Dam levels continue steady rise as restrictions are lowered

Dam levels continue to improve and have risen 1,9% over the last week to 75,9% of storage capacity.

The average water consumption for the past week is up slightly from 511 million litres per day to 520 million litres per day.

Water restrictions and tariffs have been lowered from Level 6b and Level 6 respectively to Level 5 from today, 1 October 2018, due to the encouraging dam recovery and the conservation efforts by Capetonians.

This is an interim measure to provide some relief to the City of Cape Town’s customers. Level 6b restrictions and Level 6 tariffs were there to cater to an extreme situation. The situation has changed materially due to good rainfall, the solid recovery of Cape Town’s dams and the great conservation efforts by residents and businesses.

Normally, the national government makes its determination on the water situation going forward in December. The City, however, believes that it is unfair to wait until December to make an announcement about water restrictions as this will lead to our customers having to pay the highest tariff for an unnecessarily long period of time.

The key elements of Level 5 restrictions are as follows:

• An increase in the personal water use limit from 50 litres per person per day to 70 litres per person per day
• A resetting of the overall City water usage target from 450 million litres per day to 500 million litres per day
• A relaxation of restrictions for commercial and industrial water users from a 45% to a 40% usage reduction
• A lowering of tariffs to Level 5 tariffs:

Residential tariffs (ex VAT)

• 0 – 6 kL: Down 26,6% from R28,90/kL to R21,19/kL
• 6 – 10,5 kL: Down 25% from R46/kL to R34,43/kL
• 10 – 35 kL : Down 56% from R120,27/kL to R52,39/kL
• Above 35 kL: Down 70% from R1 000/kL to R300/kL

Commercial and Industrial tariffs

• Down 18% from R45,75/kL to R37,50/kL

Level 5 restriction don’ts

• No watering/irrigation with municipal water is allowed. Nurseries or customers involved in agricultural activities, or those with gardens of historical significance, may apply for exemption
• No topping up (manual or automatic) of swimming pools with municipal drinking water is allowed
• No washing of vehicles, including cars, taxis, trailers, caravans or boats allowed with municipal drinking water
• No washing or hosing down of hard surfaces with municipal water
• The use of municipal drinking water for ornamental fountains or water features is prohibited
• All private swimming pools must be fitted with a cover
• The use of any portable or temporary play pools is prohibited
• Should borehole/wellpoint water be used for outdoor purposes, including garden use, topping up of swimming pools and hosing down of surfaces, it should only be done for a maximum of one hour on Tuesdays and Saturdays before 09:00 and after 18:00. However, the City discourages the use of this water for these purposes to prevent the over-abstraction of aquifers
• The operation of spray parks is prohibited
• No new landscaping or sports fields may be established except if irrigated only with non-drinking water

Please visit www.capetown.gov.za/thinkwater for all water-related information, such as the Level 5 guidelines.

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Issued by: Media Office, City of Cape Town

Media enquiries: Email: media.account@capetown.gov.za