April 21 is Cape Town's new 'day zero'

16 January 2018 - 15:41 By Timeslive
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Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille says Cape Town’s average daily collective consumption is still too high.
Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille says Cape Town’s average daily collective consumption is still too high.
Image: Esa Alexander

“Day zero” for Cape Town‚ when most taps run dry‚ has moved forward by a day to Saturday April 21.

Mayor Patricia de Lille said on Tuesday only 39% of Capetonians used less than the 87 litres of water a day the city council has set as the individual limit. The overall target is 500 million litres a day.

“Cape Town’s average daily collective consumption is still too high. It has increased to 618 million litres per day‚ up from 578 million litres per day‚” said De Lille.

“Dam levels have dipped to 28.7% this past week – down by one percentage point. The city has ramped up pressure management to drive down consumption – aiming to stretch our water supply past the winter rainy season.

“We have identified 25 areas across the city that could benefit from this pressure management technology over the next three months‚ and contractors have been brought in to speed up the programme.”

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