Drought-Hit Cape Town Brings Forward Date Water May Be Cut

(Bloomberg) -- The drought-stricken South African city of Cape Town has brought forward the date when it may cut water supplies to residents by one day to April 21, figures posted on its website show.

That’s “Day Zero” when the city will turn off the taps and four million Capetonians will have to queue for supplies at about 200 collection points.

Storage levels in dams serving the coastal city, South Africa’s second-largest, dropped to 28.7 percent last week from 29.7 percent, according to the figures, dated Jan. 15. Six out of seven projects aimed at providing alternative water sources, including four mini-desalination plants, are behind schedule and are 57 percent complete on average, according to a Tuesday update to the city’s “Day Zero” dashboard.

For more Cape Town’s water crisis, click here.

Average daily water use last week was 618 million liters (163 million gallons), above the city’s target of 500 million liters. While the city has asked all residents to limit their individual daily use to 87 liters, just 39 percent met the target last week, compared with 54 percent the week before.

To contact the reporter on this story: John Viljoen in Cape Town at jviljoen@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Celeste Perri at cperri@bloomberg.net, John Viljoen, Pauline Bax

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