USA TODAY International Edition
Cape Town water may be depleted by June 4
CAPE TOWN, South Africa – Yasmin Dawood works hard to stick to the limit of 13.2 gallons per day for individuals as this city inches toward becoming the first in the world to run out of water.
The stay-at-home mom showers quickly once a day with her daughter, keeping buckets in the stall to catch excess water used to flush toilets — when they absolutely have to be flushed.
Her daughter, Asma, 6, wears a special drought uniform that needs less washing, Dawood said. On days when she plays sports, she wears her athletic uniform to school to avoid laundering her regular outfit.
Cape Town and its surroundings are suffering a severe drought. Three years of low rain levels and an unseasonably dry winter mean that average dam levels hover just over a quarter full.
The countdown to “Day Zero” has begun. The reservoirs would drop below 13.5%, and the city would have to turn off all taps to the metro area of 3.7 million. Officials initially estimated the day would arrive in April or May. Tuesday, Cape Town pushed the date back to June 4.
Dawood’s younger daughter, Sara, 21⁄2, gets bathed in a bucket. “If we need an extra shower, we use a facecloth,” said Dawood, 40, who lives in the affluent suburb of Rondebosch. “If our hair is dirty, we use dry shampoo — it works quite well.”
Everything revolves around water — and saving it, residents said.
“Life is very water-conscious,” Dawood said. “Every drop counts.”
The water situation changes lifestyles and hurts livelihoods.
Westley Byrne, 29, works as a director’s assistant in the city’s film industry. He said work has been scarce since the crisis began. Byrne said international projects that used to come to Cape Town would rather go elsewhere because of the drought.
“We often host big Hollywood projects, and they wouldn’t want to take a risk if there is millions of dollars at stake,” he said.
Byrne has considered leaving Cape Town “for a bit,” but he and his neighbors manage to get by.
“I don’t know how bad it’s going to get, and I know other people I have spoken to feel the same way, but only if Day Zero comes,” he said.
When the city had light rain one recent night, Byrne decided to give his car a wash. “People are concerned, but in a way, they are still hopeful,” he said.
Evodia Boonzaaier, 33, a city government worker, questioned whether people were doing enough to conserve water despite the city’s caps on consumption.
She said residents of low-income townships have not altered their habits much. Many live in homes that lack running water, and they don’t consume as much water as their wealthier neighbors.
Boonzaaier and her family had already thought about moving to Canada; she said the water crisis made the decision easier.