Cape Town Coverage

Cape Town Water Crisis

It’s called Day Zero — the day when dams drop below critical levels and Cape Town officials shut off water to most homes and businesses in South Africa’s second-largest city. The metropolitan region of nearly 4 million people faces an immense challenge to prevent this scenario from happening: cut water use to 50 liters per person per day. Even conservation of that magnitude might not be enough to avert Day Zero. How the city and its residents respond to the drought crisis is a case study for this era of perilous environmental change.

Circle of Blue’s Cape Town Coverage

Cape Town’s Harrowing Journey to the Brink of Water Catastrophe

The city of 4 million people almost turned off its taps.

Panic. Residents in South Africa’s second largest city repeatedly used that word to describe the weeks after January 18 when Mayor Patricia De Lille proclaimed that the day the city would run out of water, what was called “Day Zero,” was fast approaching. The declaration hit like a blast wave. Read More

Amid Political Quarrels over Cape Town Crisis, Engineers Prepare Dams for Day Zero

Equipment is in place to pull water from the bottom of reservoirs.

Squabbles between South Africa’s politicians over who is to blame for Cape Town’s water emergency reached such a pitch in recent weeks that leaders, in an attempt to soften the debate, invoked the country’s icon of peace and resolve. Read More

Cape Town Pushes Back Day Zero by Nearly One Month

May 11 is now the estimated date when water service will be turned off.

Pointing to declining agricultural water use, Cape Town officials moved Day Zero back nearly four weeks, to May 11. Read More

Cape Town Outlines Plans for Emergency Water Distribution

Residents will be allowed 25 liters (6.6 gallons) per person per day at 200 collection points.

Cape Town officials released preliminary plans for distributing water to some 4 million city residents if the worst happens — a shutdown of water service to most households and businesses. Read More

Cape Town’s “Day Zero” Approaches

South Africa’s second largest city could run out of drinking water.

Cape Town, a city of 4 million, continues to grapple with severe water scarcity following three consecutive years of below average rainfall.usinesses. Read More

Cape Town Rations Water Before Reservoirs Hit Zero

No end to water crisis in South Africa’s second largest city.

It’s called Day Zero, the day when the six main reservoirs that supply Cape Town will be drained of water. Read More

To Avoid Drought Calamity, Cape Town Restricts Water Use

Reservoirs supplying city of 4 million are nearing bottom during record-setting drought.

Every drop counts these days in South Africa’s second-largest city. A harsh drought, the worst in more than a century by some counts, is pushing water supplies to the brink. Read More