As dam levels dip below last year’s marks and a longer, drier summer looms, the City of Cape Town is accelerating efforts to protect its drinking water supplies – saving an average of seven million litres per day by irrigating public spaces with treated effluent instead.
Treated effluent – wastewater treated to a standard suitable for approved non-potable uses – is used to irrigate sports fields, parks, golf courses, school grounds and other public open spaces across the city, reserving drinking water for essential household needs such as drinking, cooking and cleaning.
“We cannot control the rainfall, but we can control how wisely we use the water available to us,” said the Mayco member for water and sanitation, Zahid Badroodien. “Every litre of treated effluent used for irrigation is a litre of drinking water we can use for essential needs.”
A growing network
Since the 2019/20 financial year, the Recreation and Parks Department has drawn an average of roughly seven million litres of treated effluent daily from the Water and Sanitation Directorate. Currently, 127 City facilities are connected to the treated effluent network.
The City has allocated R5 million in the 2026/27 financial year to refurbish treated effluent infrastructure at nine facilities – including Johnson Road Sports Ground, Turfhall Stadium, The Greens Sports Ground, Bonteheuwel Sports Field, Langa Sports Complex, Vangate Sports Complex, Goodwood Rugby Field, and Rondebosch A and B – and to undertake short connections to the network.
Beyond municipal use, the network also supplies 203 private connections – including farmers, golf clubs, schools, developers, shopping centres and industrial users – with access to up to 60 million litres of treated effluent per day, subject to operational conditions.
Expanding the alternative water network
Badroodien described the expansion of the treated effluent network as “an important part of building a more water-secure Cape Town and ensuring that we are better prepared for the months ahead.”
Cape Town remains a water-scarce city, and with lower dam levels than at the same point last year, the City is urging residents and businesses to explore alternative water sources where possible. Applications for treated effluent connections can be requested by emailing treated.effluent@capetown.gov.za.
