Cape Town water restrictions to drop to Level 5 in October

Cape Town residents, who have been forced to use just 50 litres of water per day for much of 2018, can finally enjoy a little more of the wet stuff daily.

From 1 October, the City of Cape Town will ease the current Level 6B water restrictions to Level 5, giving residents 20 additional litres of water per day. This comes after dam levels exceeded the two-thirds full mark late in August.

Level 6B was first implemented in February 2018, back when the City remarked that #DayZero looked “very likely”.

“The Western Cape Water Supply System’s dams are now at 68% capacity, a very significant improvement on the situation at the end of the previous winter, when they were at 38% capacity,” the City wrote in a statement.

“This was during a drought so uncommon that it only has an estimated return period of 311 years.”

Level 5 water restrictions will let Cape Town citizens use an additional 20 litres of water per day

But what does this mean in real numbers?

Level 5 vs Level 6B water restrictions:

• The personal water use limit increases from 50 litres per person daily to 70 litres per person daily.
• The City’s overall water usage target increases from 450-million litres daily to 500-million litres daily.
• Commercial and industrial water restrictions decrease from 45% to 40%.

Level 5’s water tariffs:

• 0 to 6000 litres | A decrease of 26.6% from R28.90/1000 litres to R21,19
• 6 t010 500 litres | A decrease of 25% from R46/1000 litres to R34,43
• 10 t0 35000 litres | A decrease of 56% from R120.27/1000 litres to R52.39
• More than 35000 litres | A decrease of 70% from R1000/1000 litres to R300
• Commercial tariffs drop by 18% from R45.75/1000 litres to R37.50

“We beat the drought together. It is essential that an appropriate relaxation of restrictions takes place not only so that economic activity can be improved, but also so that water tariffs can be relaxed from the current high levels to give the necessary tariff relief to households and businesses in recognition of the great sacrifices that have been made,” the City added.

Feature image: Skitterphoto via Pixabay (CC0)