No mercy for city water abusers

Water levels at the Theewaterskloof dam near Villiersdorp are at an alarmingly low level. Photo: Ian Landsberg

Water levels at the Theewaterskloof dam near Villiersdorp are at an alarmingly low level. Photo: Ian Landsberg

Published Feb 7, 2017

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AS of February 6, dam levels have dropped to 37.5%, which is 1.7% down from a week ago. With the last 10% of a dam’s water not being usable, dam levels are effectively at 27.5%.

Water consumption is 8 million litres above the 800 million litre target for collective water usage a day. But encouragingly for the second consecutive week, the actual usage is much closer to the set usage target than it has been in the preceding weeks. Read more below:

While the City of Cape Town thanks all of its great water-saving residents across the metro, warning notices will be issued to some of the metro’s highest-use domestic, commercial and government department water users from today in an effort to further reduce consumption.

We are grateful to the many residents and businesses who are heeding our calls to use water sparingly and are making every effort to reduce their consumption during this time of drought.

Their efforts are greatly helpful during this crisis. However, there are still far too many consumers, including the commercial sector, who are not playing their part and this is placing a huge strain on our diminishing water resources. This is simply not sustainable and if we run out of water, we will all suffer.

On analysis of water accounts, some high use consumers’ January 2017 consumption is between 50 000 litres and 300 000 litres per month. This is excessive. The City has warned these users to reduce consumption immediately to below the region of 20 000 litres per month.

In addition to the top 20 000 residential consumers, the City is also stepping up enforcement within the commercial sector and government departments.

Regular enforcement operations remain in place in addition to the targeted engagements with the top 20 000 highest water users. Along with all these efforts, we need members of the public to help us to bring culprits to book.

New Level 3B water restrictions came into effect last week to further limit the use of potable water for non-essential purposes as part of the City’s proactive management of the current water crisis. The Level 3B schedule also allows for increased spot fines of up to R5 000 should customers be found in contravention of the water restrictions.

“Those who will not reduce their consumption voluntarily, as so many of our law-abiding and conscientious residents have done, will increasingly be forced to reduce consumption. The installation of water management devices would assist households, businesses and other users with more efficiently managing their water consumption and this would result in financial savings as well,” said the City’s mayoral committee member for Informal Settlements, Water and Waste Services; and Energy, Councillor Xanthea Limberg.

In addition to the City’s enhanced roll-out of its leak and pressure management programmes, investigation into alternative sources of water, as well as regular enforcement operations, we are identifying high-usage domestic, commercial and government consumers on a daily basis.

The City’s Executive Mayor, Patricia de Lille, has started a regime of personally calling businesses, hotels and government departments on the spot to check up on their water use.

“Where water use is inexplicably high, I am advising them to reduce their consumption immediately. This morning I personally contacted the heads of several major commercial consumers to inform them that their water consumption is extremely high and on a level that we can ill afford.

“Many of them were shocked to learn how high their consumption actually is and immediately undertook to investigate the reasons for their excessive consumption and to implement water-saving measures.

“I urged them to work with us and explained that we can only save water while there is still water to be saved so we need everyone to make urgent changes in their consumption behaviour during this critical time.

“Our Water and Sanitation Management Department continues to trawl through thousands of water accounts to identify possible water use culprits. Together with my portfolio and the “shadow mayors” (area-based mayoral committee members), as well as City staff and leadership, we are doing everything in our power to hunt down our biggest water abusers – be they in government, business or the domestic sector,” said Mayor De Lille.

Residents can contact the City via e-mail to [email protected] for queries or to report contraventions (evidence should be provided to assist the City’s enforcement efforts) or they can send an SMS to 31373.

● For further information, residents should please visit the water restrictions page on the City’s website: www.capetown.gov.za/thinkwater

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