Water-wise homes: What South African homeowners can do to cut usage and costs

South Africa has always been a water-scarce country, with our semi-arid climate, uneven rainfall, and long dry cycles. What has changed in recent years is how close those realities now feel to everyday life.

Across many communities, particularly in parts of Gauteng, residents have experienced intermittent supply interruptions, low pressure, or sudden outages. These events are often temporary, but they highlight an important point: water security is no longer solely a municipal responsibility. Increasingly, it is becoming part of household planning.

For homeowners, saving water is not just about environmental awareness anymore. It is about protecting your budget, your comfort, and your home's functionality. The encouraging news is that most households can dramatically reduce water usage with simple, practical changes, and many of those changes also lower monthly running costs.

Start by understanding how much water your home actually uses

Most households underestimate how much water they consume. A typical family home can use anywhere between 600 and 1200 litres per day, depending on habits, garden size, and plumbing efficiency.

The biggest water users in a home are usually:

• Toilets
• Showers and baths
• Gardens and irrigation systems
• Hidden leaks

The first step in saving water is measurement. Check your municipal water once a week and compare it to your bill. If your usage suddenly jumps without explanation, there is almost certainly a leak somewhere.

You can also do a simple overnight leak test:

1. Turn off all taps and appliances before bed

2. Do not use water during the night

3. Check the meter reading in the morning

If it has moved, water is escaping somewhere in your plumbing.

You can’t reduce what you don’t measure, and many households discover their largest water losses this way.

The cheapest water-saving fix? Check for leaks

Before installing tanks, filters, or new systems, start with maintenance. Small plumbing problems waste astonishing amounts of water. 

A single dripping tap can waste thousands of litres of water each month. The worst offender is often a silent toilet leak that can waste even more without any visible signs.

Common hidden leaks include:

• toilet cistern valves that do not seal properly
• faulty pressure valves
• geyser overflow pipes constantly running
• underground irrigation pipe leaks

The fastest way to reduce your water usage is often not a new installation but rather a plumber and a maintenance inspection.

Behaviour changes that make a real difference

Water saving does not mean living uncomfortably or making huge lifestyle changes. In most cases, small adjustments can have a major impact on your monthly water bill.

Bathroom

Showers are one of the biggest water consumers in any home. Reducing shower time by just two minutes can save a staggering 38 - 40 litres of water per shower. That amounts to nearly 265 litres of water per week.

Other helpful changes you can make include

• shorter showers
• turning taps off while brushing your teeth
• installing low-flow showerheads
• avoiding filling baths to the top regularly

Kitchen

While we know that the bathroom can use a lot of water, the kitchen consumes a lot more water than we realise. Think about your daily kitchen habits and how much of those include using water.

If you have dishwasher, only use it once it is full and if you are washing dishes in the sink do not rinse dishes under running water. This goes for washing vegetables as well, rather do it in a bowl.

Keep your drinking water in the fridge instead of running the tap until it cools.

For Gauteng households that sometimes experience low pressure or temporary outages, it also helps to schedule heavy water use earlier in the day rather than late evening.

The garden - your biggest opportunity to save water

Outdoor watering can account for half of total household water usage in some homes. This means gardens are often where the largest savings are possible.

Installing irrigation can allow you to automate watering ensuring that you can water your garden at the most optimal time - which usually translates into having to water less because you are not losing water through evaporation. If you can’t do this ensure that you only water your garden either early in the morning or late evening.

Water-wise landscaping

Water-wise gardening does not mean removing greenery, it means choosing smarter plants and layouts. 

Plant indigenous plants adapted to local rainfall, reduce sprawling lawns, mulch to retain soil moisture and install drip irrigation or spray systems where possible.

Rethinking lawns

Lawns are not the problem, size and maintenance are. Reducing lawn slightly, aerating soil, and selecting hardy grass types can significantly reduce water requirements.

There is also a property benefit - increasingly, buyers see water-efficient gardens as a positive feature because they reduce long-term running costs.

Backup water solutions are becoming normal

Just as backup electricity has become common in South African homes, water backup is increasingly part of home planning.

For most homeowners, water storage tanks are the first step. Water tanks can be used to store municipal water when the supply is stable, collect rainwater from gutters, or provide short-term resilience when there is a water outage.

With a small pump and basic filtration, stored water can support toilets, washing machines, and gardens.

Another option is rainwater harvesting. Even moderate rainfall can fill tanks surprisingly quickly. Roof collection systems with simple filters are often enough to support garden use for months. These types of installations are the cheaper option when it comes to backup water systems.

For those who can afford it and where it is allowed by the municipality, boreholes offer greater independence. 

Can you finance water security upgrades?

One question many homeowners now ask is whether installing water infrastructure — such as tanks, filtration systems, or even a borehole — has to be paid for in cash.

In many cases, it doesn’t.

According to Michael-Anne Abrahams from MyProperty Home Loans, banks increasingly recognise water security upgrades as value-adding improvements to a property, which means there may be financing options available.

“Homeowners often assume home loans are only for buying or building a house, but they can also be used for major improvements. Water backup systems, boreholes, and similar infrastructure can sometimes be financed as part of an approved renovation because they add long-term value to the property. The bank usually releases funds in stages as the work progresses and approved plans are followed.”

Because these upgrades form part of the structure or long-term usability of the home, lenders typically treat them differently from cosmetic renovations.

However, there are conditions. Projects generally need:

• approved building plans where required 
• a formal contract with a registered contractor
• municipal notification or approval in some areas (particularly for boreholes)
• compliance with the bank’s building-loan requirements

For homeowners who already have a bond, there may be an even simpler option.

“If there is sufficient equity in the property, many homeowners choose to apply for a further advance on their existing home loan instead. This route is often more flexible because funds are paid out upfront and can be used to install tanks, pumps, or filtration systems without the staged payment structure of a building loan,” Abrahams explains.

Personal loans are also possible, but because they usually carry higher interest rates and shorter repayment terms, they tend to suit smaller upgrades rather than full water-backup installations.

The important takeaway is that improving water resilience does not always require saving for years beforehand. Like solar power installations in recent years, water infrastructure is increasingly seen as a long-term property improvement — and banks are beginning to treat it that way.

When searching for a home, it is worth looking beyond bedrooms and finishes. Increasingly, infrastructure matters too.

Many of the property listings on MyProperty feature water backup systems, and these are often highlighted in the listing details. Keep an eye out for it as a buyer, sellers should urge their agents to list it when marketing their properties as well!