Steady winter rains over the last week have substantially eased Cape Town’s worst drought in a century, replenishing reservoirs for the western Cape region of South Africa to levels well above last year’s, officials said on Monday.
Dam levels have risen to 31.5 percent as of this week compared with just 21 percent the same time a year ago, said Rashid Khan, regional head at the water and sanitation department.
The drought has ravaged crops, hit tourist numbers and forced changes to consumption habits in Cape Town and surrounding areas as mandatory water restrictions were implemented.
We urge water users – domestic and industries – to continue using water sparingly,” he said, adding that it was too soon to ease a limit of 50 litres a day for domestic users, which has helped to halve consumption since 2016.
“We urge water users – domestic and industries – to continue using water sparingly,” he said, adding that it was too soon to ease a limit of 50 litres a day for domestic users, which has helped to halve consumption since 2016.
Day Zero explained Day Zero will be the start of active water rationing.
As far as possible, drinking water will continue to be supplied to some critical areas.
It also means that a portion of water collected from the distribution points will have to be used, for example, to flush toilets.
This will be impractical and hugely challenging at the very least.
Site selection is unlikely to be evenly distributed across the city because distribution sites will depend on existing water pipelines.