City of Cape Town Link

City prepares to take additional action to tighten up on water use

It is clear that many Capetonians are going above and beyond the call of duty to reduce their water consumption. But others have seemingly chosen to ignore all of the conservation efforts, to the detriment of Team Cape Town. Subject to approval by Council on Thursday 26 January 2017 of Level 3b water restrictions, the City’s Informal Settlements, Water and Waste Services Directorate, along with the Safety and Security Directorate, will be finalising plans for enforcement and education operations aimed at the city’s top 20 000 water users. ‘These users have been identified following an examination of the water metering data of the City’s almost one million water customers. We will be able to start communicating with these high users imminently and advise them of punitive measures that might be taken, such as fines for transgressions or the implementation of water restriction devices, if we do not start to see a 20% reduction in their usage. ‘The vast majority of these high users are households in formal residential areas, and have been identified as consuming 50 kilolitres per day. Prior to the water restrictions coming into effect, the average use per household used to be well under 1 000 litres per day or approximately 30 kilolitres per month. This gives one an idea of the severity of the use of water among these high users. ‘This step forms part of our contingency plan to ensure that we have sufficient water supply until the winter rains come. ‘We plan to conduct increased door-to-door visits, issue more fines where applicable, put in water restriction devices if usage on properties continues to be high, and focus strongly on education and awareness. We’ll work together with our peace officers, law enforcement officers, councillors, and our newly appointed area-based mayoral committee members. It should be noted that this simply represents a starting point pertaining to the spectrum of customers whose usage is unacceptably high, and who the City will be contacting about their usage habits,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Informal Settlements, Water and Waste Services; and Energy, Councillor Xanthea Limberg. More information will be made available when all Council and legal processes are in place. ‘Our approach to water supply and sustainability is a long-term one, with a planning horizon of 25 to 30 years, but the bottom line is that we are in a drought situation. Although we are following our well-established water conservation policies, reduced consumption is key. That being said, the National Government remains answerable for water resource management nationally. The City is also engaging with other government spheres regarding water conservation and also resource management,’ said Councillor Limberg. The City will continue to drive our established conservation programmes, such as to ensure that water losses are kept as low as possible. The City has, over the years, reduced water losses in our overall systems from around 25% in 2009 to below 15% according to the latest data. ‘We will continue to do everything in our power to educate and to clamp down on water wasters,’ said Councillor Limberg. For further information, residents can visit our water restrictions page on the website: <a href="https://www.capetown.gov.za/thinkwater">www.capetown.gov.za/thinkwater</a>. Customers can also contact the City via email to <a href="mailto:water.restrictions@capetown.gov.za">water.restrictions@capetown.gov.za</a> for queries or to report contraventions (please provide evidence to assist the City’s enforcement efforts). Regular enforcement blitzes will remain in place. End

2017-01-22T22:00:00Z

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