The City of Cape Town has marked a substantial drop in recent water usage and urges the public to continue doing the right thing by being water-wise at all times.
Over the past month, dam levels have been dropping by about 2% weekly. With recent rains, particularly due to the Berg River Dam, Cape Town’s dam levels increased by 3,7% and currently stands at 59,1%.
Cape Town’s collective water usage is currently 844 million litres a day (MLD).
“Collectively, Cape Town needs to use less than 850 million litres a day, so we can keep our dams and reservoirs full for longer,” said Councillor Siseko Mbandezi, acting Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation. Since last week, for the first time on Monday 27 March since summer, we have seen our collective water usage drop below the 850 million litres a day target and we thank our residents for their contribution.
“However, this is not the time to let our guard down, as we still need to continue to use water wisely and not waste it, regardless of the season, and particularly as we approach this winter,” Mbandezi said. “Our current dam storage figures (as depicted in the graph) are following a similar pattern at this point to that of 2019. Currently our dam levels are manageable and continue to provide water to Cape Town, but collective water wise efforts will continue to help keep us there.”
He said a below-average rainfall was experienced last year, and this could happen again this year. Using less water will also help reduce the impact of ongoing load-shedding on the City’s water supply system.
“It’s never too late to be water wise,” Mbandezi pointed out. “Start today, if you haven’t done so already.”
Residents are urged to reduce personal non-essential outdoor water usage by 50% as this will help the City stay below the target that has been set for daily water usage.
When you are not using your pool, cover it to reduce up to 95% of evaporation losses. If you don’t have a pool cover yet, please get one so you don’t need to top up your pool as regularly. You should comply with the City’s Water Bylaw, which has made pool covers mandatory.
For its own part the City will continue to reduce water wastage through programmes, such as pipeline leak detection, annual pipe replacement, and pressure management. It is also investing in bringing the New Water Programme online, which will see an investment of about R5 billion over the next eight years. The City will introduce 300 MLD of new water by 2030 from diverse sources that will help protect locals from the worst effects of future droughts.
Regulations about water use in the City’s Water Bylaw are in place at all times (even when there are no restrictions) and following the regulations and water saving tips on the website will go a long way towards achieving the target of 850 MLD collective use.
Furthermore, residents can share their water wise tips by using the hashtag, #WaterWiseSummerCT .
“We would love to see what our residents are doing, especially when it comes to outdoor usage, such as in their gardens and pools, which tend to use a lot of water,” said Mbandezi.
“Sharing your tips with us and hashtag #WaterWiseSummerCT is an opportunity for all of us to learn from each other and save together.”
