The Eswatini Water Services Corporation (EWSC) is urging consumers to look beyond their monthly water bill and consider the hidden costs of not having reliable access to water.
EWSC Managing Director Jabulile Mashwama made the call during the launch of the corporation’s Konkhe ngaWater campaign in Ezulwini, an initiative aimed at promoting responsible water consumption while drawing attention to the value of convenient access to water services.
Mashwama said the true cost of water becomes clearer when households account for the time and money spent securing alternative water supplies when they are not connected to the network. 
She said experiences shared by newly connected customers in the Shiselweni Region had shown that accessing water outside the formal supply network could be far more costly than consumers realised, with some households having previously spent considerable amounts of money and time obtaining water before being connected to EWSC services.
“Until you actually realise and quantify the cost of not having water, you don’t realise how much you’re spending on water,” Mashwama said.
She said the corporation was focused on expanding infrastructure to bring water services closer to communities, with universal access to reliable and convenient water targeted by 2030.
Mashwama said the Konkhe ngaWater campaign was intended to bring together EWSC’s infrastructure expansion, customer services and responsible consumption efforts under one message.
She also pointed to prepaid water as part of the corporation’s efforts to give customers greater control over their consumption and household spending, saying the system allowed consumers to purchase water according to what they had budgeted for and monitor their usage accordingly.
Mashwama said communities also had a responsibility to protect the country’s water resources as the corporation continued investing in infrastructure and expanding access, adding that sustainable development required consumers to use water responsibly and safeguard the resource for future generations.
