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Cape Town “pulling out all stops to go after the water abusers”

The City of Cape Town has said it is getting tough and “pulling out all stops to go after the water abusers” in the city.

The city said current water usage is 614 million litres a day, 114 million litres above the 500 million litre maximum target. Dam levels in the Western Cape are currently at 27.2%.

The city has installed more than 50 water management devices on the properties of water users who are not able to justify excessive usage.

“These water users who have failed to change their behaviour are the ones keeping us above 600 million litres of usage per day and firmly above our essential target of 500 million litres per day. As they are not heeding our calls, we will continue to roll out interventions to force them to lower their consumption,” said MMCfor Informal Settlements, Water and Waste Services; and Energy, Councillor Xanthea Limberg.

‘The stubborn excessive users are also under the spotlight as part of our new Level 5 water restrictions. The commercial sector, where water usage has not declined, must bring consumption down by 20% year-on-year immediately or face penalties as per the same month of the previous year,” she added.

According to Limberg, the city is also looking at fining domestic users who are constantly using more than 20 000 litres per month. Households who are, on average, between four and seven people who use 87 litres per person per day will not be affected by potential usage fines as they should be using well below 20 000 litres per month if they are sticking to the 87 litres.

The city’s drought relief efforts are centred on two interventions: to reduce water usage to 500 million litres per day of collective consumption while at the same time bringing on board an additional emergency supply of 500 million litres per day to see the city through as much of summer 2017/18 as possible.

“These interventions go hand in hand and there cannot be one without the other as Cape Town, and the wider province, forges ahead through the worst drought in recorded history,” the city said.

[Image – Cape Town]

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