Johannesburg Water exceeded its use target every month in 2026

Monthly water consumption vs temporary Water Use Efficiency (WUE) target, megalitres per day, January–September 2026

+196

Ml/day — average monthly excess above the WUE target, Jan–Sep 2026

9 of 9

months above target — the gap never closed once

Johannesburg Water drew on the Rand Water system above its temporary water-use efficiency ceiling every month from January to September 2026, never coming closer than 156 Ml/day below the target even at its lowest. A sustained overshoot of this scale — averaging 13% above the permitted ceiling — suggests systemic distribution losses or unbilled water, not seasonal demand variation.