Alley Roads, a leading affordable housing developer, today announced that it is piloting off-grid water solutions at its Khaya Lane affordable housing development in Lebowakgomo, 45 km southeast of Polokwane in Limpopo. This follows the Group’s recent transition of more than 1 000 affordable housing apartments completely off the national power grid.  

Ivan Pretorius, CEO and founder of Alley Roads commented: 

“Lebowakgomo is the first affordable housing development to my knowledge that will be completely off-grid from a power and water perspective.

“We believe affordable housing should also include affordable utilities, and by going off-grid, we are able to pass significant savings onto our tenants. What’s also important, is that costs are stable and predictable, allowing consumers to budget accordingly. 

“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.”

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 on a daily basis to ensure it remains potable for human consumption.

Alley Roads will on-sell water at R34.00 per kilolitre, which represents a 20% discount to the municipal rate of R42.50 per kilolitre. Based on the average consumption of the development, this will save tenants an aggregate R1.5 million in water charges over the first five years of the project.

Attached and below is the press release with all the information. Let us know if you would like to speak to Ivan Pretorius.