Cape Town water heroes on the rise

The update to the Cape Town water map has revealed impressive statistics for the month of January, most significantly that 154 000 households have received the dark green dot water saving status for using less than 6.0 kl per month. Read more below:

The City of Cape Town water map, which is updated on a monthly basis, shows the status of free-standing households in Cape Town that are saving water. (Note that the map only shows consumption for free-standing houses and not cluster housing, flats or other land uses.)

The latest data reveal that, during January, a total of 314 000 households stepped up to the plate with their water-saving efforts and that 154 000 of these water heroes achieved the dark green status for using less than 6 kl per month. This is especially encouraging given that the water use target for that period was 87 litres per person per day.

The statistics show a significant jump in the number of households achieving a dark green dot for using less than 6 kl per month. Those residents are to be congratulated. They have gone above and beyond with their water-saving efforts during this drought and together, they are helping to make a difference.

In comparison to the number of green dot households recorded for December, there was a 5% increase in water-saving households in just one month. This is despite a higher than average number of estimations last month due to technical challenges in uploading the meter readings onto a new system. Those households who managed to reduce their consumption even further are to be congratulated.

I would like to urge all residents to keep up the good work a little longer. Regardless of rainfall or water supply augmentation, Cape Town needs to continue striving to reduce average daily consumption to 450 million litres a day. This must be done in order to stretch our water supplies as far as possible. If each one of us continues to use 50 litres of water a day, we will not only beat Day Zero this year but will also be in a better position to avoid it next year.

Consumption is indicated on the map as follows:

• Dark green dot: household using less than 6 000 litres per month
• Light green dot: household using between 6 000 and 10 500 litres per month
• Grey dot with small dark green centre: estimated water meter reading of less than 6 000 litres per month (based on actual usage in same period last year)
• Grey dot with small light green centre: estimated water meter reading of less than 10 500 litres per month(based on actual usage in same period last year)
• Solid grey dot: excluded property (including: sectional title property or group housing / undeveloped property / water use is zero / no available information for the property / estimated water meter reading of more than 10 500 litres per month)

Households with higher consumption may have many people living on the property or may have an undetected water leak. The City continues its interventions with these users.

Households using more than 10 500 litres per month are not shown on the map. It has been found that high consumers are often unaware of their consumption but are willing to change their behavior once approached.

All households are encouraged to check their monthly consumption and, if necessary, take action to reduce it and join Team Cape Town’s water heroes.

The table below provides a guide showing how much water your household should be using based on the number of occupants. As most people also consume water at work, school or elsewhere, your household consumption should be lower than the maximum amount indicated in the table.

Monthly consumption for households with up to seven occupants, all using a maximum of 50 litres per person per day, should be less than 10 500 litres (i.e. a light green dot). A four-person household should have consumption of less than 6 000 litres (i.e. a dark green dot).

Consumption higher than 10 500 litres per month (no dot) does not necessarily indicate water abuse. There are many legitimate reasons for this:

• High number of occupants or guests in the house
• Water leaks that the occupants are unaware of (this happens frequently)
• The operation of a home business or B&B on the property
• Recently completed building work
• Consumption is not shown for group housing or properties with an estimated water reading of over 10 500 litres, or where information is not available

Residents are reminded that the map shows water use information derived from the City of Cape Town municipal billing system. Therefore the water usage indicated on the map may differ from actual use, due to

• meter malfunctions
• water leaks on the meter
• meter reading errors and other errors
• leaks on the property that residents may be unaware of

All water map-related complaints or queries can be emailed to water.map@capetown.gov.za.

Visit www.capetown.gov.za/watermap to view the map.

Issued by: Media Office, City of Cape Town