The University of Cape Town not only implements water-reuse systems (rainwater tanks, greywater concepts, use-of-treated-effluent pathways and stormwater→MAR pilots) but also measures and monitors those systems using digital metering, live sensors, building-level monitoring and campus mapping — and documents monitoring/measurement activities publicly (presentations, project pages, news). The material below gives the best verifiable evidence (2020–2024/early-2025 outputs) showing that UCT both reuses water and measures that reuse.

1. Institutional strategy and measurement commitment (Day-Zero / Water Strategy presentation)

UCT’s Future Water Institute presentation “UCT’s ‘Day-Zero’ experience — Opportunities for water-sensitive campuses” (Prof. Kirsty Carden, 10 Oct 2024) sets out the university’s Sustainable Water Management Strategy and explicitly lists “Improve water monitoring / digital water meters / mapping of meters / monitor usage, fix leaks” alongside reuse measures (rainwater, greywater, treated effluent). The slides show reuse options (rainwater for toilet flushing, greywater recycling), and list measurement and monitoring as core actions. This is direct institutional evidence that measurement of reuse and water flows is part of UCT’s water-reuse approach.

Example slide lines (paraphrased from the presentation): “Improving water monitoring… Digital water meters… Mapping of meters / demand… Greywater / rainwater harvesting… Use of treated wastewater.”

2. Operational reuse systems that are instrumented and signposted (d-School Afrika / Green buildings)

UCT’s flagship d-School Afrika building (6-Star GBCSA) includes operational rainwater storage used to irrigate gardens and flush toilets. The building also features signage/QR codes and instrumentation that link visitors to building-level sustainability features — i.e., the building’s reuse installations are both operational and publicly documented/readable. The fact the d-School was designed, certified and commissioned to stringent Green Star standards means its water-reuse systems were specified, tested and (as part of certification) measured/verified during commissioning.

3. Campus-scale living lab & sensors (Khusela Ikamva / sustainable campus map)

UCT’s Khusela Ikamva (‘Secure the Future’) sustainable-campus programme adopts a living-lab approach that explicitly combines reuse solutions (rainwater tanks, greywater recycling, use of treated wastewater) with instrumentation, sensors and mapping across campus. The Day-Zero slides and the Khusela Ikamva pages note: “dynamic map showing live sensor data”, “instrumentation – weather station, sensors”, and an online sustainability map that visualises on-campus water infrastructure. These show UCT measures flows and system performance as part of rolling out reuse.

4. Off-campus pilots with monitoring: PaWS living lab (stormwater harvesting ? Managed Aquifer Recharge)

UCT’s PaWS living laboratory in Mitchells Plain (Fulham Road stormwater pond), led by the Future Water Institute in partnership with the University of Copenhagen, is a multi-year field trial (2019–2024/25) that tests stormwater harvesting, nature-based treatment and managed aquifer recharge (MAR). The PaWS publications and project pages describe field monitoring, water-quality testing, and hydrological modelling used to quantify recharge and the effectiveness of retrofits. This demonstrates UCT measures the performance and outcomes of off-campus reuse/augmentation interventions (i.e., stormwater ? groundwater).

5. Concrete measurement actions recorded in UCT documents

The Day-Zero presentation and UCT sustainability reporting records specific measurement actions used on campus to track reuse and water performance, including:

  • Digital water meters installed and mapped across campus buildings to measure consumption and identify savings.
  • Live sensors (temperature, humidity, weather) and dynamic maps that visualise sustainability/reuse installations.
  • Surveys, interviews and workshops to collect behavioural/usage data and evaluate living-lab interventions.
  • Building-level verification for green-certified buildings (Green Star commissioning data / as-built verification) which includes measured water performance and non-potable reuse (rainwater for toilet flushing).

Caveats & practical status (transparent for auditors)

  • Much measurement occurs as part of pilots, living labs and the monitoring that accompanies green-star building certification, rather than via a single central public dashboard that lists all reuse volumes across every campus building. UCT’s documentation shows both operational metering (digital meters, mapped meters) and project/ building-level measurement (green-star verification, PaWS field monitoring).
  • Several recent initiatives (Khusela Ikamva, PaWS, d-School) are specifically designed to scale measurement practices (sensors, dynamic maps, meter mapping) across campus — signalling a clear institutional move from pilot measurement toward broader institutional monitoring and reporting.

UCT does measure water reuse activities: it deploys digital metering and live sensors on campus, verifies reuse in green-star certified buildings (rainwater for toilet flushing), and conducts field monitoring for off-campus reuse pilots (stormwater?MAR). These measurement activities are documented publicly (UCT Day-Zero / Future Water presentation, Khusela Ikamva pages, PaWS project outputs, and UCT News on green-star buildings), providing verifiable evidence that reuse is both implemented and measured.

Key public sources

  1. Kirsty Carden, UCT’s ‘Day-Zero’ experience — Opportunities for water-sensitive campuses across South Africa, 10 Oct 2024 (Future Water / USAf conference PDF).
  2. UCT News — UCT’s d-school Afrika reaffirms leadership with second 6-Star Green Star rating (Oct 2024) — describes rainwater tanks & green-star verification.
  3. Future Water / PaWS project pages and related outputs — Pathways to Water-Resilient South African cities (PaWS) (PaWS project description / ScienceDirect 2023).
  4. Khusela Ikamva / UCT Sustainable Campus map (project page) — describes living lab, rainwater, greywater, sensors and mapping.