In 2021, we published an analysis of municipal water & electricity tariff increases compared to inflation since 1996.
That analysis revealed a shocking reality: the average price of both water & electricity across the four largest South African municipalities increased about four times faster than inflation.
This was a sad state of affairs in a country where a large part of the population lives in poverty.
We updated the analysis in 2024, when it emerged that the trend of higher-than-inflation water & electricity tariffs had unfortunately continued, with the average price of water & electricity increasing five times faster than inflation since 1996.
The question is: have things improved or deteriorated further since 2024?
To answer this question, we have updated the analysis with data up to 2026. The result is shown in the graph below.
Note: The graph depicts overall average increases for residential consumers – actual increases will be different for different types of consumers (residential, commercial and industrial) and will vary between municipalities.
Looking at the graph, the following can be noted:
Both water and electricity tariffs have increased dramatically faster than inflation over the period 1996 to 2026.
In fact, water tariffs have increased even faster than electricity tariffs, despite the electricity tariff increases receiving a lot more negative attention from the press and consumers.
Over the period 1996 to 2026, electricity tariffs increased 5.3 times faster than inflation and water tariffs increased 6 times faster than inflation.
The unfortunate conclusion is that the unsustainable trend of much higher than inflation increases in the price of water & electricity by municipalities has continued over the past two years.
With the rapid increases in the price of electricity and water over the past decade, the question is: what does a shower or bath cost in South Africa in 2026?
Most South Africans are aware of the rapidly rising price of electricity (a 1 172% increase over the period 2007-2026), but the price of water has also been increasing rapidly over the same period.
South Africans tend not to think twice about the cost of a shower or bath, since both electricity and water used to be very inexpensive.
Is this still true in 2026? Our previous studies in 2024 and earlier were real eye-openers, with the cost of a 10-minute shower using a 15 litre/min showerhead coming to just over R24/shower!
We have now updated the study using the latest approved municipal tariffs for the tariff year July 2025 to June 2026. As you might guess, things look worse than they did last year.
Here is the summary data for 2025 to 2026.
For an average middle-class household in South Africa (LSM7-10), a 10-min shower costs over R26 if you have a ‘standard’ 15 litre/min showerhead! This is about R2.67/min. By changing to a low-flow showerhead and reducing shower time to 6 minutes, you can dramatically reduce this to about R8.53 per shower (or R1.42/min).
In either case, it appears that the days of ‘cheap’ showers are numbered, and we can all do with being more aware of just how much water & electricity we use in the shower or bath.
Conventional wisdom has it that showering uses less water than running a bath. However, a typical bath uses 90 litres of water, so if you shower for longer than 6 minutes with a ‘standard’ showerhead, you will actually use more water than if you had a bath… With an average shower time internationally of 8 minutes, a shallow bath might actually be better for your pocket and the environment!
Of course, even better than a shallow bath is to switch to a low flow showerhead and have shorter showers… During the ‘Day Zero’ water crisis, City of Cape Town recommended showering for less than 2 minutes, and switching to low-flow showerheads (less than 10 litres/min) is compulsory according to City of Cape Town bylaws.
The graphs below show more detailed information on water & energy use and cost per shower for normal & low-flow showerheads, and compared to a ‘standard’ 90 litre bath.
Average bath uses about 90 litres of water. Waterwise. Last accessed: 12/09/2017.
“Normal” or standard showerheads use 15 litres of water per minute or more, and low flow showerheads use about 8 litres water per minute. Eskom fact sheet on showerheads. Last accessed: 12/09/2017.
Average effective residential water & electricity tariffs were calculated from the published 2024/25 tariffs of the following four metropolitan municipalities: City of Johannesburg, City of Tshwane, City of Cape Town and Ethekwini, using the average residential water and electricity consumption values for LSM7-10 obtained from the above references.
For ‘low income’ households, the average marginal water tariff is somewhat lower across the four municipalities (due to lower average consumption), at R2.91/kWh for electricity and R54.66/kilolitre for water & sanitation. This yields a cost per bath of R12.51, a cost per 10-minute ‘normal showerhead’ shower of R20.85/shower, and a cost per 6-minute low-flow showerhead shower of R6.67/shower.
Energy cost of hot water based on heating water from 15 to 60°C, which requires approximately 5.22 kWh per 100 litre.
With the rapid increases in the price of electricity and water over the past decade, the question is: what does a shower or bath cost in South Africa in 2024?
Most South Africans are aware of the rapidly rising price of electricity (a 937% increase over the period 2007-2024), but the price of water has also been increasing rapidly over the same period.
South Africans tend not to think twice about the cost of a shower or bath, since both electricity and water used to be very inexpensive.
Is this still true in 2024? Our previous studies in 2022 and earlier were real eye-openers, with the cost of a 10-minute shower using a 15 litre/min showerhead coming to just over R21/shower!
We have now updated the study using the latest approved municipal tariffs for the tariff year July 2024 to June 2025. As you might guess, things look worse than they did last year.
Here is the summary data for 2024 to 2025.
For an average middle-class household in South Africa (LSM7-10), a 10-min shower costs over R24 if you have a ‘standard’ 15 litre/min showerhead! This is about R2.43/min. By changing to a low-flow showerhead and reducing shower time to 6 minutes, you can dramatically reduce this to about R7.78 per shower (or R1.30/min).
In either case, it appears that the days of ‘cheap’ showers are numbered, and we can all do with being more aware of just how much water & electricity we use in the shower or bath.
Conventional wisdom has it that showering uses less water than running a bath. However, a typical bath uses 90 litres of water, so if you shower for longer than 6 minutes with a ‘standard’ showerhead, you will actually use more water than if you had a bath… With an average shower time internationally of 8 minutes, a shallow bath might actually be better for your pocket and the environment!
Of course, even better than a shallow bath is to switch to a low flow showerhead and have shorter showers… During the ‘Day Zero’ water crisis, City of Cape Town recommended showering for less than 2 minutes, and switching to low-flow showerheads (less than 10 litres/min) is compulsory according to City of Cape Town bylaws.
The graphs below show more detailed information on water & energy use and cost per shower for normal & low-flow showerheads, and compared to a ‘standard’ 90 litre bath.
Average bath uses about 90 litres of water. Waterwise. Last accessed: 12/09/2017.
“Normal” or standard showerheads use 15 litres of water per minute or more, and low flow showerheads use about 8 litres water per minute. Eskom fact sheet on showerheads. Last accessed: 12/09/2017.
Average effective residential water & electricity tariffs were calculated from the published 2024/25 tariffs of the following four metropolitan municipalities: City of Johannesburg, City of Tshwane, City of Cape Town and Ethekwini, using the average residential water and electricity consumption values for LSM7-10 obtained from the above references.
For ‘low income’ households, the average marginal water tariff is somewhat lower across the four municipalities (due to lower average consumption), at R2.63/kWh for electricity and R47.24/kilolitre for water & sanitation. This yields a cost per bath of R11.11, a cost per 10-minute ‘normal showerhead’ shower of R18.52/shower, and a cost per 6-minute low-flow showerhead shower of R5.93/shower.
Energy cost of hot water based on heating water from 15 to 60°C, which requires approximately 5.22 kWh per 100 litre.
With the rapid increases in the price of electricity and water over the past decade, the question is: what does a shower or bath cost in South Africa in 2022?
Most South Africans are aware of the rapidly rising price of electricity (a 650% increase over the period 2007-2022), but the price of water has also been increasing rapidly over the same period.
South Africans tend not to think twice about the cost of a shower or bath, since both electricity and water used to be very inexpensive.
Is this still true in 2022? Our previous study in 2021 was a real eye-opener, with the cost of a 10-minute shower using a 15 litre/min showerhead coming to just under R20/shower!
We have now updated the study using the latest approved municipal tariffs for the tariff year July 2022 to June 2023. As you might guess, things look worse than they did last year.
Here is the summary data for 2022 to 2023.
For an average middle-class household in South Africa (LSM7-10), a 10-min shower costs over R21 if you have a ‘standard’ 15 litre/min showerhead! This is about R2.10/min. By changing to a low-flow showerhead and reducing shower time to 6 minutes, you can dramatically reduce this to about R6.70 per shower (or R1.12/min).
In either case, it appears that the days of ‘cheap’ showers are numbered, and we can all do with being more aware of just how much water & electricity we use in the shower or bath.
Conventional wisdom has it that showering uses less water than running a bath. However, a typical bath uses 90 litres of water, so if you shower for longer than 6 minutes with a ‘standard’ showerhead, you will actually use more water than if you had a bath… With an average shower time internationally of 8 minutes, a shallow bath might actually be better for your pocket and the environment!
Of course, even better than a shallow bath is to switch to a low flow showerhead and have shorter showers… City of Cape Town recommends showering for less than 2 minutes, and switching to low-flow showerheads (less than 10 litres/min) is compulsory according to City of Cape Town bylaws.
The graphs below show more detailed information on water & energy use and cost per shower for normal & low-flow showerheads, and compared to a ‘standard’ 90 litre bath.
Average bath uses about 90 litres of water. Waterwise. Last accessed: 12/09/2017.
“Normal” or standard showerheads use 15 litres of water per minute or more, and low flow showerheads use about 8 litres water per minute. Eskom fact sheet on showerheads. Last accessed: 12/09/2017.
Average effective residential water & electricity tariffs were calculated from the published 2022/23 tariffs of the following four metropolitan municipalities: City of Johannesburg, City of Tshwane, City of Cape Town and Ethekwini, using the average residential water and electricity consumption values for LSM7-10 obtained from the above references.
For ‘lower income’ households, the average water & electricity tariffs are somewhat lower across the four municipalities (due to lower average consumption), at R2.57/kWh for electricity and R45.30/kilolitre for water & sanitation. This yields a cost per bath of R10.78, a cost per 10-minute ‘normal showerhead’ shower of R17.97/shower, and a cost per 6-minute low-flow showerhead shower of R5.75/shower.
Energy cost of hot water based on heating water from 15 to 60°C, which requires approximately 5.22 kWh per 100 litre.
With the rapid increases in the price of electricity and water over the past decade, the question is: what does a shower or bath cost in South Africa in 2021?
Most South Africans are aware of the rapidly rising price of electricity (a 650% increase over the period 2007-2022), but the price of water has also been increasing rapidly over the same period.
South Africans tend not to think twice about the cost of a shower or bath, since both electricity and water used to be very inexpensive.
Is this still true in 2021? Our previous study in 2017 was a real eye-opener, with the cost of a 10-minute shower using a 15 litre/min showerhead coming to just under R13/shower.
We have now updated the study using the latest approved municipal tariffs for the tariff year July 2021 to June 2022. Unfortunately things have only gotten worse…
Here is the summary data for 2021.
For an average middle-class household in South Africa (LSM7-10), a 10-min shower costs almost R20 if you have a ‘standard’ 15 litre/min showerhead! This is about R1.95/min. By changing to a low-flow showerhead and reducing shower time to 6 minutes, you can dramatically reduce this to just over R6 per shower (or R1.04/min).
In either case, it appears that the days of ‘cheap’ showers are numbered, and we can all do with being more aware of just how much water & electricity we use in the shower or bath.
Conventional wisdom has it that showering uses less water than running a bath. However, a typical bath uses 90 litres of water, so if you shower for longer than 6 minutes with a ‘standard’ showerhead, you will actually use more water than if you had a bath… With an average shower time internationally of 8 minutes, a shallow bath might actually be better for your pocket and the environment!
Of course, even better than a shallow bath is to switch to a low flow showerhead and have shorter showers… City of Cape Town recommends showering for less than 2 minutes, and switching to low-flow showerheads (less than 10 litres/min) is compulsory according to City of Cape Town bylaws.
The graphs below show more detailed information on water & energy use and cost per shower for normal & low-flow showerheads, and compared to a ‘standard’ 90 litre bath.
Average bath uses about 90 litres of water. Waterwise. Last accessed: 12/09/2017.
“Normal” or standard showerheads use 15 litres of water per minute or more, and low flow showerheads use about 8 litres water per minute. Eskom fact sheet on showerheads. Last accessed: 12/09/2017.
Average effective residential water & electricity tariffs were calculated from the published 2021/22 tariffs of the following four metropolitan municipalities: City of Johannesburg, City of Tshwane, City of Cape Town and Ethekwini, using the average residential water and electricity consumption values for LSM7-10 obtained from the above references.
For ‘lower income’ households, the average water & electricity tariffs are somewhat lower across the four municipalities (due to lower average consumption), at R2.37/kWh for electricity and R37.88/kilolitre for water & sanitation. This yields a cost per bath of R9.59, a cost per 10-minute ‘normal showerhead’ shower of R15.98/shower, and a cost per 6-minute low-flow showerhead shower of R5.11/shower.
Energy cost of hot water based on heating water from 15 to 60°C, which requires approximately 5.22 kWh per 100 litre.
Electricity prices in South Africa have dramatically outpaced inflation over the past decade (ever since the 2008 electricity supply shortage crisis). Recently, Eskom has won a court case allowing it to recover historical ‘losses’ or under-recoveries (the so-called regulatory clearing account or RCA).
Please note: we have published an update to this article in 2019 with more recent Eskom price increase data. Please see the article here.
After a brief respite in 2017 (when an increase of only 2.2% was granted by NERSA, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa), Eskom has submitted an application to NERSA for a 19.9% electricity tariff increase in 2018, and might still add additional RCA applications.
Below is the Eskom tariffs from 1988 to 2017, plotted against CPI (Consumer Price Index) or inflation over the same period. The dotted lines are projections over the next 3 years, based on Eskom’s 19.9% application for 2018, and further increases of 8% in each of 2019 and 2020 (this could be much higher if further RCA recoveries are granted).
Over a period of 10 years, Eskom’s electricity prices have increased by about 356%, whilst inflation over the same period was 74%. This means that electricity prices have increased 4 times faster than inflation over this period. Whilst South Africa had some of the least expensive electricity in the world in the early 2000’s, the question now is: how expensive is electricity in South Africa compared with the rest of the world in 2017?
We decided to investigate. The graph below shows 2017 residential (household) electricity prices for a selection of developed and developing countries in US dollars. South African prices for 2007, 2017 and 2018 (all in 2017 money) are indicated in yellow, and other African countries are indicated in green. (Note: most countries have a range of residential tariffs that vary according to use, location and other factors. The tariffs in the graph are based on a middle-class urban household with consumption of 400 kWh of electricity per month.)
As can be seen from the above graph, whilst South Africa used to be one of the least expensive countries in the world in terms of dollar price of electricity, this is no longer the case. It is now mid-range in terms of electricity price for the countries in the comparison.
Most of the African countries with less expensive electricity than South Africa (such as Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia) have substantial government subsidies. Of course these countries typically also have a much less reliable electricity supply than South Africa.
Also to be noted is the high price of electricity in many developed countries.
However, the above is not the full picture. The typical income of a citizen of each of these countries varies tremendously. This impacts directly on the affordability of electricity in each country.
It is thus more appropriate to look at affordability of electricity as a function of the typical or median income of citizens in order to make a comparison. The below graph shows the cost of 400 kWh/month of electricity as a percentage of the median income per capita in each country (at purchasing power parity). This is a much better indication of relative affordability of electricity in each country. (Note: median income = that income where half of the people earn more and half of the people earn less. This is a better representation of the typical income than the “average” income, since averages are distorted more by extreme values or outliers.)
The following interesting observations can be made from the graph:
Disparities in electricity affordability are larger than only the dollar tariff would indicate – whereas the ratio of highest to lowest dollar tariff is 15, the ratio of highest to lowest relative cost is 75;
Electricity is most affordable in developed countries;
Electricity is least affordable in African countries;
Electricity in South Africa is still relatively more affordable than many other African countries;
Affordability of electricity in South Africa has decreased over the past decade and is continuing to decrease;
Following the possible 19.9% increase in 2018, South Africa’s electricity will be the least affordable of the BRICS countries.
References
Source for exchange rates (as of 27/09/2017): https://www.oanda.com/currency/converter/
Source for median income per capita: https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/post/2016/05/giving-and-global-inequality/
http://global-climatescope.org/en/country/chile/#/details and http://www.ees-magazine.com/chile-large-scale-batteries-now-home-storage-later/ and https://www.cne.cl/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/AnuarioCNE2015_vFinal-Ingles.pdf
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/55-increase-in-bihar-power-tariff-from-apr-1/story-uZF2x5pX7xauEysMDGN6aL.html and http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/8-power-tariff-hike-for-all-categories-of-consumers-in-karnataka/article9629593.ece and https://cp.tatapower.com/irj/go/km/docs/documents/Public%20Documents/CustomerPortal/pdf/Direct.pdf
Please note: this article has been updated – click here for the 2021 version.
With the rapid increase in the price of electricity and water over the past few years, the question is: what does a shower or bath cost in South Africa in 2017?
Most South Africans are aware of the rapidly rising price of electricity (a 300% increase in the period 2007-2015 alone), but the price of water has also been increasing rapidly over the past few years.
For example, here are the water & sanitation tariff increases effective July 2017 for the four major metropolitan areas:
Ethekwini 17%
City of Johannesburg 12.2%
City of Tshwane 10.2%
City of Cape Town:
13.2% for 6 – 10.5 kl (kilolitres)
29.7% for 10.5 – 20 kl
27.2% for 20 – 35 kl
128.8% for 35 – 50 kl
These increases are all much higher than inflation. All these municipalities have also done away with the free water allocation of 6 000 litres (6 kilolitres), except for people registered as indigent.
Of course, there is a serious drought in Cape Town, and so the increases seen there might be more justifiable.
South Africans tend not to think twice about the cost of a shower or bath, since both electricity and water used to be very inexpensive.
Is this still true in 2017? We did some calculations and the result is an eye-opener.
For an average middle-class household in South Africa (LSM7-10), a 10-min shower costs almost R13 if you have a ‘standard’ 15 litre/min showerhead! This is about R1.30/min. By changing to a low-flow showerhead and reducing shower time to 6 minutes, you can dramatically reduce this to just over R4 per shower (or 70c/min).
In either case, it appears that the days of ‘cheap’ showers are numbered, and we can all do with being more aware of just how much water & electricity we use in the shower or bath.
Conventional wisdom has it that showering uses less water than running a bath. However, a typical bath uses 90 litres of water, so if you shower for longer than 6 minutes with a ‘standard’ showerhead, you will actually use more water than if you had a bath… With an average shower time internationally of 8 minutes, a shallow bath might actually be better for your pocket and the environment!
Of course, even better than a shallow bath is to switch to a low flow showerhead and have shorter showers… City of Cape Town recommends showering for less than 2 minutes, and switching to low-flow showerheads (less than 10 litres/min) is compulsory according to City of Cape Town bylaws.
The graphs below show more detailed information on water & energy use and cost per shower for normal & low-flow showerheads, and compared to a ‘standard’ 90 litre bath.
References, methodology & assumptions for calculations
Average bath uses about 90 litres of water. Waterwise. Last accessed: 12/09/2017.
“Normal” or standard showerheads use 15 litres of water per minute or more, and low flow showerheads use about 8 litres water per minute. Eskom fact sheet on showerheads. Last accessed: 12/09/2017.
Average effective residential water & electricity tariffs were calculated from the published 2017/18 tariffs of the following four metropolitan municipalities: City of Johannesburg, City of Tshwane, City of Cape Town and Ethekwini, using the average residential water and electricity consumption values for LSM7-10 obtained from the above references.
For ‘lower income’ households, the average water & electricity tariffs are somewhat lower across the four municipalities (due to lower average consumption), at R1.65/kWh for electricity and R23.47/kilolitre for water & sanitation. This yields a cost per bath of R6.42, a cost per 10-minute ‘normal showerhead’ shower of R10.70/shower, and a cost per 6-minute low-flow showerhead shower of R3.40/shower.
Energy cost of hot water based on heating water from 15 to 60°C, which requires approximately 5.22 kWh per 100 litre.
Things are really starting to happen on the renewable energy front!
Here are 4 renewable energy records worth getting excited about: [table]
72%,New Zealand’s 2012 (latest available data) renewables share of total electricity generation http://bit.ly/1z5DJ3d 74%,Germany’s 11 May 2014 renewables share of total electricity generation http://bit.ly/1jcSwFC 0%,…for 75 days (and counting) – Costa Rica not using any fossil fuels for electricity generation http://bit.ly/1FcZdCG 39.1%,Denmark’s wind energy contribution to overall electricity generation in 2014 http://bit.ly/1DFOxs6 [/table]
It is also somewhat of an indictment for South Africa, which is still generating over 90% of its electricity using fossil fuels (including nuclear), and have ambitions for a 1 trillion rand nuclear power expansion. This is whilst South Africa has one of the best solar radiation levels in the world!
