Cape Town residents may lose piped water to their homes within two months if they do not act to counter the effects of the worst drought to hit South Africa’s second city in almost a century.



Local authorities have warned its 4 million inhabitants that if they do not reduce consumption by “day zero” – 12 April – they will have to queue at 200 standpipes for daily rations of 25 litres (6.6 US gallons).

The city, which attracts millions of tourists every year, has enforced strict waste controls, including prosecuting homeowners who use more than the 87-litre daily limit. However, the measures have not been enough, forcing local officials to bring forward “day zero” by nine days.

“Due to a drop in the dam levels of 1.4%, day zero has, as of today, moved forward to 12 April,” the deputy mayor, Ian Neilson, said in a statement on Tuesday.

Every day that consumption exceeded 500m litres, the last day of normal water supply drew closer, he said.

The critically low Theewaterskloof dam in Villiersdorp. Photograph: Nic Bothma/EPA

On 1 February, even stricter water restrictions come into force, limiting the maximum use per person to 50 litres a day, down from 87 litres. Earlier this year, the city published a name-and-shame list of the worst water offenders in Cape Town, and it says it is issuing fines for the heaviest water users.

Farmers have been asked to cut back on irrigation, car hire firms have stopped washing cars, hotels have restricted all uses of water, while tourists in self-catering accommodation have been asked to restrict personal washing.

Discussions are under way with the South African armed forces to enable water to be stored on military bases. Officials have been criticised for failing to implement usage restrictions sooner and for ignoring warnings by experts in the years before the drought.

Experts say it is unlikely the targets will be met.

“Day zero has been heading in one direction and that’s towards us,” said Christine Colvin, a resident and freshwater expert with WWF. “The only way to push it back is for Capetonians to dramatically change their consumption, but we haven’t done it very successfully so far … Even now, only half are under the 87-litre limit.”

The central business district will likely be spared a total shut-off to protect the economy and spare supplies will be directed to vital services, such as hospitals.

The full impact of a major global city losing its piped potable water supply is unknown.

Reservoirs around Cape Town, in the grip of its worst drought for a century, have gone largely unreplenished for more than three years in the absence of significant rainfall and are about to run dry.

Queues are forming at natural springs around the city as residents seek to minimise mains usage and build up emergency supplies.

“All the stores in my neighbourhood had sold out of all their five-litre bottles of water within hours [of the announcement],” said Heather Hirschman, 57, who lives in the suburb of Muizenberg. “I am stockpiling water like mad.”

Nikita Elliott, the manager of the Cape to Cuba waterfront restaurant in Kalk Bay – a popular tourist destination outside the city centre – hopes to keep the business going using only water from standpipes.

The restaurant has stopped serving tap water and instead offers bottled water. It has also erected signs encouraging guests to only flush solids, installed a blockage alarm to prevent burst pipes and now washes dishes by hand.

“A lot of business owners and regular citizens have taken this into their own hands and are doing what they can,” said Elliot.

There are widespread concerns that city authorities do not have a clear plan in place for distribution points.

Helen Zille, the premier of Western Cape province, said if every family in Cape Town sent one person to fetch their water allocation‚ about 5‚000 people would congregate at each distribution point every day.

“As things stand‚ the challenge exceeds anything a major city has had to face anywhere in the world since the second world war or 9/11,” Zille, a former mayor of Cape Town, said.

The Democratic Alliance, South Africa’s main opposition party, runs both Cape Town and Western Cape province.

Much of southern Africa recovered from a drought induced by the El Niño weather phenomenon after heavy rain in the summer. But Cape Town receives most of its rain in the southern hemisphere’s winter – and scientists say there is no guarantee of a good rainy season.

The reduction in consumption from an estimated 1.1 billion litres a day in 2016 to 586 million litres daily now has been insufficient.

“It has been badly mishandled. We should have been told years ago this could be coming,” said Hirschman.

Many of Cape Town’s wealthier residents will be able to leave the city to stay with relatives or friends elsewhere, or even travel abroad. No such option exists for the millions living in the city’s sprawling poorer neighbourhoods.

A range of factors is thought to have aggravated the drought, including a surging population and economic development, poor long-term planning, limited investment in water management, and invasive “thirsty” species.

Colvin said Cape Town residents and authorities needed to understand that climate change meant severe drought would be “the new normal”.

“This is not a one-off … We need to use this now to reboot our entire system to be prepared for it in the future.”