Day Zero This City Counts Down The Days Until Its Fountains Dry Up

“You feel away when you push 70 kilos of water into a stroller,” said the 49-year-old resident of the impoverished South African city of Kwanobuhle. The fountains dried up in parts of Kwanobuhle in March, and since then, thousands of residents have relied on a single shared fountain to supply their households with drinking water. And the municipality is just one of many in the Nelson Mandela Bay area of ​​Gqeberha based on a system of four dams that have been drying steadily for months. There has not been enough rain to make up for it. Now much of the city is counting down to “Day Zero”, the day when all the fountains dry up, when no significant amount of water can be extracted. This is in about two weeks, unless the authorities are seriously speeding up their response. The wider Eastern Cape region of South Africa suffered severe multi-year drought between 2015 and 2020, which devastated the local economy, particularly its agricultural sector. He had only a short break before slipping back into the drought in late 2021. Like many of the worst natural resource crises in the world, severe water scarcity here is a combination of poor management and distortive weather caused by anthropogenic climate change. In addition, thousands of leaks throughout the water system mean that much of the water flowing through pipes from the dams may never reach homes. Poor maintenance, such as a failed pump in a main water supply, has only worsened the situation. That left Malambile – who lives with his sister and her four children – with no choice but to walk around the town every day for the past three months. Without this daily ritual, he and his family would have no drinking water at all. “People who do not live here have no idea what it is like to wake up in the morning and the first thing on your mind is water,” said Malambile. His family has enough containers to hold 150 liters of water, but every day he fills about half of it, while the rest is still used at home. “Tomorrow, these are empty and I have to bring them again,” he said. “This is my routine, every day, and it is tedious.”

Countdown to Day Zero

The prospect of a substantial downpour that will help resupply the tanks here looks bleak, and if things continue as they are, about 40% of the wider city of Gqeberha will be left without any running water. Eastern Cape relies on weather systems known as “low cut-offs”. Slow-moving meteorological systems can produce rainfall of more than 50 millimeters (approximately 2 inches) in 24 hours, followed by days of persistently wet weather. The problem is that this kind of rain just has not come.
The coming months do not give a very promising picture either. In seasonal weather forecasts, the Meteorological Agency of South Africa forecasts below normal rainfall.
This is not a recent trend. For almost a decade, the catchments for the main Nelson Mandela Bay supply dams have been below average rainfall. The water level has slowly decreased to the point where the four dams are at a combined level of less than 12% of their normal capacity. According to city officials, less than 2% of the remaining water supply is actually usable. Fresh in the minds of the people here is the water crisis of Cape Town in 2018, which was also caused by the previous, severe drought as well as management problems. The inhabitants of the city would stand in queues for their individual 50 liters of water every day, fearing to reach Day Zero. He never really got to this point, but he approached dangerously. The strict bulletin enabled the city to halve water use and prevent the worst. And without expecting heavy rain, Nelson Mandela Bay officials are so concerned about their own Day Zero that they are urging residents to dramatically reduce water use. They simply have no choice, said the municipality’s water distribution director, Joseph Tsatsire.
“While it is difficult to monitor how much each person consumes, we hope to convey the message that it is vital that everyone reduces their consumption to 50 liters per person per day,” he said.
To put it in perspective, the average American uses more than seven times as much, at 82 gallons (372 liters) per day. While parts of the city will probably never feel the full impact of a possible Zero Day, various interventions are underway to help residents in the so-called “red zones” where their fountains inevitably dry out. Earlier this month, the South African national government sent a high-level delegation to Nelson Mandela Bay to take on the crisis and implement emergency strategies to expand the latter of the city’s shrinkage. Leak detection and repairs were the focus, while plans are being made to extract “dead storage water” below current levels of supply dams. Drilling has been drilled at some sites for groundwater extraction.
Some of the interventions – including repairing leaks and transporting trucks into the water – mean that some who have lost their water supplies at home are starting to leak from their taps at night. But it is not enough and the authorities are looking for bigger, longer-term solutions to a problem that is predicted to worsen as the Earth warms up. South Africa is naturally prone to drought, but the kind of perennial droughts that cause such misery and disturbance are becoming more common. A desalination plant – for cleaning ocean water for public consumption – is being explored, although such projects require months of planning, are expensive and often contribute further to the climate crisis when fueled by fossil fuels. People in Kwanobuhle are anxious about the future, wondering when the crisis will end. At the shared fountain there, 25-year-old Babalwa Manyube fills her own containers with water while her 1-year-old daughter waits in her car. “Rinsing the toilets, cooking, cleaning – these are problems we all face when there is no water in the taps,” he said. “But raising a baby and worrying about water is a whole different story. And when will it end? No one can tell us.”

Customization at home

In Kwanobuhle, public housing is for people with little to no income. Unemployment is high and crime is rising steadily. The streets are full of people rushing for money. The old shipping containers function as makeshift barbershops. Right on the other side of the subway is Kamma Heights, a new green suburb perched on a hill with beautiful, unobstructed city views. It is noted by many newly built luxury homes and residents often appear to sit on their balconies, enjoying the last rays of the sun before the sun sets behind the horizon.
Some residents of Kamma Heights are wealthy enough to secure a back-up water supply. Rhett Saayman, 46, lets out a sigh of relief every time it rains and hears water flowing in the tanks he has set up around his house for the past two years. His plan to save money on water in the long run has proven to be an invaluable investment in securing his household water supply. The Saayman has a storage capacity of 18,500 liters. Water for general household use, such as bathrooms, passes through a 5 micron particle filter and a carbon block filter, while drinking and cooking water pass through a reverse osmosis filter. “We still rely on municipal water from time to time when we do not have enough rain, but it can be two or three times a year, and usually only for a few days at a time,” he said. “The last time we used municipal water was in February and since then we have had enough rain to sustain us.” He added, “Looking at the way things are going in the city, it’s definitely a relief to know that we have clean drinking water and enough to flush our toilets and take a shower. The investment pays off.” Residents in many parts of the bay area are urged to reduce their consumption so that water can be channeled through support pipes – temporary pipes placed in strategic locations, so that water can be diverted to areas of greater need. This means that some of the city’s more affluent neighborhoods, such as Kama Heights, could see a huge drop in their water supplies and will also have to line up in communal fountains, just as they do in Kwanobuhle. Looking to the future, local meteorological authorities have painted a worrying picture for the coming months, with some warnings that the problem had been left for so long, reversing it may be impossible. “We have been warning city officials about this for years,” said Garth Sampson, a spokesman for the South African Meteorological Service in Nelson Mandela Bay. “Whether you want to blame politicians and officials for mismanagement or the public for not saving water, it does not matter anymore. Pointing the finger will not help anyone. The point is that we are in crisis and there is very little we can do now. ». According to Sampson, the catchments that supply Nelson Mandela Bay need about 50 millimeters of rain over a 24-hour period to have a significant impact on dam levels. “Looking at the statistics of recent years, the best chance of seeing 50mm events will probably be in August. If we do not see significant rainfall by September, then our next best chance is just March of next year. Which is worrying.” , he said. “The only way this water crisis can end with a flood. But fortunately, or unfortunately – depending on who you ask – there are no forecasts that suggest rain of this magnitude any time soon.”

title: " Day Zero This City Counts Down The Days Until Its Fountains Dry Up " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-13” author: “Roger Gaines”

“You feel away when you push 70 kilos of water into a stroller,” said the 49-year-old resident of the impoverished South African city of Kwanobuhle. The fountains dried up in parts of Kwanobuhle in March, and since then, thousands of residents have relied on a single shared fountain to supply their households with drinking water. And the municipality is just one of many in the Nelson Mandela Bay area of ​​Gqeberha based on a system of four dams that have been drying steadily for months. There has not been enough rain to make up for it. Now much of the city is counting down to “Day Zero”, the day when all the fountains dry up, when no significant amount of water can be extracted. This is in about two weeks, unless the authorities are seriously speeding up their response. The wider Eastern Cape region of South Africa suffered severe multi-year drought between 2015 and 2020, which devastated the local economy, particularly its agricultural sector. He had only a short break before slipping back into the drought in late 2021. Like many of the worst natural resource crises in the world, severe water scarcity here is a combination of poor management and distortive weather caused by anthropogenic climate change. In addition, thousands of leaks throughout the water system mean that much of the water flowing through pipes from the dams may never reach homes. Poor maintenance, such as a failed pump in a main water supply, has only worsened the situation. That left Malambile – who lives with his sister and her four children – with no choice but to walk around the town every day for the past three months. Without this daily ritual, he and his family would have no drinking water at all. “People who do not live here have no idea what it is like to wake up in the morning and the first thing on your mind is water,” said Malambile. His family has enough containers to hold 150 liters of water, but every day he fills about half of it, while the rest is still used at home. “Tomorrow, these are empty and I have to bring them again,” he said. “This is my routine, every day, and it is tedious.”

Countdown to Day Zero

The prospect of a substantial downpour that will help resupply the tanks here looks bleak, and if things continue as they are, about 40% of the wider city of Gqeberha will be left without any running water. Eastern Cape relies on weather systems known as “low cut-offs”. Slow-moving meteorological systems can produce rainfall of more than 50 millimeters (approximately 2 inches) in 24 hours, followed by days of persistently wet weather. The problem is that this kind of rain just has not come.
The coming months do not give a very promising picture either. In seasonal weather forecasts, the Meteorological Agency of South Africa forecasts below normal rainfall.
This is not a recent trend. For almost a decade, the catchments for the main Nelson Mandela Bay supply dams have been below average rainfall. The water level has slowly decreased to the point where the four dams are at a combined level of less than 12% of their normal capacity. According to city officials, less than 2% of the remaining water supply is actually usable. Fresh in the minds of the people here is the water crisis of Cape Town in 2018, which was also caused by the previous, severe drought as well as management problems. The inhabitants of the city would stand in queues for their individual 50 liters of water every day, fearing to reach Day Zero. He never really got to this point, but he approached dangerously. The strict bulletin enabled the city to halve water use and prevent the worst. And without expecting heavy rain, Nelson Mandela Bay officials are so concerned about their own Day Zero that they are urging residents to dramatically reduce water use. They simply have no choice, said the municipality’s water distribution director, Joseph Tsatsire.
“While it is difficult to monitor how much each person consumes, we hope to convey the message that it is vital that everyone reduces their consumption to 50 liters per person per day,” he said.
To put it in perspective, the average American uses more than seven times as much, at 82 gallons (372 liters) per day. While parts of the city will probably never feel the full impact of a possible Zero Day, various interventions are underway to help residents in the so-called “red zones” where their fountains inevitably dry out. Earlier this month, the South African national government sent a high-level delegation to Nelson Mandela Bay to take on the crisis and implement emergency strategies to expand the latter of the city’s shrinkage. Leak detection and repairs were the focus, while plans are being made to extract “dead storage water” below current levels of supply dams. Drilling has been drilled at some sites for groundwater extraction.
Some of the interventions – including repairing leaks and transporting trucks into the water – mean that some who have lost their water supplies at home are starting to leak from their taps at night. But it is not enough and the authorities are looking for bigger, longer-term solutions to a problem that is predicted to worsen as the Earth warms up. South Africa is naturally prone to drought, but the kind of perennial droughts that cause such misery and disturbance are becoming more common. A desalination plant – for cleaning ocean water for public consumption – is being explored, although such projects require months of planning, are expensive and often contribute further to the climate crisis when fueled by fossil fuels. People in Kwanobuhle are anxious about the future, wondering when the crisis will end. At the shared fountain there, 25-year-old Babalwa Manyube fills her own containers with water while her 1-year-old daughter waits in her car. “Rinsing the toilets, cooking, cleaning – these are problems we all face when there is no water in the taps,” he said. “But raising a baby and worrying about water is a whole different story. And when will it end? No one can tell us.”

Customization at home

In Kwanobuhle, public housing is for people with little to no income. Unemployment is high and crime is rising steadily. The streets are full of people rushing for money. The old shipping containers function as makeshift barbershops. Right on the other side of the subway is Kamma Heights, a new green suburb perched on a hill with beautiful, unobstructed city views. It is noted by many newly built luxury homes and residents often appear to sit on their balconies, enjoying the last rays of the sun before the sun sets behind the horizon.
Some residents of Kamma Heights are wealthy enough to secure a back-up water supply. Rhett Saayman, 46, lets out a sigh of relief every time it rains and hears water flowing in the tanks he has set up around his house for the past two years. His plan to save money on water in the long run has proven to be an invaluable investment in securing his household water supply. The Saayman has a storage capacity of 18,500 liters. Water for general household use, such as bathrooms, passes through a 5 micron particle filter and a carbon block filter, while drinking and cooking water pass through a reverse osmosis filter. “We still rely on municipal water from time to time when we do not have enough rain, but it can be two or three times a year, and usually only for a few days at a time,” he said. “The last time we used municipal water was in February and since then we have had enough rain to sustain us.” He added, “Looking at the way things are going in the city, it’s definitely a relief to know that we have clean drinking water and enough to flush our toilets and take a shower. The investment pays off.” Residents in many parts of the bay area are urged to reduce their consumption so that water can be channeled through support pipes – temporary pipes placed in strategic locations, so that water can be diverted to areas of greater need. This means that some of the city’s more affluent neighborhoods, such as Kama Heights, could see a huge drop in their water supplies and will also have to line up in communal fountains, just as they do in Kwanobuhle. Looking to the future, local meteorological authorities have painted a worrying picture for the coming months, with some warnings that the problem had been left for so long, reversing it may be impossible. “We have been warning city officials about this for years,” said Garth Sampson, a spokesman for the South African Meteorological Service in Nelson Mandela Bay. “Whether you want to blame politicians and officials for mismanagement or the public for not saving water, it does not matter anymore. Pointing the finger will not help anyone. The point is that we are in crisis and there is very little we can do now. ». According to Sampson, the catchments that supply Nelson Mandela Bay need about 50 millimeters of rain over a 24-hour period to have a significant impact on dam levels. “Looking at the statistics of recent years, the best chance of seeing 50mm events will probably be in August. If we do not see significant rainfall by September, then our next best chance is just March of next year. Which is worrying.” , he said. “The only way this water crisis can end with a flood. But fortunately, or unfortunately – depending on who you ask – there are no forecasts that suggest rain of this magnitude any time soon.”