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TOWARDS AN IMPROVED PREPAID WATER BILLING AND PAYMENT SYSTEM

Research · December 2017

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.22915.20005

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 TOWARDS AN IMPROVED PREPAID WATER BILLING AND PAYMENT SYSTEM

MR.MUTEGANDA AMON1, ALYEBO CHANTAL2, KARKERA KENNETH2, ACIO

PEACE2, NYOMBI NICHOLAS2

1
Directorate of IT support, Makerere University

2
Department of Networks, Makerere University

Abstract
National water and sewerage cooperation has been improving the system of payment over the
years since 1999. A component of comprehensive structural reforms has been attempts to
improve the efficiency of revenue collection and payments (including billing efficiency) by
NWSC. Turnover increased to USD 47million in 2010 up from USD 43 million in 2009 and
USD 11 million in 1999. A significant proportion of revenue has been invested in improvements
in coverage and service quality, including to the poor with extensions of piped water to network
of kiosks and yard taps. Improvements in revenue collection systems have included the widening
of payment options via mobile phone networks and these include Airtel money, Ezee money, m-
sente, mtn mobile money, direct debit and e-water at any partnering banks. Meter readers have
also been provided with networked PDA devices on which they can provide immediate print outs
of bills to consumers which clearly detail payment options.

1.0 Introduction
We are a team of forth year students from Makerere university pursuing bachelors of science in
software engineering carrying out a project to improve the system of payment of water bills by
customers of National Water and Sewerage Cooperation. This paper discusses the major findings
of the challenges of the manually operated billing and payment system and suggests a possible
solution that will help solve the challenges that are currently faced. The solution to above
difficulties is to install pre-paid water billing system which consists of smart meters. These
meters shall be present in every house and every customer will be in position to pay for what
he/she can afford and payment shall be at any time of convenience using any payment mode and
the token numbers shall be received by customers through SMS aided by the GSM module.

Among the challenges faced by customers include; Fraud from the NWSC operators who give
them bills of water showing usage that is far bigger than their expectations.
Sometimes the bills are issued late since they are issued by operators who go door to door,
household to household which leads to the late delivery of water bills and eventually leads to
surprise disconnections.

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After making the required payment, the customer waits for the NWSC operator to be
reconnected in order to get water.

Among the challenges faced by the operators include; Moving door to door issuing water bills.
At times there is lack of access of water meters since customers’ households are fenced and
customers are away for work.
The NWSC also faces Challenges of; Loss of revenue while paying operators who move door to
door issuing water bills.
Loss of revenue due to fraud carried out by the operators since the body lacks track of actual
water usage by customers.

Our proposed system is an electronic pre-paid billing system to enhance these issues by using
smart water meters. Each user will be able to subscribe from web application for a token number
that shall be put on the water meter LCD using the keypad thereby accessing water and having a
follow up of what he/she has paid for. This will enable the user to access water according to what
he/she has paid for and incase the units are depleted; it shall disconnect itself automatically.
These meters will be indoor meters for each apartment for protection and safety. We interviewed
about 42 households and the responses we received were overwhelming because they showed
dissatisfaction and discontentment for the systems that are currently available and also NWSC
itself.

2.0 Related work

Most current water metering systems are postpaid. Water authority sends its workers to
customer's locations to read water meter units. The system is time consuming to the corporate
workers. The system does not give the accountability to customers. The watering points in many
communities are individually metered standpipes consisting of a mechanical meter and a spigot.
Municipality workers visit each meter monthly to record meter readings. Many families in each
community share these water [1] .The system we intend to implement will solve all those issues
of agents going to customers to read these meters because they will be paying using their phones
and they will be in position to pay for what they consume, hence prepayment.
The Mogale City municipality, which borders western Johannesburg in South Africa, was a
pioneer of prepaid water, and possibly the first urban center to adopt prepaid water at scale. It
installed its first prepaid system in 1999, and within three years had 30,000 meters in low and
high income areas. Presently prepaid water meters are available with smart card technology in
which consumer spend amount of water loaded from credit sales office by loading the credit
water meters via smart card [2].This technology provided smart cards that we are trying to do
away with, it also involved a customer going to offices for payment, this calls for a system where
customers can pay from anywhere and at any time provided there is internet.
About 70 percent of Kampala’s settlements are informal and of poor quality housing and relies
on communal standpipes, water vendors and public wells. The city’s water utility first introduced
prepaid standpipes in 2007 to improve revenue collection and deliver water directly to users at a

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social tariff. Currently over 1,600 prepaid stand posts serve about 200,000 people, with a further
3,000 planned by 2017. In 2014, the utility introduced prepaid meters for institutional customers
[3].We intend to create a product that is going to be used domestically and in homes where they
have their personal meters and Users shall be receiving notifications about their consumption.
3.0 Methodology

The research method used in this study is a descriptive research design. This method was used
because of; Its effectiveness to analyze non-quantified topics and issues, the possibility to
observe the phenomenon in a completely natural and unchanged natural environment and the
opportunity to integrate the qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection. This study
involved sample space of 42 households around Kampala (Kawempe region) that have access to
tapped water excluding slummy areas and the method of sampling technique that we used was
simple random sampling, this is because our intention was to get random opinion from
households

3.1 Research Instrument

A questionnaire which is at the Appendix section of this document was used. This questionnaire
comprised of both open ended and closed ended questions. This enabled us to get different
feelings, emotions and opinions of the current system and also what they feel about the
implementation of the system in question.

3.2 Data Collection

A questionnaire was developed to collect responses from different households in Kawempe
Lugoba region, different individuals responded with discontentment as to the way NWSC treats
them. This questionnaire was tested for its purpose. On the basis of the objective drawn up for
the survey, output tables and pi-charts for analysis have been developed in order to process the
field data, computer based software (SPSS, MS Word) was used to process the data entry as well
as output generation. The issue has been analyzed by using statistical and graphical tool. The
report containing the findings and suggestions has also been prepared.

4.0 Results
Frequency of NWSC visits to customer
Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Valid Once 9 21.4 21.4 21.4
Twice 18 42.9 42.9 64.3
Thrice 10 23.8 23.8 88.1
None 5 11.9 11.9 100.0

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 Frequency of NWSC visits to customer
Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Valid Once 9 21.4 21.4 21.4
Twice 18 42.9 42.9 64.3
Thrice 10 23.8 23.8 88.1
None 5 11.9 11.9 100.0
Total 42 100.0 100.0

Table 4.1: frequency of NWSC visits to customer

The frequency table above shows that of a total of 42 respondents, 9 respondents were visited
once, 18 respondents were visited twice, 10 respondents were visited thrice and 5 respondents
were not visited at all. This shows that 11.9% of the total number of respondents were not visited
at all while 21.4% were visited once, 42.9% and 23.8 % of the respondents were visited twice
and thrice respectively.

Customer trust in the billing system

Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Valid Yes 4 9.5 9.5 9.5
No 23 54.8 54.8 64.3
Not sure 15 35.7 35.7 100.0
Total 42 100.0 100.0

Table 4.2: customer trust in the billing system

The frequency table above shows the trust of customers (respondents) about the bills they pay
whether they correspond to the amount of water they use monthly. These results represent
responses from 42 respondents with their correspondent percentages. 4 of the 42 respondents
think the bills are genuine, 15 of the 42 respondents are not sure while 23 of the 42 respondents
think the water bills they pay are not genuine.

Knowledge on the disconnections made by NWSC

Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Valid Yes 2 4.8 4.8 4.8
No 24 57.1 57.1 61.9
Sometimes 16 38.1 38.1 100.0

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 Knowledge on the disconnections made by NWSC
Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Valid Yes 2 4.8 4.8 4.8
No 24 57.1 57.1 61.9
Sometimes 16 38.1 38.1 100.0
Total 42 100.0 100.0
Table 4.3: knowledge on the disconnections made by NWSC

The table above shows responses by customers as regards to water disconnections by NWSC
operators. These results represent responses from 42 respondents with their correspondent
percentages. 2 of the 42 respondents are disconnected knowingly, 16 of the 42 respondents are
sometimes knowingly disconnected and other times not while 24 of the 42 respondents are
surprisingly disconnected.

Time it takes to be reconnected after disconnection

Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Valid Hours 17 40.5 40.5 40.5
Days 24 57.1 57.1 97.6
Weeks 1 2.4 2.4 100.0
Total 42 100.0 100.0

Table 4.4: Time it takes to be reconnected after disconnections.

The frequency table above shows the time it takes for a customer to be reconnected. Of the 42
respondents 24 respondents are reconnected within Days, 17 of the 42 respondents are
reconnected within hours and just one of the 42 respondents was connected with in weeks. .

Knowledge about NWSC progress to make necessary improvements

Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Valid Yes 4 9.5 9.5 9.5
No 27 64.3 64.3 73.8

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 Not sure 11 26.2 26.2 100.0
Total 42 100.0 100.0
Table 4.5: Knowledge about NWSC progress to make necessary improvements

The frequency table shows what customers think whether NWSC has taken any step to improve
the standards of service delivery as far as the billing and payment systems are concerned. 4 of the
42 respondents agree that there has been an improvement in the payment system, 11 of the 42
respondents are not sure whether an improvement has been made while 27 of the 42 respondents
don’t agree that NWSC has done any improvements in the system of payment..

Knowledge about late payment charges (reconnection fee)

Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Valid Yes 30 71.4 71.4 71.4
No 3 7.1 7.1 78.6
Sometimes 9 21.4 21.4 100.0
Total 42 100.0 100.0

Table 4.6 : knowledge about late payment charges

The frequency table shows whether charges are imposed on customers (respondents) due to late
payments. 3 of the 42 respondents are not charged, 9 of the 42 respondents are sometimes
charged while 30 of the 42 respondents are charged for late payment of water bills.
This shows that 71.4 % of the customers are charged for making late payments.

Preferences on the prepaid water billing system

Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Valid Yes 30 71.4 71.4 71.4
No 3 7.1 7.1 78.6
Don't know 9 21.4 21.4 100.0
Total 42 100.0 100.0

Table 4.7 : Preferences on the prepaid water billing system.

The frequency table and pie chart above show customers’ views about a prepaid water billing
system. 30 of the 42 respondents agree with the proposal, 3 of the 42 respondents do not agree
with the proposal while 9 of the 42 respondents don’t know whether the prepaid water billing
system will solve the current problems being faced by customers.

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6.0 Proposed Design

Water flow sensor Flow of water through pipe valve

customer

Remote
display system

Power
supply
GSM module

LCD
screen
Micro controller Switching circuit

keypad

GSM

Figure 6.1 : The proposed design block diagram

figure 6.1 shows a block diagram of the proposed system with a flow sensor that detects the rate of
flow of water , the valve that closes and opens the pipe case of automatic disconnections and
reconnections, the microcontroller to compute equivalent water consumption volume in relation with
payments, the LCD and keypad to display water units and enter inputs respectively, the switching circuit
that connects the microcontroller and the valve, and the GSM module to aid transmission of GSM signal
between the customer’s gadget and the microcontroller.

Recommendations

Due to the surprise disconnections faced by customers, fraud suspicion by NWSC operators,
frustrations during payment, late reconnections and also loss of revenue by NWSC. A domestic
prepaid water billing system would be better because of the following reasons;
Customers use what they pay for.
No payment to NWSC operators to make reconnections for customers after disconnections.
It will also build trust between the customers and NWSC since a customer keeps track of what
they use.
There will also be increase in revenue since costs will be limited to NWSC.

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Conclusion

The results above show that there is lack of trust between NWSC customers and NWSC as a
body, this is because there are possibilities of fraud that is carried out by NWSC operators.
The results continue to show that customers face a lot of surprise disconnections which affects
system delivery by NWSC.
Many customers also get to pay penalties (reconnection charges) during payment for
reconnection. It is also quantitatively evident that after payment of water bills due to
disconnections, reconnection services are not instant enough which leads to delay in water usage
on the side of customers.
Due to frustrations faced by customers due to poor service delivery, many customers think
NWSC has not taken any step to improve standards of service delivery while a few think it has
done some improvement due to introduction of public prepaid water supply system and
payments that can be made via Airtel money, E-zee money, m-sente, MTN mobile money, direct
debit and e-water at any of the partnering banks.
Hence most of the customers are in support with the domestic prepaid water billing system.

8.0 Future work

This study was mainly focused on the problems faced by customers in the current water billing
system whereby a customer pays for water at the end of the month after usage and frustrations
faced by customers during the manual payment of water bills issued by NWSC operators.
The study ought to be seen as a preliminary effort in a specific area (Kawempe a Kampala
suburb). There is therefore, need for further research which may focus on issues such as; The
practical impact a prepaid water billing will cause as compared to the current water billing
system both on the side of the customer and NWSC as stakeholders.

References

[1] M. K. B. M. N. Sangole, "GSM BASED PREPAID WATER CONTROL CIRCUIT SYSTEM FOR
WATER METER," International Journal of Current Research, vol. Vol. 8, no. Issue,2, p. 4,
February,2016.

[2] M. S. C. U. R. Syed Suhail Daimi1, "Design and Development of GSM based Prepaid Water Meter,"
International Journal of Advanced Research in Electrical,Electronics and Instrumentation
Engineering, vol. Vol. 5, no. Issue 3, p. 6, March 2016.

[3] k. E. a. R. F. Chris Heymans, "The limits and possibilities of prepaid water in Urban Africa," The
world bank, Uganda, August 2014.

[4] d. i. group, "Payment systems in Uganda and their impact on the urban poor," Interface consulting,
kampala, February 2012.

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[5] N. W. a. S. C. management, "The 100-Days Programme to Improve NWSC Services," NWSC,
Kampala, 1999.

[6] M. MULLER, "IMPLEMENTING PREPAYMENT WATER METERING SYSTEMS," Department

of Water Affairs and Forestry, PRETORIA, OCTOBER 1997.

[7] D. W. Yuzhu Sun, "Application of Long-distance Wireless Communication Technologies in

Automatic Water Metering System," IEEE of Electronics and Communication , October 2012.

[8] Kamstrupt, "Electronic water meter," 29 March 2013. [Online]. Available:

https://kamstrupt.com/products/flow-210x-water-meter.

[9] outpost, "home water meter," 5 Jul 2015. [Online]. Available:

https://outpost.com/applications/MULTICAL-21-installment.

[10] I. Seeed, "water flow sensor online," 23 Dec 2016. [Online]. Available:
http://www.seeed.cc/topic_detail.html?id=575#p3632.

[11] M. M. I. M.-A. Mark Ehab Shoukry, "Electronic Water Billing System," Int'l Conf. Embedded
Systems, Cyber-physical Systems, & Applications, Cairo, Egypt, 2017.

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