5014, 2nd February 1996, page 12, point 29. (1))
“The granting of a supply of water by the council shall not constitute an undertaking by it to maintain at any time or at any point in its water supply system –
- an uninterrupted water supply
- a specific pressure or rate of flow in such supply
- a specific standard of quality of water
From Consumer to Protector: Securing Your Own Water Infrastructure
So, what this really means is that the consumer has no enforceable rights to a constant pressurised supply of potable water, or in fact any water at all! – and in later points the council protects itself even further by stating that they “May interrupt the supply of water to any premises without prior notice” and if in their opinion, the consumption of water of a consumer is too high they can apply restrictions and throttle their supply.
Suddenly we discover that municipalities have us over the proverbial barrel and that they have all the i’s dotted and the crossed the t’s leaving the consumer with little choice but to pay up or face the full force of bureaucracy of the municipal system.
It is now – more than ever – so important to know your rights and obligations for the services that you have, be they a cellular contract or essential supply contracts for electricity, water or sewerage.
Be smart, be aware, and educate yourselves before it is too late!
