While most Capetoninans have been saving water religiously over the festive season, there have been concerns about tourists not adhering to the water restrictions in the city. Has our consumption increased in the December period due to the influx of visitors to the Cape? The answer according to the City of Cape Town is no.
In a statement released, Mayor Patricia De Lille said holiday consumption remained the same despite increased numbers of tourists. This was due to the normal in- and outflow of residents and tourists. She also thanked all of visitors and locals for their efforts to continue to save water.
De Lille added that consumption still remains too high with only half of Cape Town’s residents not keeping to the consumption limit of 87 litres of water per person per day.
“This means that Day Zero has moved forward by a week to 22 April 2018 from 29 April 2018. Dam levels dipped below 30% during the first week on 2018, while Cape Town’s collective daily water consumption remains above the 500 million litres per day target,” the statement read.
The total storage has fallen by 1,3%. As of this week, dam levels stand at 29,7% and the City’s overall water usage is 578 million litres per day. Only about 19,7% of water remains usable as the last 10% of water is difficult to abstract from the dams.
The good news is that more Capetonians kept to the allocated consumption limit of 87 litres per person per day with 54% of residents saving water. This compares well to only 37% of Cape Town’s residents saving water during the first weeks of December 2017.
The full dashboard can be viewed here: www.capetown.gov.za/dayzerodashboard
Level 6 water restrictions came into effect from 1 January 2018 and all households who use more than 10,5 kilolitres per month will have a water management device fitted. This is part of the City’s commitment to work with residents to avoid Day Zero.
Picture: Pixabay