Day Zero: the city learns to live on fifty litres

From 1 February 2018 Cape Town's residents were asked to use no more than fifty litres of water a day each: enough for a ninety-second shower, a flush or two and a basin of dishes. After three dry winters the city's dams were about a quarter full, and Theewaterskloof, the biggest, had fallen to around thirteen percent. The city published a date, Day Zero, when most taps would be turned off and people would queue for water at collection points. Queues formed at the Newlands spring with jerry cans. Households cut their use sharply, farmers gave up part of their allocation, and by mid-February Day Zero had been pushed back to June. It was later taken off the calendar, and the winter rains of 2018 began to refill the dams.