EVERYONE who lives in Cape Town is dreading April 12, dubbed Day Zero. Unless things change quickly – and drastically – it’s the day when taps in the South African city will be turned off, and Cape Town will be officially out of water. Reuters Cape Fear The ongoing water crisis in South Africa has got worse since December, the start of the Cape’s scorching summer, and the situation is now so bad that Cape Town could become the world’s first major city to drain its water reserves completely. Terrifying stats on the City of Cape Town website chart the city’s dwindling water supplies week-by-week, with Day Zero looming as reservoirs trickle down below 28 per cent capacity. All the water conservation targets have been missed, and almost every project to secure alternate water sources is languishing behind schedule. Rain is the city’s only hope. Alamy In a city with a reputation for crime, and a heavy reliance on tourism, the droughts could spell disaster – especially as more foreign visitors cancel their holidays. Local water wars are a distinct possibility, and city officials have shared fears that an end to flushing toilets could spark outbreaks of preventable diseases like typhoid. The droughts are partly down to an explosion in Cape Town’s population, with a 79 per cent increase in people since 1995 met by a mere 15 per cent increase in water storage capacity. But researchers agree that changing global temperatures also play a role in explaining why the reservoirs are running dry – and why more cities could follow Cape Town into such dangerous territory. Heather Cooley, from the Pacific Institute, a research charity looking at water shortages, told Sun Online: “All regions are vulnerable to drought, though the frequency, intensity, and duration of the drought can vary. “For many areas, droughts are becoming more common and more severe due to climate change.” AFP or licensors Water Wars Without water to cool people off, temperatures can flare up during prolonged dry periods. In drought-prone India, for example, water shortages have led to the emergence of a black-market “water…