Act now because every drop matters

WATER, the world’s most precious commodity, is in scarce supply in Cape Town. Quite literally, we are in a crisis. And according to the City, if things do not change fast, and current rates of water extraction continue, by May our dam levels will have shrunk to 20 percent.

The danger here is that it is difficult to get to the last 10 percent.

Even though water is one of the essential elements of life, like air, we mostly take it for granted, despite the scary statistics. We refuse to be mindful when using water and still soak our gardens and lawns when we’re not supposed to, continue to wash our cars using excessive amounts of water, fill up our pools to the brim, and many of us still leave the tap running while we brush our teeth.

Too many cannot be bothered to use grey water from our washing machines to flush our toilets, for instance.

Yesterday, the City announced it will take a tougher stance against those who contravene the water restrictions.

According to a statement from the office of the mayco member for informal settlements, water and waste services and energy, Xanthea Limberg, the average consumption is now 80 million litres above the targeted 800 million litres of collective usage per day. This is immense.

We all need to take heed. We have the ability to turn the situation around. But as the City has said, the only way to do so is quite simply to reduce water use.

Our administrators have vowed to do their utmost, but it is time for us all to come to the party.

We know people are making sacrifices to save water, but clearly there are many who continue to turn their backs on the rest of us.

This week the City plans to target Cape Town’s top 20 000 water users in an enforcement and education drive.

We encourage you to expose those who continue to waste water, because the responsibility to save water lies with every single one of us. Not just with your neighbour, but especially with you.