It’s never been this bad here. Not in over a century. But it might just be the “new normal.” That’s the message Cape Town, South Africa’s political leadership is working hard to convey to the city residents after three years of persistent drought conditions have left the municipal water supply at historic, crisis-level lows. As the city struggles to identify and implement other methods of obtaining water, it’s expected that water will run out on April 21, unless residents drastically cut back consumption rates.
But even as unwashed hair becomes proof of doing one's civic duty, not nearly enough residents are doing what needs to be done in order to slow things down. A full 46 percent are failing to comply, according to TIME.
Day Zero, as it is called, is real, and is calculated every week based on current reservoir capacity and daily consumption. On Jan. 8 Mayor Patricia De Lille revised the date down from April 29, based on a citywide uptick in daily usage. The city won’t literally run dry; in most cases, reservoirs can’t be drained to the last drop, as silt and debris make the last 10% of a dam’s water unusable. City authorities have decided that once the dams reach 13.5% capacity, municipal water supply will be turned off for all but essential services, like hospitals.
As the New York Times reported in December, the water rations are painfully meager.
As the city races to implement alternatives, residents are restricted to 87 liters (23 gallons) of water per person per day.
Twenty-three gallons. For some context, consider that the average American uses just over 100 gallons per day. Back to those restrictions, though.
Residents are asked to meet that number by limiting showers to two minutes, turning off taps while brushing teeth, avoiding flushing toilets regularly (“If it’s yellow, let it mellow,” as one sign puts it) and using recycled water when they do, not watering gardens or topping off swimming pools, and using hand sanitizer instead of soap and water.
Despite constant PSAs, daily shutoffs, and constant public debate, an alarming amount of Capetonians are still refusing to restrict their usage to the recommended levels, which is blamed for the rapidly shifting zero hour. In desperation, the city recently launched a new tactic: community policing.
The debilitating water shortage has forced city government to implement an online water consumption map, which will allow residents to check up on their neighbors’ water habits based on households’ municipal bills.
The website‚ formally launched this week‚ has already prompted a wave of social media comment, most of it negative. But the city council defended the initiative‚ which it says is aimed at increasing residents’ awareness of water consumption.
“The potential water-saving benefit for all of Cape Town of making water consumption indicators publicly available outweighs any privacy issues at this stage of the crisis‚” mayoral spokeswoman Zara Nicholson said.
As the earth continues to warm, and so many humans continue to deny that climate change exists, it will only grow increasingly difficult to prevent dangerous conditions like the twelve-year Millennium Drought in Australia, or even California’s recent five-year crisis. DRASTIC changes to the way we source and consume water is necessary. Though no two droughts are the same, researchers argue that there are always lessons to be learned from the strategies communities use to combat them.
“We need to figure out how to create that sense of urgency, by telling (people) honestly what the situation is,” Stanley Grant, a civil and environmental engineer at the University of California, Irvine, said.
“Not saying, ‘Conserve water, we’re in a drought,’ but showing them we’re running out, and here’s the number.”
We’ll see how it works for Cape Town.
Thursday, Feb 1, 2018 · 11:57:37 PM +00:00
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JessicaSutherland
Today, @Pakalolo writes:
Cape Town, South Africa has implemented new emergency water restrictions today as the sprawling metropolis of 4 million prepares for the day their water taps run dry. Day Zero is the dreaded day when the water runs out and it has now been moved forward once again to April 12th as conditions continue to deteriorate.
The new restrictions require residents to curb their water consumption to 13 gallons a day. CNN reports that only a month ago, “level 6 restrictions had placed residents on a daily allowance of 23 gallons, illustrating the severity of the looming catastrophe. For contrast, Americans use 80-100 gallons per person per day. CNN further notes that there is now rising turmoil over bottled water which is becoming scarce in stores in a city that is slowly beginning to panic.
Read the full diary here.