Brace for Level 4 Water Restrictions

Level 4 Water Restrictions are set to come into play on 1st June 2017 and The City of Cape Town is urging all water users to cut all non-essential water use immediately.

Use water only for drinking, washing and cooking:

• Only flush the toilet when necessary. Don’t use it as a dustbin. ‘If it’s yellow let it mellow. If it’s brown, flush it down’
• Take a short 2-minute shower. A standard (non –water-saving) showerhead can use as much as 16 litres per minute
• Collect your shower, bath and basin water and re-use it to flush your toilet, and for the garden and cleaning. *Greywater use has some health and hygiene risks you must avoid. Keep hands and surface areas sanitised/disinfected.
• Defrost foods in the fridge or naturally rather than placing it under running water
• Use a cup instead of running taps in the bathroom or kitchen, for brushing teeth, shaving, drinking etc.
• Wait for a full load before running washing machines and dishwashers. The rinse water from some washing machines can be reused for the next wash cycle.
• Switch to an efficient showerhead which uses no more than 10 litres per minute, as per the City’s by-law.
• Upgrade to a multi-flush toilet and/or put a water displacement item in the cistern which can halve your water use per flush.
• Fit taps with aerators or restrictors to reduce flow to no more than 6 litres per minute, as per the City’s by-law.

One leaking toilet wastes between about 2 600 and 13 000 litres per month, depending on the flow rate of the leak. A leaking tap wastes between about 400 and 2 600 litres per month.

Dredging operations have started at the Voëlvlei Dam to prepare for low-level extraction of water. The City is engaging with the National Department of Water and Sanitation, as a matter of urgency to request dredging operations at Theewaterskloof Dam too.

The City continues with its pressure reduction programmes across the metro which forcibly reduces supply at a given time. Other emergency interventions are under way, and if required, the City will start to implement a lifeline supply of water across the metro.

For more information, please visit the water restrictions page on the City’s website: www.capetown.gov.za/thinkwater