Watch: City of Cape Town to clamp down on residents in contravention of water restrictions

A video of Theewaterskloof Dam filmed last Tuesday demonstrates the drought in the Western Cape.

A screenshot of the video of the Theewaterskloof Dam near Villiersdorp, about 108km from Cape Town. The dam has less than 20% of it’s water capacity Picture: YouTube

The average water consumption in the City of Cape Town is 80 million litres above the targeted 800 million litres of collective usage per day.

This is according to SAnews.gov.za which reported on Tuesday that the City is preparing to take “tougher action” against those residents who are in contravention of the imposed water restrictions.

It was further reported that latest statistics show a drop in dam levels to 40.4% as of Monday.

The City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Informal Settlements, Water and Waste Services and Energy, Xanthea Limberg, was reported as saying that while many residents were going above and beyond the call of duty to reduce their water consumption, others were seemingly ignoring all conservation efforts. She pointed out that the vast majority of high users were households in formal residential areas.

“Subject to approval by Council on Thursday 26 January 2017 of Level 3b water restrictions, the City’s Informal Settlements, Water and Waste Services Directorate, along with the Safety and Security Directorate, will be finalising plans for enforcement and education operations aimed at the city’s top 20 000 water users,” Limberg was quoted as saying.

“These users have been identified following an examination of the water metering data of the city’s almost one million water customers. We will be able to start communicating with these high users imminently and advise them of punitive measures that might be taken, such as fines for transgressions or the implementation of water restriction devices, if we do not start to see a 20% reduction in their usage.

“We plan to conduct increased door-to-door visits, issue more fines where applicable, put in water restriction devices if usage on properties continues to be high, and focus strongly on education and awareness.

“We’ll work together with our peace officers, law enforcement officers, councillors and our newly appointed area-based mayoral committee members. It should be noted that this simply represents a starting point pertaining to the spectrum of customers whose usage is unacceptably high, and who the city will be contacting about their usage habits.

“Our approach to water supply and sustainability is a long-term one, with a planning horizon of 25 to 30 years, but the bottom line is that we are in a drought situation. Although we are following our well-established water conservation policies, reduced consumption is key.”

A video of Theewaterskloof Dam which was filmed on January 17 and uploaded onto YouTube the next day, demonstrates the dry dam, which is apparently the largest dam that serves Cape Town’s drinking water supply. The summary to the YouTube video states, “Please share this if you are struggling to understand why we need water restrictions and how this directly affects you, the end consumer who drinks water.”

The video has gone viral with nearly 95 000 views since it was published on January 18.

Watch the video here: