Cape Town business owners fear water taps running dry

Business owners in Cape Town are scrambling to address an existential threat: No water.
Megan Van Rooyen, the owner of a local salon, told CNNMoney that she might have to start asking her clients to bring their own water to have their hair shampooed.
Other businesses told the chamber of commerce that they are cutting back on water use by encouraging employees not to flush toilets and to substitute hand sanitizer for a water wash. "If we can flush toilets with sea water and have bottled water in the office, we can continue to work," one anonymous business owner told the chamber of commerce.
Water will keep flowing to some businesses on Day Zero, but authorities have not yet detailed which companies will qualify.
"If our staff can’t get water and have to spend long hours queuing when they should be at work it will cripple our business," said another survey respondent.
More than a quarter of companies said they have halted or postponed investments because of the crisis.
City official Lance Greyling says tourism is already suffering.
Many companies are trying to secure their own water supply.
More than half of the business owners surveyed by the chamber of commerce have invested in rainwater tanks, while 33% have drilled boreholes or wells.
"Some days we get 200 to 300 calls … and we can only drill for about 20% of inquiries," he said.

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