Thanks to the rains and careful consumption, Cape Town’s dams have finally hit half capacity.
Though not out of the woods yet, this is an incredible achievement for a city that was looking at a possible ‘Day Zero’ very recently.
“We are thrilled to see the dam levels steadily increasing for the third week in a row,” said Mayoral Committee Member Councillor Xanthea Limberg on Monday. “Additionally, with the drop in the daily consumption level, our dams are slowly but surely on the road to recovery.”
The latest measure put the dams at 50.02% full. At this time last year, the dams were 42% full.
Limberg revealed that Cape Town’s water consumption for the past week dropped by by 8 million litres per day, to 534 million litres per day – from 542 million litres per day last week.
“Dam levels are in a better position when compared to the same period in previous years, but we encourage residents to continue using water wisely. The City would like to thank the water warriors who continue to save this precious resource,” said Limberg.
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Level 3 restrictions are in place, meaning:
Dripper, drip line or soaker hose irrigation is allowed on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Sprinklers or a hosepipe fitted with a self-closing spray nozzle is allowed on Saturdays.
Watering using a bucket or watering can is still allowed and watering hours are still restricted to before 9:00 or after 18:00 for a maximum of one hour per day per property irrespective of the watering method used.
The overall city water usage target of 650 million litres per day and the personal water use limit of 105 litres per person per day remains in place.
Commercial car washes may use municipal drinking water subject to industry best practice water conservation norms and the recycling of at least 50% of the water used.
Lower water pressure to conserve water is ‘the new normal’.
Continue flushing toilets less.
Many people are continuing with habits started during the drought such as using grey/waste water from washing to flush toilets and taking short stop-start showers.
