Dam levels decline amid heatwave

Dams are 74,8% of storage capacity.
Dam levels have declined by 0.9% over the past week to 74.8% of storage capacity. 

Authorities have attributed the drop to evaporation caused by the hot weather as well as a related increase in water usage.

The average water consumption increased by 37 million litres per day to 593 million litres per day for the past week.

The City of Cape Town has again urged water users not to water gardens or fill up swimming pools with municipally-supplied water as we remain on Level 5 water restrictions. 

Under Level 5, washing of vehicles or boats using municipal water is prohibited. No new landscaping or sports fields may be established except if irrigated only with non-drinking water. The Level 5 tariffs are still on the higher end of the tariff scale and thus water still costs more.

In December, the national Department of Water and Sanitation is expected to reveal what the water usage limit for Cape Town will be for the year ahead. Until then, it is required that water usage remains in the lower 500 million litre usage band.