Post by Caroline O’Rourke
The water crisis has been an ongoing topic in Cape Town, South Africa for the past few years now. “Day Zero” – the day when there would be no water supply left in the city has been lurking in the minds of the individuals inhabiting the area. After spending a little over a week in the city and meeting the locals, the water crisis becomes clear and better understood. I had the opportunity to meet with Mike Webster, the Director of Water Sanitation in Cape Town, to hear about the water situation in the city. He stated that one of the biggest factors to the low water supply was the lack of rainfall. Starting in 2015 and continuing through 2017, the rainfall hit an all time low. This helped to create a major shortage in water, which forced individuals to make changes.
Webster says that 70% of the water use was coming from residential areas. These people needed to make the biggest change and needed the most help. When the water supply was low, informal settlements were selling water to formal settlements. Invasive species were being removed on Table Mountain so that water could be reached. After staying in the city, it also was evident to see that measures to preserve water were made through using bottled water that came from outside sources at restaurants. Hotels and public areas would have signs that would ask people to help the environment and to think twice before using water.
According to Webster, the biggest way that Cape Town was able to get through the drought was by reducing demand. Demand was reduced by 40% by the time 2018 came around. This was achieved by economic incentives and strong communication to the locals. The idea of “Day Zero” was ingrained into everyone’s minds so that people made a conscious effort to make changes. This resulted in Cape Town becoming the #1 water saving city in the world with a 55% reduction between 2015 and 2017. Day Zero is a day that won’t be reached anymore and Cape Town will still be able to enjoy the water supply they have, while still taking measures to conserve water.