Running out of water, Cape Town orders restrictions, even for tourists
JOHANNESBURG—“Day Zero” in Cape Town — the day that the water taps slow to a muddy dribble, then a drip and run dry — is around three months away.
The city, one of South Africa’s top tourist destinations, nestled on the country’s southern coast beneath Table Mountain, faces a severe water crisis as reservoirs sank to an effective 10.5 per cent of their capacity after five years of drought. The actual level of Cape Town’s dams averaged around 20 per cent, but the last10 per cent of the dams is not usable because of poor quality or because the water can’t be accessed, according to city authorities. The level in the biggest reservoir, which provides half the city’s water, reached 14.5 per cent, or an effective 4.5 per cent.
On Tuesday, the city authorities demanded that water consumption be immediately cut by 26 million gallons a day. Officials spelled out plans for its toughest water restrictions yet, including bans on all external use of water for washing cars, watering lawns and filling swimming pools, and severe restrictions of less than 26 gallons per person a day for essential washing, drinking and cooking only.
The city was declared a disaster area in March as it confronted its worst drought in more than 100 years. The premier of the Western Cape province, Helen Zille, on Monday declared the entire province a disaster zone. The problem mirrors a countrywide crisis last year when townships ran dry and residents of major cities donated and trucked bottled water across South Africa. The government has announced plans to drill for water at hospitals and schools and to try to tap into groundwater under Table Mountain.
In Cape Town, the crisis is partly caused by climate change, but the city’s rapid population growth to nearly four million people has contributed to the stress on the water system. Government officials have warned residents not to flush toilets unless absolutely necessary, to use bathwater and dishwater to flush toilets, limit showers to two minutes or to give themselves sponge baths instead.
Hotels have taken steps to reduce water usage, asking guests to use hand sanitizers instead of water, limit use of towels, not to run taps when cleaning teeth or soaping hands and to limit the length of showers. Hotels are installing water recycling systems and water restrictors on taps to cut water flow.
Mounting warnings in recent months have failed to curb water use. The city released a list of shame recently, outing the top 100 water users, most of them concentrated in affluent areas. Critics say the provincial government, which is in the hands of the opposition Democratic Alliance, should have done more to forestall the crisis by acting sooner to upgrade infrastructure and cut water usage.