New water curbs as drought drags on
South Africa’s drought-hit city of Cape Town has introduced new water restrictions in an attempt to avoid what it calls ‘‘Day Zero’’, the day in mid-April when it might have to turn off most taps.
Residents are being asked to use no more than 50 litres of water daily, down from the current limit of 87 litres. The use of city drinking water to wash vehicles, hose down paved areas, fill up private swimming pools and water gardens is illegal.
Residents using too much water will be fined or have devices that limit water supply installed on their properties, according to the rules.
The city of four million people has been struggling for several years with water shortages caused by climate change and huge population growth. Political factions are also bickering about alleged failures to respond to warnings years ago about a looming water crisis.
‘‘Day Zero,’’ set for April 16, will occur if the average level of reservoirs serving the city falls below 13.5 per cent. The average level has dropped to 26 per cent.
Authorities have taken over management a source of natural spring water in the city where residents have converged, sometimes chaotically, to collect water. One person was detained at the site in the Newlands neighbourhood after a fight broke out this week, and noise and traffic congestion around the clock have disturbed neighbours and an adjacent home for the elderly, the city said.
Private security guards are already monitoring people filling plastic containers at another natural spring location, at a South African Breweries facility in Newlands.
Police and the military are expected to help secure water collection sites if ‘‘Day Zero’’ occurs.
A South African parliamentary committee has said it will ask the government to ‘‘rein in unscrupulous traders’’ who have raised the price of bottled water to take advantage of the crisis. Poor people would suffer the most from price gouging, the trade and industry committee said.
Water shortages also have hit Cape Town’s hospitality industry, whose leaders are urging hotels to consider switching to salt water instead of fresh water in swimming pools, and want restaurants to skip linen napkins that would have to be laundered and rethink menus and food preparation. They are recommending fewer pasta dishes, because they require a lot of water to make, and suggest steaming vegetables instead of boiling them.
While tourism officials have reported some visitor cancellations, several events are going ahead as planned. Organisers of the Cape Town Cycle Tour, which raises money for charity and attracts thousands of participants, say their March ride won’t use any municipal water and will rely on its own supply.
While other international cities had faced water shortages, Cape Town’s situation was more extreme and an effective handling of the situation could serve as a global model, said Sisa Ntshona, CEO of the South African Tourism agency.
‘‘We are actually, literally, the guinea pigs to the world as to how to overcome this,’’ he said.
International illusionists are doing their part to save water. A publicist for the show The Illusionists Direct from Broadway said a ‘‘water tank torture cell performance’’ had been dropped from its run later this month.