Back in 2017, there were threats about Day Zero, when taps would run dry in the Mother City. Capetonians were forced to adapt to new lifestyles as strict restrictions were imposed.
CAPE TOWN – The City of Cape Town (CoCT) is urging residents to keep water conservation top of mind even though dams have finally reached the 100% mark.
The Theewaterskloof Dam, the Western Cape’s biggest, is overflowing for the first time since 2014.
At the start of 2018, there was a possibility of Day Zero because at that stage the Theewaterskloof Dam was at 12% with the last 10% considered unusable.
But now the situation has changed.
Back in 2017, there were threats about Day Zero when taps would run dry in the Mother City. Capetonians were forced to adapt to new lifestyles as strict restrictions were imposed.
In November that year, former Cape Town mayor Patricia De Lille stood at a distribution station in Maitland where she announced the disaster management plans.
Cape Town has come a long way since then as rainfall picked up, dams recovered, and consumption decreased.
“This has been possible due to the intensive whole of society effort to protect our available water supply before, during, and after the shock of Day Zero,” said the city’s Mayco member for Water and Waste, Xanthea Limberg.
However, Limberg said full dams could give the impression that the water challenges were over, but rainfall this year was only just above average.
