Kwekwe City Council has started rolling out prepaid water meters throughout the city, effectively becoming the first local authority in the Midlands Province to introduce the system.

Kwekwe city council installed about 300 prepaid water meters around the city as a pilot project last year and is still monitoring the performance and effectiveness of the new system.

In an interview, Kwekwe deputy mayor, Councillor Shadreck Tobaiwa, said the city officials gave the local authority the nod to go ahead with the implementation of the new system and officials were on the ground installing the meters.

"The prepaid water system has been a test phase since last year and we are now rolling out the system after we found that it is reliable and effective," he said.

Kwekwe City Director of Works Engineer John Mhike recently told this publication that they installed three types of prepaid water meters.

"We have been testing the meters because we want to choose the best in terms of technical performance and linkage with our finance department," he said.

Clr Tobaiwa said the development was set to help the local authority to improve on its revenue collections.

Kwekwe City council is owed more than $100 million in unpaid rates by the residents.

Meanwhile, residents interviewed said they welcome the development as it will help them to pay for the water they have actually consumed.

"Previously water charges were based on estimates but this will help us pay for what we will have consumed," said Mrs Sharon Dongo of Mbizo 16.