Drought may see Cape Town taps turned off in two months
Anxiety growing among four million in South Africa’s second-largest city
Fears are growing that a drought will force most taps in Cape Town, South Africa’s second largest city, to be turned off.
Authorities have said the drastic measure may be necessary in just over two months, an occasion being dubbed “Day Zero”.
The prospect that large sections of South Africa’s showcase city, perched near two oceans, might go without running water has induced anxiety as well as resolve among its nearly four million residents.
It has attracted scrutiny from scientists and city managers worldwide, who also face the dual challenge of ballooning populations and shrinking resources. This would be the world’s first major city to go dry.
“There are a lot of people who have been in denial and now they suddenly realise this is for real,” said Shirley Curry, who was waiting to fill a plastic container with spring water from a tap outside a South African Breweries facility in the Newlands suburb.
Security guards made sure people took only an allotted amount (25 litres maximum in one line and 15 litres in another “express” line). Mayor Patricia de Lille this month threatened to fine those who use too much water and said the city can no longer ask people to comply: “We must force them.”
The spectacle of people scrounging for water could become more common as “Day Zero” approaches in Cape Town, whose natural beauty has made it a coveted spot for international visitors.
While the city urges people to restrict water usage, many living in poor areas already have limited access to water, via communal taps.
Cape Town’s leaders have instructed residents to use only 50 litres of water daily from 1 February, down from the current 87-litre limit.
“Day Zero” is projected to arrive on 12 April but some fear it could come sooner, while others hope it will not happen if rationing works and rains eventually come.
If “Day Zero” arrives, many people would have to go to collection points for a daily ration of 25 litres.
Taps would continue to run in hospitals and provisions would be made for schools, some of which can pump water from boreholes.
It is likely that communal taps in poor areas would run to avoid the threat of disease. And some central and downtown areas could be exempt from the cut-off for the sake of tourism and business.
Tourism authorities are urging visitors to flush the toilet as little as possible and “take a dip in the ocean instead of swimming pools, and maybe even spare yourself a shower”.
The water crisis is propelling Cape Town into the unknown, but the causes have been brewing for awhile. Since around the end of white minority rule in 1994, the population has soared by about 80 per cent, straining municipal infrastructure. Meanwhile, the region has endured several years of drought. Scientists at the University of Cape Town have said that similar droughts could be more common in the future.
The average level of reservoirs – Cape Town’s main source of water – is currently about 27 per cent, but the final 10 per cent is considered unusable because of mud, weeds and debris at the bottom. Some residents are already complaining that silt in tap water makes it undrinkable. The city has said it would have to turn off most taps if the average reservoir level falls below 13.5 per cent.
The Democratic Alliance, the opposition party that runs Cape Town and the surrounding Western Cape province, has said the national government, run by the ruling African National Congress party, has failed to deliver water to all municipalities as required by law. Nomvula Mokonyane, the water and sanitation minister, counters that the city should do more to crack down on people using too much water.