Cape Town will not have to turn off water supplies after all if current consumption levels are maintained, the region’s governing party has said.
Amid a drought, the city had set a 50-litre daily limit and had told citizens "Day Zero" was approaching when people would have to queue at standpipes.
Seasonal rains should mean that date is now averted, the city said.
"Thus, provided we continue our current water savings efforts, Day Zero can be avoided completely this year," the city government said in a statement.
If we keep on saving, we will not have to queue for water this year."
Everyone has played their part to keep the taps open.
Consumption now sits at between 510 and 520 million litres per day – down from almost 1.2 billion litres in February 2015!
We can #DefeatDayZero — Mmusi Maimane (@MmusiMaimane) March 7, 2018 Report The city had resorted to increasingly drastic measures to clamp down on water usage, including "naming and shaming" the 100 addresses using the most water and fining residents who failed to comply with the 50 litre (13 gallon) limit per person.
By comparison, the average UK consumer uses some 150 litres of water per day.
Although the risk that piped water supplies will be shut off this year has receded, politicians and environmentalists warn that the water crisis is there to stay in Cape Town, as year-on-year rainfall levels dwindle.