YES, YOU CAN LIVE ON 25l A DAY
Cape Town residents will have to get by on this quota of water come the dreaded Day Zero. YOU journalist Joanie Bergh reports what life is like on this daily ration
LIKE many other Capetonians I’ve been burying my head in the sand, hoping and praying Day Zero won’t happen. But now it looks as if there’s a very real chance that come April (or maybe even sooner) all the taps in the drought-stricken city might run dry. If this happens residents will have to gather at collection points every day to get a meagre ration of 25 litres. Would I be able to survive on such a small amount? I decide to find out.
I start out by buying five 5-litre bottles of water, my daily ration. This is all I’ll have each day to sustain my household, which consists of me, my golden retriever, Reuben, and two plants (a bonsai and a small succulent). I decide that as I go along I’ll top the bottles up with municipal water each day to ensure I start out with an allocation of 25 litres daily.
It sounds daunting but I’m ready to give it a go . . . DAY 1 Here I am sitting in a shallow bath. Just 1,5 litres. And it’s cold because I didn’t have time to warm it. This is the allocation for my morning ablutions. Before I got into the bath I’d used this water to wash and condition my hair, bending over the tub as I usually do but this time putting in the plug to keep the water so I can have a wash.
I consider scooping up the water to use in the loo but it’s so little it’s hard to capture and I reluctantly allow it to go down the drain.
I buy food for breakfast and lunch and end the day with a smoothie at the gym so no water is needed for food preparation or washing up.
Instead of allowing my laundry to pile up I’m going to use a small amount of my allocation every day to keep it under control. Before I go to bed I put everything I wore during the day (work clothes and gym gear, six items in total) into a bucket with soapy water (2 litres) and leave it to soak overnight.
It’s taken a bit of planning but getting through the day wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought it was going to be. To my surprise I discover there’s more than 10 litres of my allocation that went unused. USAGE FROM MY DAILY RATION Ablutions 1,5 litres Brushing teeth 125ml x 2 Drinking (including 3 coffees) 4 litres Toilet flushing 6 litres Washing clothes 2 litres Water for the dog 1 litre Total consumption 14,75 litres
DAY 2 I look longingly at my shower. I’ve just returned from a sweaty session at the gym but I decide I have to stick to my 1,5-litre ration. I’m not big on cooking but today I prepare supper at home. It’s chicken, veggies and couscous (1,5 litres) and I use another 3 litres to wash the dishes, cutlery, one pan and two pots. I had the best intentions of saving the water for flushing but it’s too dirty so I let it go down the drain. But after rinsing the previous day’s clothes with clean water (2 litres), combining it with the 2 litres of soapy water from yesterday’s laundry session, I have 4 litres of bonus grey water to flush the loo. Luckily at work everybody is conscious of the water crisis and we’re being encouraged not to flush so I don’t feel awkward about not flushing. Every day I carry 4 litres of water between home and work and gym, using it for drinking and coffee making. RATION USAGE Ablutions 1,5 litres Washing hands 500ml Brushing teeth 125ml x 2 Washing clothes 4 litres Cooking 1,5 litres Washing dishes 3 litres Drinking 4 litres Toilet flushing (clean water, in addition to 4 litres grey water from laundry) 6 litres Water for the dog 1 litre Total 21,75 litres DAY 3 I’ve become acutely aware of each drop of water I use.
My morning baths are becoming enjoyable. I’m still too lazy to heat the water and I wonder if I might be able to manage with even less for my ablutions.
Reuben looks grubby so I use a 1-litre spray bottle to wash and rinse him off.
I buy breakfast and lunch and eat at work. This is my usual pattern – as you’ve probably guessed I’m not a very enthusiastic cook.
But today I decide to make supper. It’s chicken and salad and I use 250ml water to rinse the ingredients.
I save water by drinking a glass of wine and decide to leave the washing up until tomorrow. RATION USAGE Ablutions 1,5 litres Washing hands 500ml Brushing teeth 125ml x 2 Drinking 4 litres Cooking 250ml Toilet flushing 4 litres Washing clothes 4 litres Water for the dog 1 litre Washing the dog 1 litre Total 16,5 litres DAY 4 I’m starting to feel embarrassed about how much water I’ve wasted in my life.
Car washing is now taboo so in the evening I take a soft damp cloth and wipe down my trusty Volkswagen.
I buy takeaways so I don’t need water for cooking. RATION USAGE Ablutions 1,5 litres Washing hands 500ml Brushing teeth 125ml x 2 Washing clothes 4 litres Washing dishes 3 litres Drinking 4 litres Toilet flushing 4 litres Water for the dog 1 litre Total 18,25 litres DAY 5 I show my domestic helper, Lulu Mofokeng, my water ration and ask her to get through her tasks using as little as possible. She laughs and says it’s not a problem. She uses the soapy water I soak my clothes in to wash the floors and another 2,5 litres from my clean water ration for general cleaning. RATION USAGE Ablutions 1,5 litres Washing hands 500ml Brushing teeth 125ml x 2 Washing clothes 4 litres Cooking (to cook spinach, pumpkin and couscous) 1 litre Washing dishes 3 litres Household cleaning 2,5 litres Drinking 4 litres Toilet flushing (more than usual because Lulu used my grey water) 6 litres Water for the dog 1 litre Total 23,75 litres DAY 6 My bed linen and towels need to be washed. Obviously using a washing machine is out of the question so I pour 5 litres of my ration in the bath.
After leaving it to soak in soapy water I climb in and give it a good stomping with my feet.
I rinse this laundry with 5 litres of clean water, keeping all my grey water to flush the loo.
I reward myself for all my efforts with an eat-out dinner so no washing up.
For breakfast I ate yoghurt and fruit (sold pre-washed) and for lunch it’s salad (also pre-washed). RATION USAGE Ablutions 1,5 litres Washing hands 500ml Brushing teeth 125ml x 2 Washing clothes (linen and towels plus daily clothes washing) 14 litres Drinking (including three coffees) 4 litres Toilet flushing (because I reused my washing water) 0 Water for the dog 1 litre Total 21,25 litres
‘I’m starting to feel embarrassed about how much water I've wasted in my life’
DAY 7 It’s my weekly ritual to get fresh flowers to brighten up my living area. I buy daisies, take them home and put them in two vases filled with about 500ml of water.
I also water my pot plants using another 250ml of water.
I buy takeaways so there’s no washing up but for one last time I go through my ablution routine, washing myself in 1,5 litres of cold water.
It’s incredible how quickly you can adapt. RATION USAGE Ablutions 1,5 litres Washing hands 500ml Brushing teeth 125ml x 2 Washing clothes 4 litres Drinking 4 litres Toilet flushing 4 litres Water for the dog 1 litre Plants and flowers 750ml Total 16 litres