It’s official: water rationing now in place in Cape

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Cape Town - The City of Cape Town has officially put into effect phase 1 of the water shortages disaster plan. Water rationing has officially been rolled out in the city as dam levels are currently at 38.5% with useable water at 28.5%. Current consumption is at 585 million litres of collective usage per day. Due to the critical nature of available water supply, all water users across the metro should expect water rationing which could lead to water supply disruptions. These are likely to occur during peak water usage times in the mornings (between 5am and 9am) and in the evenings (between 5pm and 9pm) if usage is above the required levels.

Service will be restored as soon as demand decreases to within the limitations of Level 5 water restrictions. If an area is using above the daily water limit, rationing through advanced pressure management will continue until the limit is reached.

Mayco member for Informal Settlements, Water and Waste Services and Energy Xanthea Limberg said: “Reducing water usage remains the most vital intervention to help see the city through the summer ahead.

"With the help of almost half of Capetonians, as well as our pressure interventions, leak management programme and the installation of water management devices, we have brought usage down from more than 1.1 billion litres per day to the current volume - but further critical measures, such as pressure reduction, must be intensified to maintain reduced demand throughout summer.”

Limberg said almost 7 000 water management devices had been fitted to the properties of delinquent water users.

“It is foreseen that between 130 and 240 million litres per day will be at some stage of production between December 2017 and May 2018. This includes land- and sea-based desalination, water reclamation, and groundwater abstraction projects, if all goes according to plan.”

As part of rationing guidelines, residents are urged to keep between 5 and 10 litres of water available for drinking use only for the household. Residents should also keep additional water for pets.

Cape Times