Cape Town - Be sure to carry an umbrella this week as the SA Weather Service has predicted rain.
Recent wet weather has raised dam levels by 0.9% over the past week to 70% of storage capacity and, with more rain expected over the next two days, should rise even further this week. The average water consumption for the past week fell from 526 million litres per day to 505 million litres per day, the City of Cape Town announced. Last week, the City said it would lower water restrictions and tariffs from Level 6 to Level 5 from October 1 due to the encouraging dam recovery and the ongoing conservation efforts by Capetonians.
As usage has never reached the target of 450 million under Level 6b - restrictions have hovered at about 500million litres a day which was the target for Level 5 restrictions - the City decided to lower the restriction and tariff to Level 5. This would provide some financial relief to water users and should reflect in next month’s municipal accounts.
The City reiterated Level 5 restriction don’ts:
- No watering/irrigation with municipal water. Nurseries or customers involved in agricultural activities, or those with gardens of historical significance, may apply for exemption.
- No topping up (manual or automatic) of swimming pools with municipal water.
- No washing of vehicles, including cars, taxis, trailers, caravans and boats with municipal water.
- No washing or hosing down of hard surfaces.
- No use of water for ornamental fountains or water features.
- All private swimming pools must be fitted with a cover.
- The use of any portable or temporary play pools is prohibited.
- Should borehole/wellpoint water be used for outdoor purposes, it can be done for only an hour on Tuesdays and Saturdays before 9am and after 6pm. Use of this water was discouraged for the following purposes to avoid over-abstraction from aquifers.
- Operation of spray parks.
- No landscaping or sports fields may be established except if irrigated only with non-drinking water.