Cape Town (South Africa) - "Day Zero" looms for water!

Are we a "#hole" yet?

The "#" part is true (yeah they literally throw it around), the "hole" part is still debatable.

a reply to: halfoldman

Sounds very severe now

What's the government doing about it all?
Or are they simply throwing the population to the wolves here (significant numbers of voters included which should be getting the attention of at least some elected officials).

a reply to: Pilgrum

Goes into politics.
But the government is trying, but too little, too late.

All in the thread already.
We're left with a dystopian mixture.

a reply to: Pilgrum

When the drought breaks it'll be a flood, the weather pattern we here in Oz are very familiar with. The ground gets so dry it can't absorb rain so it all runs off to cause chaos of the opposite kind.

Are the golf courses still being watered? (could be artesian water not fit for drinking though)

a reply to: Pilgrum

As far as drinkable municipal water goes - it will all be shut off.

a reply to: halfoldman

Are things improving on the water front halfoldman? I read somewhere Coca Cola is going to help out and bring in loads of water.

originally posted by: Pilgrum
a reply to: Pilgrum



Are the golf courses still being watered? (could be artesian water not fit for drinking though)

I would say no. I saw Green Point Golf Course about a week ago and it's mostly a dust bowl. Ditto that lovely beachfront promenade where everybody goes jogging in Sea Point. On the other side of the mountain there are still odd patches of green where there's ground water or mountain water.

It did rain a tiny bit this morning though. Hard enough to listen to it anyway.

a reply to: ufoorbhunter

Nope, not improving at all.

Heading to Day Zero.

a reply to: halfoldman

My lord what you lot going to do? Can you move up north for a bit til things improve? Maybe go to Zimbabwe now Mugabe's gone?

It is the Mother of all stuff-ups.

Cape Town's desalination plants finally get under way (apparently too late to prevent Day Zero anyway), as health fears loom.

www.news24.com...

www.timeslive.co.za...

a reply to: Pilgrum

Nothing they can do requires preplanning and they dropped the ball. They should have built something like this.

The Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination facility is a drought-proof, alternative water supply that provides up to 25 million gallons per day of drinking water to the region. Seawater coming into the plant goes through a rigorous pretreatment process then freshwater is separated from the seawater using reverse osmosis.

a reply to: dragonridr

A few desal plants were constructed here in Oz too, large scale projects that took years to complete and are very expensive in terms of the energy to operate them. Typical output of fresh water is around 5 cubic metres/sec which equates to ~400 megalitres/day (95 million gallons) for an electrical demand of over 100MW.

The drought broke before they were completed and they've had almost no use due to the high operating costs but they are a good insurance policy for the future.

a reply to: ufoorbhunter

He doesn't have to leave the country,there's enough water in the rest of South Africa.

By jove I think I have an idea!.
Just drink beer!.
Joking of course but do get some life straws you can drink from a toilet with those.

Apparently Cape Town is only the first of a number of SA (and even global) cities that will run out of water.
Water restrictions have already been implemented in some other SA areas.
Not as drastic as Cape Town yet, and in a sense we're going to be a huge experiment in disaster "management".
Doubtlessly locally it's not just drought and population growth, but also massive mismanagement, the pollution of rivers and dams, the loss of water recycling and engineering skills, and the deliberate avoidance of expert warnings since 2010 already.
Caesar would hear only what Caesar wanted to hear.
news.nationalgeographic.com...

a reply to: halfoldman

Heck it may be true in the future wars will be fought not for oil but water

Thinking more about these life straws (I'm blown away by them drink anywhere from any water source 5000lt per straw) everyone you buy they send one to Africa so we all need to get one.
Great survival tool camping hiking no need to carry water
Toilet drinking also I mean

Well, in Johannesburg Level 1 restrictions were binding in January 2018, and I think also in Port Elizabeth and Durban.
www.timeslive.co.za...

Not as drastic as the 6B water restrictions in Cape Town (or a slide to Day Zero), but the whole of SA is heading to deep doo doo.

a reply to: halfoldman

Have people started hoarding it yet?. I take it that is not allowed?.