Over this past week, collective water use in the City of Cape Town reached one billion litres a day, while dam levels have dropped to an average of 57%. The same time last year, dams were over 80% full.

The water usage is much higher than the 850 million litres per day target that the public is urged to stay below to help keep our dam and reservoirs full for longer.

The City has now called on residents to share water wise tips by using the hashtag #WaterWiseSummerCT.

They have made an appeal to all residents to reduce their personal, non-essential, outdoor water usage by 50%.

RELATED: City’s dam levels dropping by 2,2% each week

The acting Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation, Siseko Mbandezi says they want to hear from Capetonians what innovative or even basic water wise actions they are taking to help save water in their homes, at work, or even at their schools.

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.

 

Sharing your tips with us and hashtag #WaterWiseSummerCT is an opportunity for all of us to learn from each other and save together.

Collectively, Cape Town needs to use less than 850 million litres a day so that we can keep our dams and reservoirs full for longer.

We had below-average rainfall last year, and this could happen again this year. Using less water will also help reduce the impact of ongoing load-shedding on our water supply system.

Summer versus winter water usage

During winter 2022, the average daily usage was about 800 million litres a day. This is compared to summer where usage has reached more than 1 billion litres on some days over this past week.

People are watering their gardens more often and using swimming pools which have high evaporation rates in hot summer months. 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.

Water usage is climbing, and dam levels are dropping

We are urging residents and businesses to help the City by doing the right thing to use less water this summer.

For its part, the City will continue to reduce water wastage through programmes such as pipeline leak detection, annual pipe replacement, and pressure management.

The City is also investing in bringing online the New Water Programme, which will see an investment of about R5 billion over the next eight years.

The City aims to introduce 300MLD of new water by 2030 from diverse sources that will help protect Cape Town from the worst effects of future droughts.

The Western Cape Government has also expressed concern about dam levels.

During his State of the Province address this week, Premier Alan Winde announced his government will launch a water resilience project this year.

For the ‘Top 10 Ways to be Water Wise this Summer, and other useful information visit: www.capetown.gov.za/savewater