The City of Cape Town will reach the so-called reach Day Zero if stubborn residents continue to use water excessively, mayor Patricia de Lille said on Sunday.
“While the city is doing everything in its power to bring additional water online, all Capetonians must reduce their water usage to below 87 litres per person per day,” she said after accompanying City of Cape Town water and sanitation department officials to a number of homes as part of ongoing efforts to restrict households who, despite warnings and appeals to reduce water usage, were still using excessive amounts of water.
“This is the only way Cape Town can avoid Day Zero when all residents play their part and save water while the city builds new water projects.
This means that, on average, the daily consumption of these households often exceeded 1000 litres per day.” Many high users maintained a stubborn attitude in this time of water scarcity and had prevented city staff and contractors from accessing their properties to install the devices.
The residents at these three properties also had no outstanding queries on their water accounts and had not requested a quota increase from the city, De Lille said.
“We have begged people to save water, but we cannot allow the flagrant abuse of water to continue unabated.” The city had taken action to install water management devices at 18,597 high consumption households across the city so far where contraventions had occurred.
In August, the city started the roll-out of water management devices to restrict excessive users to 350 litres per day.
Properties where consumption above 350 litres per day was justified could, however, make representation to the city to request a quota extension by submitting an affidavit with the names and identity numbers of people living on a property.
In such cases where there were more than four people, the city would set the water management device to the appropriate level so that each person had 87 litres of water per day.
– African News Agency

The distribution of water is profoundly inequitable both among and within countries.
This is because it is essential for most life functions and exists in a shared natural environment.
International human rights standards have evolved to now assure the right to "sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses."
Jamaica does not.
To assure water safety, governments must establish water quality standards and scientifically monitor all forms of water provision, including piped water, tankers, and protected wells to ensure they are safe.
According to new research from the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET), Jamaica has no legally enforceable drinking water standards because draft standards developed years ago have not been legislated.
Annually, Jamaica’s Survey of Living Conditions confirms that rural communities have significantly less access to piped water than other areas and people must travel "longer distances to access drinking water."
In 2017, the problem remains.
Addressing these problems will both enhance people’s quality of life and boost national productivity.
Given the existential threat posed by climate change and water’s increasing scarcity globally, there is no time like the present to act.

The FINANCIAL — The Board of Directors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved additional loans totaling $120 million for a project to bring drinking water to urban areas of the Jaffna Peninsula, one of Sri Lanka’s less developed regions.
The initial assistance for the Jaffna and Kilinochchi Water Supply Project was approved in November 2010 with ADB loans totaling $90 million.
Bringing water from a new desalination plant, instead, will directly address water scarcity challenges caused by climate change.
Jaffna—one of the areas worst affected by years of conflict—faces a growing population.
Water sources are limited in the area, with groundwater and local surface water unable to meet the demand for drinking water.
The plant will have a daily capacity of 24,000 cubic meters and be accompanied by 700 kilometers of water mains and distribution pipes, and 60,000 metered new property connections.
The project will also support the operation and maintenance of the plant, which will be operated by a single contractor.
The project will also support long-term water resource management, according to ADB.
Technical assistance of $500,000 will accompany the loans to support capacity development of institutions in Jaffna’s water sector, including managing the contract of the desalination plant, conducting community awareness activities, and producing sanitation safety plans.
The expected completion date is December 2025.

London [UK], November 28 : Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Shipping, Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Nitin Gadkari said the ministry had decided to transfer surplus water from the Godavari River to Krishna, to Pennar river (Karnataka) and finally to Cauvery to solve the water scarcity in the south.
"My ministry has decided to transfer excess water from Godavari River to Krishna, to Pennar river (Karnataka) and finally to Cauvery and at the end of Cauvery it will go to Tamil Nadu," he said.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari attended an event organised by a UK-based Indian Journalists Association and in his speech, he highlighted efforts being undertaken for rejuvenation of the river, Ganga.
"With the cooperation of different stakeholders in the country, I am confident we will succeed in the Clean Ganga Mission," he added.
The Union Minister also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his commitment for the development and progress of the nation.
"In the Indian scenario, Prime Minister Modi and the government are very much committed for the development and progress.
Our ports are making good profits.
We are planning to start three major projects within three months," Gadkari further said.
Gadkari also held an informal discussion with Chris Grayling MP, Minister of Transport in the UK, and an arch Brexiteer, who has regularly touted a Free Trade Deal with India as one of the main outcomes of "Brexit".

Giddalur: It was a small project in Giddalur mandal of western area in Prakasam district.
If completed, it would be able to supply water for 2,500 acres for agriculture needs, drinking water for 14 villages, boosts up the ground water level and fills up thousands of bore wells in the area.
It is Gundlamotu Project, under construction and reconstruction for the past 40 years in the Nallamala forest at 6 kilometers from Diguvametta village in Giddalur mandal.
The western area of Prakasam district is dry and has no water source except to depend on rains.
But the cyclone that hit the area in 1979, breached the project by nearly 50 feet and the machinery was also washed away with the water.
Again in 1986, the government started reconstruction of the breached part with Rs 30 lakh budget.
But the 1987 cyclone breached the project again for 40 feet.
In 1993, the government sanctioned Rs 60 lakh and repaired it.
The government also proposed to construct a pickup anicut, at 2kilometers down the project and two canals, left and right to it are proposed to supply water to the tanks in villages like Telakapalli, Venkatapuram, Uyyalawada, Krishtamsetty Palle, etc, and supply water for irrigation.
Speaking to The Hans India here on Tuesday, R Venkateswarlu, DEE of Giddalur said, “We are constructing the pickup anicut on war footing and the project will be completed within 3 months.

Thiruvananthapuram: Amid the state government’s efforts to rejuvenate and reclaim water sources, a study has come up with a startling finding that 26.90 per cent of water sources in Kerala are "completely" polluted.
"As many as 26.90 per cent of water sources in Kerala are completely polluted," the study said.
KSLMA director P S Sreekala said the study report was compiled as part of its environmental literacy program to realize LDF government’s goals to create a nature-friendly state.
The study assumes significance against the backdrop of water scarcity being faced by the state which may worsen in the future, she said.
The official also said the core objective of the initiative was to create awareness in society about the significance of protecting and rejuvenating natural and public water sources.
As part of the study, 1302 ponds, 941 canals, 153 river stretches, 16 backwater stretches, 1107 public wells and 87 others in various districts were surveyed.
Solid waste accounts for 53 per cent of pollution of water sources, liquid waste 16.97 per cent, household waste 23.24 per cent and encroachment seven per cent, it said.
Among solid waste, hotel waste accounted for 40 per cent of pollution while plastic and glass 20 per cent and other wastes 30.55 per cent, it said.
Cleaning of vehicles and bathing of animals also caused water pollution, it said, adding, sand mining, absence of protective wall and encroachment are posing threat to water sources.
The CPM-led LDF government had launched comprehensive programs to reclaim the lost water sources and rejuvenate the dying ones.

The Global Rundown Nearly 1 million people in Yemen are without clean water as a blockade by a Saudi-led coalition halts the fuel imports needed for pumping.
Libya fails to supply basic amenities or sanitation services to thousands of detained migrants.
Other cities, including the capital Sanaa, are expected to be in a similar situation soon.
Reuters Latest WaterNews from Circle of Blue U.S. Government Releases First Global Water Strategy.
– Report identifies water priorities in foreign policy.
Risks Grow for Deadliest U.S.
Drinking Water Hazard.
Humanitarian agencies are ramping up water aid to northeastern Nigeria as cholera cases spread among the 2 million people displaced by Boko Haram.
Relief Web Science, Studies, And Reports Chronic water shortages played a role in ISIS recruitment throughout Iraq, according to a recently-published National Geographic report based on over 100 interviews with farmers and agricultural officials.
National Geographic On The Radar The U.S. Supreme Court scheduled oral arguments for January 8 in a long-time dispute between Texas and New Mexico over management of the Rio Grande.

Faculty and staff from New Mexico State University and the New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute teamed up with researchers from around the state for a feasibility study on the reuse of produced water last year.
One of the most relevant findings from the study is that the most feasible use of produced water generated from the oil and gas industry is for that industry to reuse its own produced water, as opposed to using fresh water.
“The focus of the project was to understand the opportunities for reusing treated produced water, both in and out of the oil and gas industry, in order to preserve the freshwater aquifers.
Kenneth “KC” Carroll, an associate professor of water resource management in the NMSU Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, said the oil and gas industry in West Texas and Southeastern New Mexico produces large amounts of water.
“Although produced water is a wastewater, it is a large source of available water in a region where water scarcity is impacting agriculture.” Sabie said treatment technology is improving and it is becoming more common for the oil and gas industry to reuse its produced water.
By reusing their own produced water, companies are able to use less costly and semi-mobile regulated treatment plants closer to the oil and gas extraction areas.
Produced water is such an important topic for the industry, engineering, municipalities and regulatory agencies.
“My job was to investigate the treatment technologies and the cost to treat the water,” she said.
He also researched the spatial variability of the produced water quality.
New Mexico State University researchers are studying produced water quality spatial variability and analyzing alternative-source water in the Permian Basin in Southeastern New Mexico and West Texas.

Rabat – The Hirak Rif movement’s protesters are not the only Moroccan demonstrators to face jail sentences.
The Criminal Chamber in Ouarzazate Court of Appeal has sentenced a group of people to prison for protesting over water scarcity in the Moroccan southern city of Zagora.
The court has cleared two teenagers of charges made by the Prosecutor General’s Office.
The police then intervened to disperse the manifestation and arrested 23 people, seven of whom were prosecuted for “participating in an unauthorized demonstration,” according to the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH).
Dubbed ‘Hirak Al Atach,’ meaning ‘thirst protest’ in Arabic, the movement was quickly targeted by Moroccan authorities.
Police elements started to stalk small crowds in the alleys of the city to prevent any kind of improvised demonstrations.
Protesters then allegedly started assaulting security officials by throwing them with projectiles, lighting firecrackers and setting up barricades to prevent security vehicles from advancing into the city’s neighborhoods.
However, protesters accused an officer of beating her and kicking her hard in the back while police intervened to stop the protest.
In October, King Mohammed VI tasked Morocco’s Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani to chair a committee to find a solution to the problem of water shortage in the country.
Residents of different regions, especially rural areas, have complained about an increasing scarcity of drinking and irrigation water.

Chairman Indus River System Authority (Irsa) during an emergency meeting to review the water availability revised Pakistan’s water shortage estimate upward by 36 percent from 20 percent for the rabi season 2017.
This implies Punjab would get 12.6 million acre feet (instead of 15.72) and Sindh 9.5 MAF (instead of 11.86) with no change in the water share in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
Punjab continues to be the major producer of most crops, including wheat, rice, sugarcane and cotton followed by Sindh and needless to add the decline in availability of water would have negative implications on total farm output.
The IMF report further claims that Pakistan has the world’s fourth highest rate of water use and is already the third most water-stressed country in the world – statistics that should be a source of shame to the Musharraf, Zardari, Nawaz Sharif and the Abbasi administrations given their lack of focus on constructing reservoirs as well as taking other appropriate measures to deal with the situation that is assuming crisis proportions.
Pakistan’s water resources, according to readily available research, are being degraded due to pollution, atrophy, overuse of surface water and over-exploitation of groundwater and "large tracts of land have been rendered uncultivable due to water logging and salinity, direct results of mismanaged irrigation.
Unsafe drinking water is responsible for numerous diseases including dysentery, diarrhoea, typhoid, cholera, malaria and gastroenteritis.
UNICEF estimates that 200,000 children in Pakistan die annually due to diarrhoeal diseases alone".
During a recent Public Accounts Committee meeting, Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) Chairman Lieutenant-General Muzamil Hussain (retd) acknowledged that Pakistan wastes 25 billion rupee worth of water every year and that while we receive 145 MAF each year we preserve only 14 MAF.
He further contended that soil collection at the base of Tarbela Dam has compromised its storage capacity by 36 percent and noted that the construction of Diamer Bhasha dam was therefore critical.
Mention was also made of the controversial Kalabagh dam plan as a means to deal with the water shortage, which understandably accounted for considerable anger amongst those from the smaller provinces who argued that only non-controversial projects should be supported.