Cape Town Is 90 Days Away From Running Out of Water
I regularly run around Molteno reservoir, pictured in the article. It’s been a regular and depressing reminder of the water crisis to see its level titrate down day by day.<p>Most people here seem to be in denial about the kind of life that awaits. Either people don’t think about it, or believe the official pessimism about the desalination schedule is a scare tactic to delay zero day and hence the cost of the eventual emergency desalinization measures the  local government has waiting up its sleeve.<p>The alternative is unthinkable: a large percentage of the economy of this city is tourism, so imagine what happens when foreign guests cancel their hotel and airbnb bookings en masse.<p>A few days ago my apartment building installed three massive 5000 liter tanks of water storage. That’s enough to last all the tenants about 10 days at 25l&#x2F;day&#x2F;person. If those tanks are filled from the mains it just accelerates zero day for everyone else; if from rain water, well, there’s too little rain at the moment to fill them (and is roof water even potable?). Perhaps the idea is that it’ll be trucked in. No-one knows what is going on.<p>I suppose we’ll find a way to manage. In a way I’m glad I’m here to experience it, as it’s almost certainly a premonition of things to come in other cities later this century.