CITY OF CAPE TOWN
16 APRIL 2018
STATEMENT BY THE CITY’S EXECUTIVE DEPUTY MAYOR, ALDERMAN IAN NEILSON

Water usage spikes by 5% to 542 million litres per day
As at today, Monday 16 April 2018, our collective consumption over the past week was 542 million litres of water per day. This is up from an average of 516 million litres last week. Dam levels have declined a further 0,5% to 20,9% . Read more below:

The fall in dam levels can be attributed to environmental influences such as higher temperature and evaporation, as well as an increase in usage by customers. Thus far April has been relatively warm, mimicking the climate patterns of March. High temperatures were experienced last week, as well as high winds in the catchment areas.

Although the majority of our water users are doing their best to lower usage to 50 litres per day, there may be some whose usage still fluctuate according to the weather.

We need to reduce our total consumption to 450 million litres per day to keep within the allocation provided to the City by the National Department of Water and Sanitation. This requires individuals to use no more than 50 litres per person per day. We must achieve this target to stretch the available water supplies as far as possible into the winter months and through the remainder of the year.

We have made great progress so far, but we are not yet out of the woods. We must continue to keep our usage as low as possible.

Although the winter months will likely bring more rain, we cannot estimate how much rain we will have, or count on it having a significant impact on our dam levels. The City will therefore continue its drought interventions, including pressure management, accelerated leak repair, Level 6b restrictions and tariffs to deter high water usage, as long as needed to see us through the drought.

We encourage all of our water users who are living the #50LitreLife to show their commitment to saving our precious water by getting a free profile picture at http://bit.ly/2IzvM2t

Please visit www.capetown.gov.za/thinkwater for all water-related information.

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Note to broadcasters: audio clips are available for download

For English: https://soundcloud.com/ct-media/dashboard-16-april-ian-neilsonenglish

For Afrikaans: https://soundcloud.com/ct-media/dashboard-16-april-ian-neilsonafrikaans

Issued by: Media Office, City of Cape Town

Media enquiries: Alderman Ian Neilson, Executive Deputy Mayor, City of Cape
Town, Tel: 021 400 1306 or Cell: 083 306 6730, Email:
ian.neilson@capetown.gov.za (please always cc media@capetown.gov.za).

CITY OF CAPE TOWN

7 MARCH 2018

STATEMENT BY THE CITY’S EXECUTIVE DEPUTY MAYOR, ALDERMAN IAN NEILSON

Continued savings must remain part of our long-term strategy to avoid Day Zero

The City’s dashboard for this week shows a slight increase in water consumption. This bucks the recent downward trend of the last few weeks. Overall consumption as at 5 March 2018 was measured at 537 million litres per day (MLD) which is up from 516 MLD consumption recorded in the previous week.

Dam levels have dropped by 0,4% to 23,6%. Please see http://coct.co/water-dashboard/.

The City now projects that, if there was to be no rainfall, Day Zero would arrive on 27 August 2018. As this date falls deep within the normal rainfall period, it is no longer appropriate to project the date without any consideration of rainfall. Thus, provided we continue our current water savings efforts, Day Zero can be avoided completely this year. It is now up to all of us. If we keep on saving, we will not have to queue for water this year.

I would therefore like to urge all Capetonians not to relax their savings efforts. While we are feeling more confident of avoiding Day Zero this year, we cannot predict the volume of rainfall still to come. If winter rainfall this year is as low as last year, or even lower, we are still in danger of reaching Day Zero early next year.

Now is the time to entrench our water saving habits and ensure that the behavioural shift we have undergone in the past months becomes second nature.

More and more Capetonians have met the challenge by lowering their consumption. Our water map shows a 5% increase in the number of households that used less than 6 kilolitres a month in January, as compared to December (see link below).

Our challenge now is to continue reinforcing these behaviour changes, and to spread the message among our communities, at the workplace, at home, at school. Everywhere we go, we have an opportunity to act as water ambassadors and ensure that each and every Capetonian is aware of the seriousness of the situation. There is no shortage of water-saving resources that can be distributed to ensure that everyone gets the message.

A range of online resources can be found on the City of Cape Town’s website (see link below).

These resources include videos, presentations, posters, community water plans, checklists, stickers, water-saving tips, guides to finding and fixing leaks, greywater guidelines, and more. I would like to urge all Capetonians to make use of these resources.

The City is continuing to roll out its pressure demand management programme, and installing water meters at the homes of high water users. Together with our residents, we can bring consumption down to the required 450 MLD. If we redouble our efforts to ensure that every single resident uses no more than 50 litres of water a day, we will not only beat Day Zero this year but also avoid it next year.

Please visit www.capetown.gov/thinkwater for all water-related information, including information on Level 6B restrictions and FAQs about Day Zero as well as tips to lower usage even further.

Also visit www.capetown.gov.za/watermap to see if your household is painting the city green to avoid Day Zero.

Note to broadcasters: audio clips are available for download.
For English: https://soundcloud.com/ct-media/2018-03-07-water-dashboar-eng
For Afrikaans: https://soundcloud.com/ct-media/2018-03-07-water-dashboard-afr

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Issued by: Media Office, City of Cape Town

Media enquiries: Alderman Ian Neilson, Executive Deputy Mayor, City of Cape Town, Tel: 021 400 1306 or Cell: 083 306 6730, Email: ian.neilson@capetown.gov.za (please always cc media@capetown.gov.za).

CITY OF CAPE TOWN

20 FEBRUARY 2018

MEDIA RELEASE

More residents to receive estimated bills for January

The City of Cape Town regrets to inform customers that a technical challenge will result in more residents receiving estimated accounts for the month of January. Read more below:

As of 1 January 2018, the City moved from a third party electronic platform to an in-house electronic interface system for the uploading of monthly water meter readings. Since this move, there have been technical challenges with uploading meter readings to the new system. As a result, some customers will receive estimated bills although their meter was read. Customers across the City will be affected.

Where residents receive estimated bills, the City recommends that they settle the account as they would normally. If the estimate is higher than the actual usage then their account will be adjusted appropriately the next time the actual meter reading is captured. In cases where estimated consumption far exceeds actual consumption, and residents are unable to afford the bill, they can approach the City’s call centre or their closest walk-in centre to request an investigation. Debt management will be suspended until the investigation is resolved.

Please note that estimated bills are currently based on consumption for the same period in the previous year. For example, a meter estimate for January 2018 is based on the actual usage of January 2017. This method is used to account for seasonal variation in water consumption. The City is however working to adapt the estimation method to account for changing consumption patterns due to the current water shortage. From 1 March 2018, estimated accounts will be based on average consumption at the property for the previous three months.

Residents can however avoid estimated bills altogether by submitting their own meter reading. More details on how to do so can be found at the following link:

http://www.capetown.gov.za/Family%20and%20home/residential-utility-services/residential-water-and-sanitation-services/water-meter-readings

The City encourages as many residents as possible to register for e-services and do their own meter readings. Performing regular meter readings at your property is essential for effectively managing water consumption, and can act as an early warning for leaks on the property.

The City acknowledges and regrets the frustration that estimated bills will cause many residents who have reduced water consumption drastically, but would like to reassure them that we are doing everything possible to resolve the problem as speedily as possible.

Residents should also please note that estimated readings could affect their green dot status on the City’s Water Map. Residents who have had their consumption estimated will rather be given a grey dot reflecting that no data exists for consumption on the property. Whilst this will cause some disappointment, it is important that we all continue to do our best to save water.

Residents are reminded that level 6 tariffs are being applied from 1 February 2018. See below for a comparison between level 4 and level 6 tariffs.

Water Tariffs (Domestic Full and Domestic Cluster)
Water Steps (1kl = 1 000 litres) Level 4 (2017/18) Until 31/1/2018 Rands (incl VAT) Level 6 (2017/18) From 1/2/2018 Rands (incl VAT)
Step 1 (>0 ≤ 6kl) R4,56/kl (free for indigent households) R29,93/kl (free for indigent households)
Step 2 (>6 ≤ 10.5kl) R17,75/kl R52,44/kl (R17,75/kl for indigent households)
Step 3 (>10.5 ≤ 20kl) R25,97/kl R114/kl
Step 4 (>20 ≤ 35kl) R43,69/kl R342/kl
Step 5 (>35 ≤ 50kl) R113,99/kl R912/kl
Step 6 (>50kl) R302,24/kl R912/kl

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Issued by: Media Office, City of Cape Town

Media enquiries: Councillor Xanthea Limberg, Mayoral Committee Member for Informal Settlements, Water and Waste Services; and Energy, City of Cape Town, Tel: 021 400 1299 or Cell: 073 271 2054, Email: Xanthea.limberg@capetown.gov.za (please always copy media.account@capetown.gov.za).
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