Brian Brooks’s home does not tell the tale of a city knee-deep in a water crisis.
“At one shop you have to buy the tank.
“You can’t get tanks.
“Thou shalt not store grey water: This is the first law and may not be changed‚” warns the website of water specialists‚ Water Rhapsody Conservation Systems.
Restrictions have since been escalated to level 4b‚ which bans all use of potable water outside‚ and Capetonians are being urged to limit individual water use to 87 litres a day.
“Some have taken things to the extreme and have switched to showering only every third day‚” he said.
One Capetonian whose water bills have been zero‚ because her family kept its consumption within the City of Cape Town’s “lifeline” free supply of 200 litres a day‚ is Robyn Christenson‚ 41 from Edgemead.
“We bought two tanks with a volume of 1,000 litres each and use them to collect rain water.
We collect our grey water and use it in the toilet.
From July 1‚ the City of Cape Town is no longer supplying up to 6,000 litres of water a month‚ unless a household is indigent.