City’s dam levels see slight decline

Cape Town’s dam levels have declined slightly by 0.2% over the last week to 76% of storage capacity.

The average water consumption for the past week increased from 546 million litres per day to 563 million litres per day.

Cape Town must try its very best to remain in the lower 500 million litre per day usage band until another limit is imposed by the National Department of Water and Sanitation. This decision is likely to be made in December.

Although the metro has emerged successfully from a crisis situation, consumers are reminded that the permitted usage under Level 5 restrictions is 70 litres per person per day and that the Level 5 tariffs are still on the higher end of the tariff scale.

This should be remembered when it comes to household budgeting.

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/well-point 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 9am and after 6pm.

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.