Cape Town is running out of water by May: India and other countries to soon face water shortage

If Day Zero is declared, Cape Town will become the first major city in the world to run out of water.


In a minute relief to the people of Cape Town, the date of Day Zero, the day when the city is expected to run out of water, has been shifted from April 16 to May 11.

What is Day Zero?

Day Zero is nothing but the first day of a national disaster. It is supposed to be the day when people of Cape Town might have to turn off their taps because of a long, one-in-384-year drought. Close to 4 million people are expected to stop receiving water in the South African city.

Reason for the shift

The reason for shifting the date has been cited as a decline in agricultural usage which has contributed to the reduction in the consumption of water.

Executive Deputy Mayor Ian Neilson gave a statement on Monday, February 5, 2018, stating that because the agricultural sector used the allotment of the same supply system with which the city drew its supply from. This is what resulted in the drop in water content. He also said that the fall does not signal an end to restrictions for residents of the city.

Although the agricultural usage has reduced, the urban consumption of the water has not seen any major decline.

Measures taken

The citizens of Cape Town have been asked to use not more than 50 litres per person in order to help in stretching dwindling supplies.

Western Cape MEC for Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning Anton Bredell said their aim is to make sure that the institutions like schools, hospitals and other such facilities remain operational, even in the event of a Day Zero situation. In order to do so, the provincial government is securing water supple at these organizations.

In order to prevent the remaining water supplies from running out before the winter rains hit the area, citizens of Cape Town need to get their consumption down to 450 million litres per day.

Social Media comes to help

A grassroots campaign originated on WhatsApp, became a social media phenomenon which aimed at donating water to the South African city's residents.

The campaign's founder, Talita van der Heever, resident of the South African city of East London, started this campaign when she was feeding her 18-month-old daughter with baby formula and realised that it can't be mixed without water, and Zero Day would not allow so many mothers in the city of Cape Town to feed their babies.

Other countries who are at risk

Not only is Cape Town in danger, there are other countries in the world who have been facing similar situations.

12 other countries who are facing water crisis

INDIA: Being one of the most water-challenged countries in the world, India faces a major threat despite having deepest aquifers to its largest rivers. As the national supply is predicted to fall 50 percent below the demand by 2030, close to 600 million people are at higher risk of surface-water supply disruptions.
SAO PAULO, BRAZIL: It faced a similar fiasco in the year 2015 when reservoirs dropped to such a low extent that people looted the emergency water trucks, pipes were drawn in mud, and the flow of water to taps was cut to just a few hours twice a week.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: Reportedly, the situation in Melbourne has reached to such an extent that the water managers said last summer that they could run out of water in little more than a decade.
JAKARTA: The citizens in Jakarta are consuming groundwater at such an alarming pace, that the city is running dry so much so that it is sinking faster than the seas are rising.
LIBYA: With an estimated annual water shortage of 500 million cubic metres and the consumption of 1 billion cubic meters, Libya is one of the many nations with a severe water crisis.
CAMBODIA: The main source of drinking water is from rainfall in this country. And that is the reason why the nationals spend 108% of their income to just buy water. Think of more than 4 million people who lack the access of safe water in this country!
MADAGASCAR: Women and kids spend more than 3 hours each day in an effort to fetch water. And even then, all they get their hands on is some yellow-looking liquid. Over 11 million people in this country have no access to safe water.
IRAN: The largest source of water in this country was Lake Urmia, which has dried up. Even after the protection from Iranian Department of Environment, the area is still plagued by drought. The scarcity has now been termed a national issue.
CHINA: The country with the largest population is plagued by a growing water security crisis. According to China's State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) in 2006, 60% of the country's rivers suffer from pollution to such an extent that they cannot be safely used as drinking water sources. As China has compromised on 3,40,000 sq km of its wetlands since 2003, this could lead to deaths, light outs, extreme poverty, diseases, and a lot more.
UAE: The Middle East suffers from a massive water crisis, despite being one of the richest regions in the world. As much of the land is used in producing oil, it makes it extremely vulnerable to increasing desertification. It results in scarce water supply resources.
QATAR: Qatar's groundwater is absolutely unfit for drinking as more than two-thirds of the wells have saline water. All the freshwater sources are overexploited. The authorities are constantly on their toes in search of solutions to channelize wastewater, but they are nowhere close.
SINGAPORE: Would you believe if someone told you that this beautiful country doesn't have any direct source of water? Yes, that's true. This island uses recycled water through desalinization and artificial reservoirs to meet its water needs. But due to the climate change, the level at the reservoir has dropped to an extraordinary level.

Before water runs out and we reach on the point of having existential crisis, we need to start saving it TODAY. So, what are you waiting for?



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