City's water under pressure

DAMPENER: DESPITE THE RAINS, CAPE TOWN WARNS OF CONSTRAINED WATER SOURCES

- Liesl Peyper

Host of mitigation measures are in the pipeline, says report.

The City of Cape Town plans to spend about R2 billion to upgrade its water treatment plants as part of a broader strategy to secure water supply for a growing population.

In its Water Outlook 2024 report, the city cautions that its traditional water sources remain under pressure even though the water levels of dams supplying the metro have risen by more than 6% in the past week.

An infographic shared on social media shows the city's dams - Steenbras and Wemmershoek are currently 74.1% full compared to 97.8% in the corresponding period in 2023.

Since the threat of a "Day Zero" scenario at the beginning of 2018 - where Cape Town would have been the first major city in the world to run out of water - the metro has monitored water supply and usage carefully with a target of total daily water use of no more than 950 million litres.

The Western Cape is currently experiencing heavy rainfall with widespread flooding across the province, including the City of Cape Town.

In its Water Outlook 2024 report, which analyses Cape Town's future water needs, the city says climate change is expected to result in extreme weather events.

It mentions the severe drought that was experienced from 2015 to 2017.

Water treatment plants