Cape Town Pulls Together to Push Back Day Zero!

Thanks to the water saving efforts of many Cape Town residents, Day Zero has now been pushed back four days to 16 April 2018.

Mmusi Maimane, whose own family has cut down to 40 litres per day, said: “Pushing back Day Zero by 4 days may not seem like a lot. But actually it is a significant victory. It shows that residents are coming together and cutting water consumption.”

The Leader of the Democratic Alliance added: “I said that if we worked together we could demonstrate what is best about South Africans, our incredible resilience, and we could Defeat Day Zero. This week, I could not be more proud of our city!”

Consumption:

Capetonians have managed to push back Day Zero by cutting consumption to an average of 580 million litres a day for the past week, and to 540 million litres a day for the past few days.

The goal is: 450 million litres a day.

Maimane says his family has cut down to 40 litres per person per day, and encourages all residents to at least cut consumption to below 50 litres.

New Water Projects:

Maimane said: “I am also pleased to be able to announce today that the City has secured an additional 67 million litres a day for a period of approximately 60 days, commencing in early February.

“I commend the City’s efforts to bring this extra 67 million litres on line by early February, as part of the 120 million litre augmentation which we announced last week. Last week we expected this additional capacity to only come online by May, but now more than half will be available from early February. This speeding-up of water augmentation will help us greatly to Defeat Day Zero.

“This water will be transferred from the Palmiet-Kogelberg dam, which has had excellent rainfall and is full. This has been a collaborative effort from the farming community of the Elgin-Grabouw valley and the City of Cape Town and we are extremely grateful for their efforts. This too shows how South Africans are coming together to Defeat Day Zero.”

Drilling work on the Cape Flats Aquifer is being accelerated aggressively.

Water Pressure Management:

Over the coming weeks the City will be reducing pressure in high use areas across the city, and will be expanding the number of areas affected.

This means that residents will start to experience a noticeable drop in pressure for most of the day, and those in high-lying areas and in apartment blocks may have water service interruption for several hours at a time.

“People should not be alarmed or panic when this happens, and should plan accordingly. This is the planned pressure reduction programme being implemented by the City to reduce consumption, and is part of the plan to ensure that everyone continues to have access to water and to Defeat Day Zero.

“Many residents have already begun to panic about the possibility of Day Zero, and have actually begun to hoard municipal water. Panic and hysteria is not helpful to the effort to Defeat Day Zero. It actually increases consumption and so is counter-productive,” said Maimane.

Thanks for the Prayers

Maimane thanked the Muslim community of Cape Town for the huge prayer service held for the City over the weekend, as well as other religious groups who have sent Cape Town their good wishes and who are praying for the City.