There is an answer to Cape Town water emergency
Imminent collapse of city’s economy will be a blow to the whole country, writes Neels Blom
Day Zero is coming. It is the day in March 2018 when greater Cape Town runs out of water, when crisis becomes disaster. Scientists have a prosaic phrase to describe it: total system failure. To prepare for this day, Cape Town has a simple plan with three phases, to be implemented according to a supply-demand ratio. The city has been in phase one for several years, applying water restrictions and choking. In phase two, there will be rationing and in phase three, severe rationing. The plan is to progressively force a reduction in demand. The fatal flaw is obvious. At a certain point — where the city is now — the law of diminishing returns will see the rate of consumption begin to even out. The authorities have set a consumption target of 500-million litres a day, yet consumption stubbornly remains at about 600-million litres a day. This makes Day Zero and phase three inevitable. At phase three, the only water available in Cape Town will be drinking water supplied by tankers manned by ...
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