Level 6 Water Restrictions - Cape Town

[Hooked]

These will apply as from 1 Feb. Each person is allowed to use 50 litres of water per day. This is what you can do with 50 litres. Not much, is it?



And this is why Capetonians aren't bathing. The display in the pic below was erected outside an hotel. Good for them - at least they're getting the message across, unlike the organisers of the Argus Cycle Tour.




People are stock-piling 5 lt. bottles of water, where possible. Supermarkets sell out as soon as the stock comes in - and even the supermarkets don't receive their full orders. Our local Spar was unable to get any brand of water last week. Two days ago they received a delivery - but only 1/10 of what they'd ordered.

All "Day Zero" products are sold out e.g. waterless hand-cleaner, dry shampoo, wet-wipes

Day Zero, when the taps run dry, is expected in the middle of April.
A worrying - and quite unbelievable - situation.

 

[Raindance]

These will apply as from 1 Feb. Each person is allowed to use 50 litres of water per day. This is what you can do with 50 litres. Not much, is it?

View attachment 120841

And this is why Capetonians aren't bathing. The display in the pic below was erected outside an hotel. Good for them - at least they're getting the message across, unlike the organisers of the Argus Cycle Tour.

View attachment 120843 View attachment 120843


People are stock-piling 5 lt. bottles of water, where possible. Supermarkets sell out as soon as the stock comes in - and even the supermarkets don't receive their full orders. Our local Spar was unable to get any brand of water last week. Two days ago they received a delivery - but only 1/10 of what they'd ordered.

All "Day Zero" products are sold out e.g. waterless hand-cleaner, dry shampoo, wet-wipes

Day Zero, when the taps run dry, is expected in the middle of April.
A worrying - and quite unbelievable - situation.

Had a discussion on the topic at work today (again). Being a national company with HQ situated up in Lala land, it seems top management is in denile of the impact on our business in the Western Cape. Very little is spoken about it and when there is discussion it is based on cutting down water usage and not how to deal with NO WATER.

Strictly speaking, the impact on working conditions is such that our premises will be unfit for occupation and will need to close down in terms of legislation.

My concern is that we may not be the only ones living as if this is just a bad dream and we will wake up before the proverbial excrement hits the fan. I hope to be proven wrong but I foresee the Western Cape economy taking a huge dip come mid April with civil unrest being a real and present danger.

Sorry...

 

[blujeenz]

I still have 500L rainwater from winter and I take cold showers...so much less than 90seconds.
I also have one of those electric water stills that churns out 4L in as many hours.

TLDR: Sorted.

 

[Raindance]

There goes my dream of becoming a billionaire mosquito farmer...

Jokes aside, stuff is gonna get real, real quick!

Regards

 

[Hooked]

Had a discussion on the topic at work today (again). Being a national company with HQ situated up in Lala land, it seems top management is in denile of the impact on our business in the Western Cape. Very little is spoken about it and when there is discussion it is based on cutting down water usage and not how to deal with NO WATER.

Strictly speaking, the impact on working conditions is such that our premises will be unfit for occupation and will need to close down in terms of legislation.

My concern is that we may not be the only ones living as if this is just a bad dream and we will wake up before the proverbial excrement hits the fan. I hope to be proven wrong but I foresee the Western Cape economy taking a huge dip come mid April with civil unrest being a real and present danger.

Sorry...

@Raindance Some people are in denial, that's for sure. A small town in the WC held a Residents Association meeting, at which the Chairman was asked what plans were in place for Day Zero. His reply was that it will rain before that day comes.

 

[Raindance]

@Raindance Some people are in denial, that's for sure. A small town in the WC held a Residents Association meeting, at which the Chairman was asked what plans were in place for Day Zero. His reply was that it will rain before that day comes.

This is happening for a reason.

Regards

 

[Stosta]

My heart goes out to you guys. The thought of turning a tap and nothing coming out just terrifies me!

I doubt it will be worth shipping water down there (and it would probably get stolen en route), but if anyone needs some day zero stuff shopped and sent, feel free to hit me up.

 

[Jp1905]

We have some tough times ahead of us. Seeing as this is my line of work, I thought I would post the new Level 6 tariffs here for fellow Capetonian forumites, if they do not have it yet.

On the normal residential step tariff, tariffs are as follows:
0-6kl: R29.93 p/kl
6-10kl: R52.44 p/kl
10.5-20kl: R114 p/kl
20-35kl: R342 p/kl
35+kl: R912 p/kl

Sanitation Charges will also increase along with the water.

For our vendors in Cape Town who are paying for water at their shops, the commercial water tariff has increased from R 27.97(Incl VAT) p/kl to R 57.00 Incl VAT. The Sanitation tariff has increased from R 21.50 Incl VAT p/kl to R 44.18 Incl VAT.

It seems that after the "Drought Charge" was kicked in the backside, CoCT decided to make some more money somewhere else, but I agree with the increased tariffs, as this will encourage people to save water, or pay the price.

Sad part is many of the rural areas receive water, and not many people pay for it, and when something is free, it is normally not looked after as well as when it was paid for.

After seeing all these Black Friday videos of people storming and trampling eachother to buy OMO at a special price, what is going to happen when there is no water and we have to stand in lines to get a bottle?

 

[Hooked]

My heart goes out to you guys. The thought of turning a tap and nothing coming out just terrifies me!

I doubt it will be worth shipping water down there (and it would probably get stolen en route), but if anyone needs some day zero stuff shopped and sent, feel free to hit me up.

@Stosta Thank you, that's a very kind offer indeed! It would be almost impossible to ship water because of the weight. I was even thinking of importing water but the shipping costs would be astronomical. So long as I have water for my dogs that's all that matters - I can drink milk or whatever.

 

[Hooked]

We have some tough times ahead of us. Seeing as this is my line of work, I thought I would post the new Level 6 tariffs here for fellow Capetonian forumites, if they do not have it yet.

On the normal residential step tariff, tariffs are as follows:
0-6kl: R29.93 p/kl
6-10kl: R52.44 p/kl
10.5-20kl: R114 p/kl
20-35kl: R342 p/kl
35+kl: R912 p/kl

Sanitation Charges will also increase along with the water.

For our vendors in Cape Town who are paying for water at their shops, the commercial water tariff has increased from R 27.97(Incl VAT) p/kl to R 57.00 Incl VAT. The Sanitation tariff has increased from R 21.50 Incl VAT p/kl to R 44.18 Incl VAT.

It seems that after the "Drought Charge" was kicked in the backside, CoCT decided to make some more money somewhere else, but I agree with the increased tariffs, as this will encourage people to save water, or pay the price.

Sad part is many of the rural areas receive water, and not many people pay for it, and when something is free, it is normally not looked after as well as when it was paid for.

After seeing all these Black Friday videos of people storming and trampling eachother to buy OMO at a special price, what is going to happen when there is no water and we have to stand in lines to get a bottle?

@Jp1905 I also agree with increased tariffs as a deterrent - but the problem arises with wealthy folk who don't care how much they have to pay. I drive around Yzerfontein and it never ceases to amaze me how many green lawns I see, yet there is no sign on the house saying that grey water is in use. Oh well ... at the end of the day, those folk will stand in line along with the rest of us.

What line of business are you in, if I may ask?

 

[Huffapuff]

I still have 500L rainwater from winter and I take cold showers...so much less than 90seconds.
I also have one of those electric water stills that churns out 4L in as many hours.

TLDR: Sorted.

View attachment 120845

Electric water still? What's that?

 

[Jp1905]

@Jp1905 I also agree with increased tariffs as a deterrent - but the problem arises with wealthy folk who don't care how much they have to pay. I drive around Yzerfontein and it never ceases to amaze me how many green lawns I see, yet there is no sign on the house saying that grey water is in use. Oh well ... at the end of the day, those folk will stand in line along with the rest of us.

What line of business are you in, if I may ask?

We are in utility management for shopping centres and multi tenant residential units,basically do metering and billing for the landlord.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Andre]

Electric water still? What's that?

We have the one pictured below. Using it to distill harvested rainwater.

 

[Andre]

More use for harvested rainwater.

 

[blujeenz]

Electric water still? What's that?

I have the waterwise 4000, pretty much as @Andre posted.
Its basically a 4L SS kettle on a slow simmer, the steam is run through SS tubing that is cooled down by a fan and heatsink.
The condensed pure water then drips down into the glass jug.
You can literally put seawater into it and get pure fresh water out, but there will be a lot of salt and solids left behind which needs to be cleaned out with a descaler chemical... usually provided in the box.

This was my DIY solar version back in 2007, but the heat and water caused a lot of leaks, even with bitumen sealer. It would do 2L in about 6hrs.
It ran dry while I was at work and the 110 deg C warped the insulation and marine ply cabinet, so decided to toss it an go electric.

 

[Huffapuff]

That's awesome, thanks @Andre and @blujeenz

Would it work with grey water too? Or would I need to filter first?

 

[blujeenz]

That's awesome, thanks @Andre and @blujeenz

Would it work with grey water too? Or would I need to filter first?

It will work with grey water, but you will need to clean out the solids buildup more often.
Rainwater is very clean off my roof, I've measured an 11 tds reading (total disolved solids) compared to 0 for distilled water.

 

[Hooked]

@Andre @blujeenz Where did you buy your units?

 

[blujeenz]

@Andre @blujeenz Where did you buy your units?

I bought mine off gumtree about 4 yrs ago for R1000 from a chap in PE.
I see they are now in the R6000 range at https://www.naturalwise.co.za/Water-Distiller-Waterwise-4000-Countertop-Semi-Automatic-

 

[Andre]

@Andre @blujeenz Where did you buy your units?

I bought mine about 7 years ago - still going strong. Here. Makes about 3 liters. Also has a charcoal filter, which filters the distilled water as it comes out of the spout. They also have spare filters here.

 

[Raindance]

I bought mine about 7 years ago - still going strong. Here. Makes about 3 liters. Also has a charcoal filter, which filters the distilled water as it comes out of the spout. They also have spare filters here.

Hi @Andre, worth 3.5K?

 

[Spyro]

This is insane. I was in a store and this chubby chap was laughing at all of us buying water containers. He told his daughter that we are all idiots because it will rain and then we'll be stuck with all these expensive buckets. My friends entire family are extremely wealthy and have no interest in saving water. Green green lawns with no grey water systems or bore hole.

I've got 100L buckets in every single shower. Made myself a DIY camping shower that uses only 3L in 5 mins. Over 500L in buckets that I've been slowly filling at the Spring near by. I feel so sorry for the residents as the entire street is backed up with cars and people as far as the eye can see. The water hasn't yet been shut off and already fights have broken out as to who was in line first. 24H police now guarding the springs. 25L limit per person.

And then I asked our gardener what he thought about it all. "The water won't go off. They know if they turn off the water we will toi toi." So there's that...

Luckily my grandparents are up in the Garden route. The dams over there are all 89% full and they have a decent sized home. I'll be moving up if we really do hit Day 0 as I am able to work from home.

It's all so F-d up. They knew this would happen back in 07 and decided to spend the allocated money on other things. I just got a call from the DA today asking me to protest the new water-by laws by signing some petition. They must be terrified of losing power here if the taps do run dry.

Sorry to say but in the next 2 years I'll be out of this place.

If you are coming down to Cape Town for the Argus I must insist that you think of us and try to use as little water as humanly possible. Although I live on the M3 and I'm pretty damn convinced that the Argus could be shut down due to protesting. I mean it's too easy to block some cyclists from finishing the race and if they do protest, you can bet your sweet knickers I'll be joining them.

Edit: Infact if you intend to come for the Argus, I plead with you to reconsider.

 

[Andre]

Hi @Andre, worth 3.5K?

If you have a free source of water to distill, certainly yes.

5L of water costs around R25. Thus, with the price of R3500 you could have bought around 700L of water. If your family uses just 2L of drinking water per day, you will have paid off your outlay in less than a year.

Of course one uses electricity, but then with buying cans of water there are other costs too - petrol, wear and tear, time, etcetera.

So, on the face of it, seems to be worthwhile.

 

[Hooked]

This is insane. I was in a store and this chubby chap was laughing at all of us buying water containers. He told his daughter that we are all idiots because it will rain and then we'll be stuck with all these expensive buckets. My friends entire family are extremely wealthy and have no interest in saving water. Green green lawns with no grey water systems or bore hole.

I've got 100L buckets in every single shower. Made myself a DIY camping shower that uses only 3L in 5 mins. Over 500L in buckets that I've been slowly filling at the Spring near by. I feel so sorry for the residents as the entire street is backed up with cars and people as far as the eye can see. The water hasn't yet been shut off and already fights have broken out as to who was in line first. 24H police now guarding the springs. 25L limit per person.

And then I asked our gardener what he thought about it all. "The water won't go off. They know if they turn off the water we will toi toi." So there's that...

Luckily my grandparents are up in the Garden route. The dams over there are all 89% full and they have a decent sized home. I'll be moving up if we really do hit Day 0 as I am able to work from home.

It's all so F-d up. They knew this would happen back in 07 and decided to spend the allocated money on other things. I just got a call from the DA today asking me to protest the new water-by laws by signing some petition. They must be terrified of losing power here if the taps do run dry.

Sorry to say but in the next 2 years I'll be out of this place.

If you are coming down to Cape Town for the Argus I must insist that you think of us and try to use as little water as humanly possible. Although I live on the M3 and I'm pretty damn convinced that the Argus could be shut down due to protesting. I mean it's too easy to block some cyclists from finishing the race and if they do protest, you can bet your sweet knickers I'll be joining them.

Edit: Infact if you intend to come for the Argus, I plead with you to reconsider.

@Spyro So ... the fights over water have already started. And I don't think we'll get enough rain to fill the dams - even after winter. This is going to be a long-lasting issue. About the Argus - it's just &*#@% irresponsible to hold it. Excuse my French, but I'm truly so angry and disgusted. As I mentioned elsewhere, a simple coffee-brewing festival has been cancelled. Now that's responsible. The annual Olive Festival in Riebeek Valley has been cancelled. That's responsible. But no, the Argus, which is far larger than the two aforementioned, goes on. &*#@%. Even my brother, who lives in Brackenfell and lives for cycling and does the Argus every year, said it should be cancelled.

The idea of leaving the Cape also crossed my mind, but then, one doesn't know what the future holds. Move elsewhere and perhaps that region will run out of water too. We'll become nomadic, like the Bushmen, moving to wherever the necessary resources are. No, I think I'll just stay where I am, but if necessary, I'll get into my car and drive to another province, load up with water and drive back again. Maybe I'll take a drive up to Tzaneen to visit @BumbleBee and @Bumblebabe.

 

[Hooked]

@Spyro So ... the fights over water have already started. And I don't think we'll get enough rain to fill the dams - even after winter. This is going to be a long-lasting issue. About the Argus - it's just &*#@% irresponsible to hold it. Excuse my French, but I'm truly so angry and disgusted. As I mentioned elsewhere, a simple coffee-brewing festival has been cancelled. Now that's responsible. The annual Olive Festival in Riebeek Valley has been cancelled. That's responsible. But no, the Argus, which is far larger than the two aforementioned, goes on. &*#@%. Even my brother, who lives in Brackenfell and lives for cycling and does the Argus every year, said it should be cancelled.

The idea of leaving the Cape also crossed my mind, but then, one doesn't know what the future holds. Move elsewhere and perhaps that region will run out of water too. We'll become nomadic, like the Bushmen, moving to wherever the necessary resources are. No, I think I'll just stay where I am, but if necessary, I'll get into my car and drive to another province, load up with water and drive back again. Maybe I'll take a drive up to Tzaneen to visit @BumbleBee and @Bumblebabe.

I echo your plea: To all the cyclists, we Capetonians beg of you not to come here. Your daily showers are our drinking water - our life.