De Lille lays out disaster strategy
Police and soldiers could be roped in
Intermittent water supply‚ followed by having to collect water in buckets under the supervision of soldiers: This is Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille’s vision of the near future if the city’s dams run dry.
After meeting Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane‚ the mayor outlined the city council’s disaster plan at a briefing yesterday.
De Lille begged Capetonians to stave off a disaster by saving more water‚ warning that otherwise day zero – when dams are no longer usable – would arrive in March.
Officials were working to avoid a disaster but is was vital to plan for the worst-case scenario‚ she said‚ revealing that the city council had activated the first of three disastermanagement phases.
This would involve extreme reductions in water pressure to force down consumption.
She advised residents to store five litres of water as an emergency supply.
In phase two of the disaster‚ water collection points would be introduced. “Residents will be able to collect a predefined quantity of drinking water per person per day from these collection sites,” she said.
Council law enforcement officers‚ police and soldiers would be deployed “to ensure that general safety is maintained in this phase”.
In the final “extreme disaster” phase‚ when dams expired‚ “there would be a limited period in which the city could continue to supply water before complete water system failure.”
De Lille said the city’s temporary desalination plants‚ for which tenders have been sought‚ would start to produce fresh water from December or January.
Additional water from the Atlantis and Silverstroom aquifers‚ and recycled water from the Zandvliet treatment plant‚ would be available from January or February.
In the meantime‚ a mass rollout of water management devices was taking place‚ targeting about 55 000 excessive users.