The City of Cape Town’s municipal water supply may dry up sooner than expected following a decline in dam levels this week that has brought Day Zero closer.

“Unfortunately, due to a drop in the dam levels of 1.4%, Day Zero has, as of today, moved forward to 12 April 2018,” explained the city’s executive Deputy Mayor, Ian Neilson in a statement on Tuesday.

Prior to the recent drop in dam levels, Day Zero was projected to hit the city on 20 April 2018. The Deputy Mayor made an appeal to those residents who are not yet part of the city’s massive water-saving efforts.

“We urge you to join friends, neighbours, colleagues and Team Cape Town as a whole in beating back Day Zero. Now is the time to do so. We will not be getting second chances,” he said.

Preventing Day Zero

Neilson said the city’s main focus at this point must be on what can be done to prevent the taps running dry by April.

From 1 February the critical threshold will be 450 million litres per day. Users will be required to use 50 litres per person per day for 150 days at least.

We are in the process of finalising our operational plan for Day Zero. Our Critical Water Shortages Disaster Plan draws from international best practices, and decisions around the basic design and distribution of water collection points reflect what other cities around the world have implemented when faced with extreme drought conditions.