Capetonians have been given a water reprieve - the City of Cape Town said on Thursday Day Zero has been set back two months - to 13 May 2018.
Mayor Patricia de Lille says the day of taps running dry has been moved from March 2018 thanks to collective efforts to reduce consumption.
She says with the plan to bring additional supplies online from February onwards, with more new water coming online in the months thereafter, Day Zero will be pushed further.
“We have already brought additional water from the Molteno Reservoir in Oranjezicht and the Atlantis Aquifer, with two million and five million litres per day from these sources respectively. At this stage, there are seven projects already under way in the first phase,” she says.
“These are Monwabisi, Strandfontein, the V&A Waterfront and Cape Town Harbour desalination plants; the Atlantis and Cape Flats Aquifer projects; and the Zandvliet water recycling project that will be producing an additional 144 million litres per day between February and July.”
To keep essential services and vital industry running, the City has calculated that at 13.5% dam storage, the City will turn off almost all taps.
On Day Zero, residents will have to collect drinking water from approximately 200 sites across the city, under the watchful eye of the army.
The plan is that the City will distribute 25 litres per person per day which is in line with the World Health Organisation recommendation.
“Day Zero can be avoided. Most residents are saving water, but we need every single person to use the prescribed 87 litres per person per day. If we don’t have everyone restricting their water consumption, we will reach Day Zero in May,” said De Lille.