And Don't Panic!
As the water crisis is
in full-swing in Cape Town, I thought it useful to give an update on what I
know. The Western Cape, particularly the
part where Cape Town is located, has been in a drought for the past 3
years. In addition, Cape Town is now a
city of 4 million, a double in its population since 1996; plus, it is estimated
there are 10 million visitors a year to the area. The reservoirs that serve the area were not
built with either these two critical factors in mind, increased population and
decreased rainfall. The reservoirs are
currently around 25-26% of capacity and if the supply drops below 14%, there
will not be enough water to run the system nor keep the main business area
functioning. So, if the level drops that
low, we will be at Day Zero when the taps are turned off, although the central
business district and the informal settlements will be exempt while supply
lasts. If Day Zero actually occurs, we
would be required to take our 25-liter jugs to the hundreds of water stations
that will be set up – that will be the individual daily ration. Unfortunately, many do not have transport, so
that will be another logistic to contend with.
So Draconian water
restrictions are in place, a limit of 50 liter per day per person, and there
are many creative ways many if not most are trying to adhere to – like taking
shorter and fewer showers, doing laundry less often, not flushing the toilet
each time (and not depositing toilet paper into the toilet particularly just
for urine), reducing how much water is used for dishwashing, brushing teeth, etc. Grey water from dishwashing is used for the
toilet or to water plants (it is crazy we use potable water for toilets in the first
place). I have a little adaptation created by a few colleagues pictured below
to attempt to use less water for handwashing or simple rinsing – it is a
plastic water bottle to squeeze so that the small drip irrigation tubing
delivers less water than a faucet. There
is even a restaurant in town that has started creating more dishes that don’t
use water or even cooking. Speaking of
plastic water bottles, the impact of so many being bought and often not
recycled is likely staggering. I have
not seen any commentary on this. I
almost never buy water in plastic if I can avoid it by now I am purchasing
5-liter bottles and also boiling an extra kettle of water when I make my
morning tea, to have for drinking water.
I have not heard that there is a problem yet, but I have started to
wonder – either that the levels are too low to actually dilute what buggers may
be hanging around, or that the system will require more chlorine. This is
purely my own opinion and I have not seen any information to corroborate my
ideas.
Of course, the
disparities between the haves- and the haven-nots appear in these
circumstances. Many in the informal settlements
here, and in many communities around the world, where there is no plumbing have
been living bucket-to-bucket for years.
Here in the well-to-do suburbs, many have access to bore holes to access
ground water or they have swimming pools functioning as storage capacity
(theoretically they are not to be filled with city or ground water, but only
rain water). It is hard to tell whether
compliance with the restrictions is equitably distributed.
Some have asked about
desalination as an option. I heard a
good lecture recently about water issues and that question came up. According
to this person, Kevin Winter, the technology is not up to the task here or in
many areas, besides that it is very expensive.
Current technology relies on reverse osmosis which is problematic where
the water source has pollution issues and can cause blockages in the system,
which is the case in this area. There
are 3 small desalination plants in the area that will be up and running in
March but they are too small to make a difference and are considered more on
the scale of demonstration projects.
There is a great deal of high tech modeling going on about the water
supply and all the many options that could capture more from rainwater (lots of
people have large tanks at home), ground water, surface water recapture (rain
gardens were discussed) and improved waste treatment. Also, making sure leakage in the system is
addressed and all efforts to maintain accurate measurements of what is
happening in a system is essential.
The demand for water
is also great in agriculture where approximately 50% of the water goes. Right now, however, farmers are taking the
biggest hit as their supply was shut off recently – with many admitting that
farmers are essentially donating water to Cape Town. This could have implications for food supply
if things become more severe. In a
recent discussion I heard, it was acknowledged that farmers here are the most
conservative with water use and have a much better understanding of the
balances needed in the system. There are certainly public health implications of this water crisis related to hygiene,
sanitation and dehydration, etc. There
is a link below with a good summary of these issues to consider.
Although this is not
the rainy season, one night recently we had one of the biggest thunder,
lighting and rain storms I have seen since I arrived in August. It moved the Day Zero prediction from mid-May
into June which will be the beginning of winter and hopefully a more sustained
rainfall -although the past 3 years have not been enough to avoid where we are
now. But the conservation measures in
place and the relentless attention to the problems and the crisis has helped
move the date of Day Zero as much as the recent rain.
While Cape Town may be
the first major city in the world to consider turning off the taps, it is not
the first to get close to this point and will not be the last. Cape Town water supply was at this same level
in 2005 but was saved by the rains that time.
San Paolo came close in 2017; Melbourne Australia is on the brink of a
similar crisis. In 2017, some parts of Italy had an 80% drop in its normal
water supply and 2,500 fountains in Rome were turned off. So the lessons being
learned here apply anywhere and this should be seen as a wake-up call, and the
role of climate change that is hurling us into these stark realities.
In addition to the
link on the public health issues of the water crisis, I have included two links
below – one that shows the dam levels in the area and the other is the
Dashboard for the Day Zero date prediction.
The Dam Levels are Critical for Cape Town's water supply and are a key contributor to the
Day Zero Dashboard
Environmental Defence Fund article: The energy reality behind Cape Town's water crisis. Burning coal wastes water resources
Environmental Defence Fund article: The energy reality behind Cape Town's water crisis. Burning coal wastes water resources
I trust that this has nothing to do with global climate change or the future that we all will experience in every coastal city on the planet!!?!!?!?!?!
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