Water restrictions and tariffs to be lowered next week
Summary
- Dam levels have improved significantly by 4% since last week, rising to 74% of storage capacity compared to 37,5% for the same time last year
- The average water consumption for the past week increased slightly from 505 million litres per day to 511 million litres per day
- Water restrictions and tariffs will be lowered from Level 6 to Level 5 from 1 October 2018 as an interim measure until the National Department of Water and Sanitation makes a decision on water restriction levels for the coming summer period
The slight lowering of restrictions and the associated tariff from next week, 1 October 2018, is possible because of the record-breaking conservation efforts of water users, the good rainfall over the past months which has helped the dams supplying Cape Town to recover significantly, and the continued roll-out of cutting-edge pressure management interventions by the City.
The latter is saving some 70 million litres of water per day and is helping to keep Cape Town’s water usage within an acceptable range for the lowering of restrictions and associated tariffs.
‘Based on our ongoing monitoring of the water situation, and having regard for the sacrifices that Capetonians have made to position Cape Town as a record-breaking world leader in water conservation, the decision was taken to lower water restrictions and associated tariffs conservatively but without delay to provide slight relief to our consumers. It is not a water free-for-all and we have only done so as our water consumption as a City has stabilised somewhat. The highest water restrictions and tariffs were implemented due to the extreme emergency and it is not fair that consumers continue paying at the very highest emergency level.
‘As further assessments are made in October and beyond, the City will communicate the way forward again. In the meantime, to help ensure that we do not experience a large spike in consumption because of the slight lowering of tariffs, we will continue implementing pressure management across the metro to ensure that water usage remains as low and as stable as possible as we head into the spring and summer months,’ said the City’s Executive Deputy Mayor, Alderman Ian Neilson.
Depicted in the table above are the dam storage levels as at today. Embedded in the release are the latest aerial photos taken of the Berg River (left), Wemmershoek (middle) and Voëlvlei (right) dams.
Level 5 restriction don’ts
- No watering/irrigation with municipal water is allowed. Nurseries or customers involved in agricultural activities, or those with gardens of historical significance, may apply for exemption
- No topping up (manual or automatic) of swimming pools with municipal drinking water is allowed
- No washing of vehicles, including cars, taxis, trailers, caravans or boats allowed with municipal drinking water
- No washing or hosing down of hard surfaces with municipal water
- The use of municipal drinking water for ornamental fountains or water features is prohibited
- All private swimming pools must be fitted with a cover
- The use of any portable or temporary play pools is prohibited
- Should borehole/wellpoint water be used for outdoor purposes, including garden use, topping up of swimming pools and hosing down of surfaces, it should only be done for a maximum of one hour on Tuesdays and Saturdays before 09:00 and after 18:00. However, the City discourages the use of this water for these purposes to prevent the over-abstraction of aquifers
- The operation of spray parks is prohibited
- No new landscaping or sports fields may be established except if irrigated only with non-drinking water
Please visit www.capetown.gov.za/
Please always check with your neighbours whether they too are experiencing low water pressure or intermittent supply disruptions as this would in all likelihood be pressure-related. If the problem persists for an unreasonable period of time, please send an email to [email protected] or call 0860 103 089, WhatsApp 063 407 3699 or SMS 31373 (max of 160 characters).
Please always insist on a reference number when logging a service request and keep this number to expedite requests.
Statement issued by Alderman Ian Neilson, Executive Deputy Mayor, City of Cape Town, 25 September 2018
