While you might be thinking it’s a good idea to stay away from Cape Town during the water shortages, the city is most definitely not turning away visitors this festive season. In fact, the Mother City is welcoming visitors with open arms – and wise words, so don’t be worrying unnecessarily that you should be trying to cancel your cheap flights or
Cape Town Car Hire booking.
Cape Town is a well-run city and has measures in place to cope with the influx of visitors this December. Every drop counts though and it’s only fair to do your bit during your visit. Get on board with our water-saving tips for your trip to the Mother City.
Cape Town Has Got This
While the city is certainly in dire straits with dwindling water resources, provisions are in place to ensure that you still have an unforgettable holiday in Cape Town. Desalination, water reclamation and groundwater abstraction are planned for the future, but for now, the focus is on water saving initiatives.
You can rest assured that Cape Town residents are doing their bit to ensure that they too are assisting in using water as sparingly as possible. This is how you can do your bit to help.
1. Avoid Using Water at Peak Times
Spare a thought for those who still have to go about their daily chores during the holidays. Try to avoid using water between 5 and 9 am to do your bit towards saving. This gives you an excuse to enjoy a lie-in and take your morning shower later.
If demand during these times become excessive, there may be water cuts in certain areas. Please be patient if you are caught up in one of these outages at your hotel or guest house.
2. Turn off the Taps
Make sure the taps are turned off when you arrive at your accommodation. The area may be experiencing an outage and if the taps have been left on during this time, it could lead to disaster. Should you turn the faucet to discover that there is no water, be sure to turn it back off.
When the water returns, it may be cloudy at first. Catch this flow in a bottle and use it to fill up the toilet cistern.
3. Be Water Wise
Keep some drinking water handy so that if you do experience an outage, the inconvenience won’t be as severe. About 5 to 10 litres per person should suffice.
4. Re-Use Your Shower Water
Placing a shallow basin in the shower will collect more water than you think. This can be used for flushing toilets. Ask your host to provide you with a bucket for this purpose or use the one provided in your self-catering apartment.
5. Keep Showers Short
Try not to shower for more than two minutes at a time. Switch off the shower water when it’s not needed, for example, while soaping yourself or shampooing your hair. Bathing uses over 150 litres of water at a time. Just don’t do it.
Use a waterless hand sanitizer instead of washing your hands.
Avoid shaving, growing a beard will show your commitment to saving water and you’ll fit right in with the hipster crowd.
6. Washing Machine and Dishwasher
Using a water-wise dishwasher is preferable to wash the dishes by hand. As long as you only run the dishwasher when it’s full.
You can save a lot of water by spending more time enjoying the street food on offer at various venues or trying out the great restaurants around town.
Pack extra clothes and have a real holiday by saving the laundry for when you return home. Reuse your towels and linen for as long as possible to save on unnecessary laundry for your hosts.
7. No Car Washing
You won’t be the only one driving around in a dirty car. Cape Town Car rental companies will not expect you to return a spotless vehicle and will appreciate your water-saving efforts.
8. Swimming
Don’t complain if your guest house or hotel’s swimming pool is not filled to the brim. Head to one of Cape Town’s wonderful beaches for a swim instead. Bring a supply of swimming and bath towels and launder them when you return home.
You’re Welcome in Cape Town anytime
So go ahead (if you haven’t already done so) and find your Cape Town car hire and cheap flights with our user-friendly SA Airlines browser. Tourism is one of Cape Town’s most important industries and the city will never turn its back on visitors. Work with the locals to make sure there is water for everyone during the holiday season.