The Cape has heeded the call to use less water despite some rain falling, and the past week’s average collective consumption was 516 million litres of water per day, said Executive Deputy Mayor, Ian Neilson.
It is 5 million litres lower than the previous week’s usage, but still 66 million litres above the required target of 450 million.
Dam levels have declined by 0.5% to 21.5% over the past week.
“In supporting the efforts of our residents to lower their water usage, the City of Cape Town’s advanced pressure management programme is yielding results with 50 million litres of water being saved on average per day through the tireless efforts of our Water and Sanitation Department staff.
“Our first-phase target for this programme was to save 52 million litres per day and we have achieved this ahead of schedule,” Neilson said.
“We must use only 450 million litres per day to stretch the available water supplies through the rest of the year, come rain or shine.
“As part of our drought relief efforts, our programmes for additional water augmentation continue. For instance, the first water has been deli-
vered at our Waterfront desalination plant, which has a capacity for producing two million litres per day.
“Work also continues at our other desalination plants and on our aquifer programme as we strive to bring additional supply online.”
Water management devices continue to be installed on the connections of high water users who are in contravention of water restrictions, Neilson added, with additional teams working around the clock to detect and repair leaks.