Water restrictions tightened
‘Severe water fines will be issued to deter users from wasting water’
THE City has identified 20 000 water wasters mostly from informal settlements who have cost those households more than R250 million in additional tariffs which have necessitated the implementation of Level 3B water restrictions.
During this year’s first council meeting, mayor Patricia de Lille said the addresses of water wasters were known and that their ward councillors would interact with them on the effect of their high water usage.
“We will ask them to reduce water consumption. If this fails, we will look at other options including restricting (their) water supply to 350 litres a day. Or else we will name and shame them,” she said.
De Lille said Cape Town had reached intended water-savings targets because these water wasters were using as much as 50 kilolitres a month.
“We have received an additional R254 million from water sales due to sales volumes being higher than anticipated and the impact of the implemented 20% (level 2) water restrictions on consumption patterns.”
She said the water shortage was at crisis level as more than one million users had only 10% of the available water to share.
“As it stands dams are 40% full. Thirty percent is for irrigation on agricultural farms. We will install water devices that will limit water usage to 350 litres a day,” said De Lille.
Level 3B water restrictions coming into effect from February 1 will include the watering of gardens, fields, parks on Tuesdays and Saturdays only between 9am and 6pm for an hour using a bucket, the use of hosepipes will not be allowed.
These restrictions also require no watering within 48 hours of rainfall; no washing of vehicles or boats using drinking water. No increase of indigent water allocation over 350 litres a day will be granted unless through prior application and permission for specific events such as burial ceremonies.
She said botanical gardens and golf courses would be exempt from these restrictions.
“Severe water fines would be issued to deter users from wasting water,” said De Lille.
But ANC chief whip in council Xolani Sotashe denied the City’s charge that informal settlement residents were the main water wasters.
“This is not a true reflection. This is because water devices are installed in the townships only and therefore allowing big businesses to use water without being monitored. Water-saving initiatives are applied differently here.
“Poor people are suffering the consequences of the City’s ageing infrastructure. Townships are flooded with dirty water leaking from burst pipes. They have huge bills whereas big businesses pay nothing. As a result people live for days without water because of regular water cuts in the townships,” he said.
However, De Lille denied that big businesses were consuming too much water.
Mayoral committee member for informal settlements, water and waste services and energy Xanthea Limberg said it should be noted that the level of evaporation also played a substantial role in the declining dam levels.
“As the occurrence and severity of droughts can’t be predicted, water restrictions are critical, and the only practical way in the short term to deal with protecting our water supplies to consumers during periods of water shortages.”
Limberg said all users of water in areas affected by the drought must comply with water restrictions.
CAPE TOWN residents are increasingly familiar with the constraints of water use – the region is in the grip of its third major drought since 2001.
In April 2005, for example, the water storage capacity of the main supply dams reached an all-time low of just 26% overall.
In that case, the City of Cape Town had already imposed Level 2 water restrictions (January 1, 2005) in an effort to reduce consumption by 20%.
Records show that consumers did adhere to the restrictions and the city was able to meet the intended reduction. There was some relief on April 20 when an intense, localised thunderstorm brought about 130mm of rain to the catchment that feeds the Theewaterskloof Dam.
By late June 2005 the overall dam storage capacity was a little over 50%, which is usual for mid-year early winter conditions.
The current condition appears to be similar to that of 2005, but now there is heightened uncertainty.
The overall storage capacity of the dams decreases by between 1.5 and 1.8% each week under the current weather conditions and demand.
Given the current water storage capacity of approximately 40% (January 23), and with limits on the drawdown for most dams being between 10 and 15%, and if there is no significant rainfall ahead, the risk level could be serious.
There is no doubt that it will rain, but waiting is uncomfortable and unsettling for all.
Short-term rainfall forecasts can’t provide answers to three of the most important questions: When will it rain? How much will it rain? Where will the rain fall?
The city receives about 98.5 % of its potable water supply from surface water resources. The Western Cape Water Supply System comprises a network of major and minor dams, which are all used to store winter run-off. Six major dams, located in the mountain catchments areas in the Boland and Hottentots-Holland mountain ranges, supply 99.6% of the city’s raw water.
The supply system has an annual yield of 556 million cubic metres of which 399million cubic metres are allocated to the city, while the remaining yield is allocated to other urban areas and for agriculture.
There are plans to augment surface water resource by 2020, but this might be too long to wait.
The imposition of water restrictions by the city is uncomfortable and creates uncertainty among consumers, but it is necessary. The city has stepped up the restrictions from Level 2 to 3 (December 1) and is likely to implement Level 3B restrictions soon.
At the same time, the city has struggled to inform consumers about the requirements of each level, and each level requires a response that is increasingly nuanced.
To the credit of the city, policies and weekly updates on the water supply have been well managed on the city’s website.
Water resource options
The official response is that taps will not run dry before the winter rainfall period although there are many views that are being expressed to the contrary on social media and other media platforms.
Hopefully, it will rain in time, but it is an anxious wait.
Given the three droughts that have occurred over the past 15 years, in relatively quick succession, there should be more than enough motivation to actively commit to incorporating a variety of water supply and treatment options into the overall water resources mix.
Over the past 10 years and more, a variety of water resource options have been explored, for example, augmenting supplies from the Table Mountain Group aquifer, including the Cape Flats aquifer; the Reclaim Camissa project, which utilises spring water from Table Mountain; domestic rainwater harvesting and grey-water systems; the use of stormwater as a resource and improving the quality, supply and distribution of treated effluent for business enterprises, golf courses and large institutions.
These options are all reasonably well researched both in Cape Town and elsewhere.
It is time to test and implement many of these systems.
These options have the potential to enable Cape Town to become a water-resilient and water-sensitive city that is capable of dealing with the uncertainty of water supply in an increasingly water scarce region.
In future we should not be caught waiting for the rain.
Dr Winter is a lecturer at the Department of Environmental & Geographical Science at the UCT. He specialises in urban water management.
Imposition of water restrictions is uncomfortable but necessary