A household using about 6 kilolitres for the month can expect to pay R179,58, while 50 kilolitre users will be paying a monthly bill of more than R20,000.

CAPE TOWN - The City of Cape Town has implemented a tariff increase to get households to use less water.

Poor residents will have the cost of basic water covered by the municipality and the highest water users will face the greatest tariff increases.

The city adds it's not making a profit on water sales.

A household using about 6 kilolitres for the month can expect to pay R179,58, while 50 kilolitre users will be paying a monthly bill of more than R20,000.

Cape Town deputy mayor Ian Neilson said: “This is a necessary step to reduce household demand and ensure that the city can continue to supply water and sanitation services. All water and sanitation revenue from the tariff increases goes to the water and sanitation services.”

GRABOUW FARMERS

Farmers from Grabouw and Elgin have started feeding water into the municipal system.

The Groenland Water User Association says food producers in the region have enough water for the current season.

The association will now be donating between 7.5 and 10 million cubic metres of water to the City of Cape Town from private dams.

The Groenland Water User Association's Johan Groenewald says they opened valves to allow water to flow into the Palmiet River at around 11 am on Tuesday morning.

“Water goes into Kogelberg dam through the Palmiet river via the Eskom pump scheme and then they release it into the upper Steenbras dam."

He says while they've experienced lower rainfall than normal, the farmers are in a catchment area that places them in a more favourable position than the City of Cape Town.

But Groenewald warns a lack of good rainfall this winter could place farmers in the Grabouw and Elgin region in the same difficult position.

He says producers there have been pro-active with drought-planning and are using water-wise irrigation techniques like ensuring all equipment is regularly checked for leaks.