Affordable housing developer, Alley Roads, is piloting off-grid water solutions at its Khaya Lane development in Lebowakgomo, 45km southeast of Polokwane, Limpopo.
The developer will on-sell water at R34.00 per kilolitre, representing a 20% discount to the municipal rate of R42.50 per kilolitre. Based on the average consumption of Khaya Lane, this will save tenants an aggregate R1.5 million in water charges over the first five years of the project.
Alley Roads anticipates capping escalations at 3% per annum based on the offtake agreement which is considerably lower than municipal charges.
Approximately 258 of the 236 units is completely off the power and water grid with the balance anticipated to convert by the end of December 2024.
“Lebowakgomo is the first affordable housing development to my knowledge that will be completely off-grid from a power and water perspective,” comments CEO and founder of Alley Roads, Ivan Pretorius.
“Stable water supply is increasingly becoming a concern as a result of deteriorating infrastructure. This not only result in long outages but could become a human health risk as wastewater treatment works are not adequately maintained.”
According to The Green Drop Progress Assessment Report released by The Department of Water and Sanitation in December 2023, 64% of wastewater treatment works (WWTW) are at high or critical risk of discharging partially treated or untreated water into rivers and the environment.
The report found that the number of WWTWs in the high- and critical-risk categories have both increased since 2013 with negative environmental implications which pose risks to human health, e.g. cholera outbreaks that are normally associated with wastewater pollution of water resources.
Geological studies in the Lebowakgomo area have identified sustainable water sources from boreholes, which Alley Roads will purchase based on a water agreement. In addition, the Group is developing a water plant that will be maintained and tested daily to ensure it remains potable for human consumption.
“Most of our tenants are professionals, including nurses and teachers, as well as students. The average rental per apartments is approximately R3 500 per month with an additional R1 200 per month for power, water, sewage and refuse removal.”
“Going completely off-grid from a water and power perspective, provides our tenants with a stable resource and importantly, below market, predictable costs, that they can appropriately budget for,” he adds.
This announcement follows an earlier initiative by Alley Roads taking seven of its affordable housing apartments completely off the power grid.
