The municipal authorities in South Africa’s drought-stricken Cape Town have approved a punitive tariff for high water usage, local broadcaster eNCA reported yesterday.
The tourist metropole is suffering the worst drought in recorded history, according to climate researchers.
If residents don’t save enough water, Cape Town will reach “Day Zero” on April 21, and will have to turn off the taps.
The dams that supply the city with water are currently less than 29% full, according to the city authorities.
To prevent “Day Zero”, the city announced on Wednesday that residents will be limited to 50 litres per person per day from February 1.
The new restrictions come after 60% of residents in the city of 4.5mn people have continued to use more than 87 litres a day, ignoring previous restrictions, the city said in a statement.
On January 1, the city had already reduced the permitted monthly household water consumption from 20,000 litres to 10,500 litres.
“It is quite unbelievable that a majority of people do not seem to care,” the statement read.
The city is currently using more than 600mn litres of water per day, according to City of Cape Town water supply manager Barry Wood.
The consumption needs to decrease to 450mn litres per day to avert “Day Zero.”
Under the new punitive tariff, households using more than 6,000 litres per month will be charged $12 instead of the previous tariff of about $2.50.
On a sliding scale, households using 20,000 litres will be charged $125, while households using 50,000 litres per month or more will have to pay $1,700 for their water.
Households with more than four people will have to apply for the water limit to be raised to avoid unfair penalisation, according to the city.
If Cape Town reaches “Day Zero”, residents will have to collect a maximum of 25 litres of water per person per day at about 200 public collection points under police and military supervision.
The city is meanwhile implementing an emergency plan for desalination, groundwater and water reuse to make more water available, said mayor Patricia de Lille.
Cape Town, which is located in the southern hemisphere, is currently in mid-summer.
This year the rainy season is only expected to start in May or June.
This picture taken on October 25 last year shows a sign warning Cape Town residents of water restrictions.
