203‚000 Cape Town households are water-saving heroes

An extra 49‚000 households brought their water consumption below 6‚000 litres in February‚ the City of Cape Town said on Thursday.

A total of 203‚000 households across the city achieved the coveted dark green dot on the city council water map‚ which is updated monthly.

“This is a great way to celebrate World Water Day today‚” said a council statement.

Residential properties using less than 10‚500 litres per month are indicated on the map with green dots — light green for consumption between 6‚000 and 10‚500 litres and dark green below 6‚000.

“With the immediate threat of Day Zero having been averted for now‚ we still need to stretch our water resources to the maximum to make it through the winter‚ and through another potentially harsh summer‚” said Xanthea Limberg‚ the mayoral committee member for water.

“Our predicament is that we do not know what kind of rainfall to expect. All of us‚ therefore‚ need to stick to 50 litres per person per day — rain or shine‚ and with or without an immediate Day Zero looming.

“We are required by the national Department of Water and Sanitation to bring our consumption down to 450 million litres per day. We haven’t quite reached this target yet but we know that Cape Town will again come together to do what needs to be done.”

You can check out the city's water map here.