Cape Town's Water Crisis Worsened By the Rich - Study Finds

Wealthy households make up less than 14% of Cape Town's population, but use more than half its domestic water, making their consumption a greater threat to sustainable water use than either climate change or population growth, writesSteve Kretzmann for GroundUp.

This is one of the findings from a recently published study of Cape Town's domestic water consumption, which finds that the Day Zero crisis of 2018 was largely due to the high water consumption of wealthy households while poor households struggled to meet their most basic water needs.

The study argues that urban water crises are not just the result of drought, but also of social inequality. Wealthy urban households use drinking water for swimming pools and gardens while the socially, economically, and politically disadvantaged city residents are excluded from basic access to water.

While the severe water restrictions imposed toward the end of the 2015 -2017 drought did not affect the ability of wealthy households to meet their basic water needs, poorer households who already struggled to obtain their daily water needs, used even less.

Elite household consumption ahead of 'Day Zero' fell from 2,542 litres a day to 1,103 litres a day, and upper-middle-income household consumption fell from 1,604 litres per day to 699 litres per day, largely due to stopping water use for luxuries.

South Africa is facing a water crisis, some provinces have reportedly been without water for months. Clinics, schools and businesses have been severely affected. Municipalities are blaming loadshedding for the problem but residents are sceptical.This water insecurity risk is worsened by increasing climate change.