Times Times Live reports the landlord said his rental agreements state that water allowances are recommended by the City of Cape Town. Tenants are also advised of the water restrictions when they move in.
“The lady was using excessive amounts of water. She would use up to 400 litres of water a day. I have a meter on the toilet and it showed that she flushed the toilet 22 times in one day,” said the landlord.
Despite being warned about high water usage, the tenant did not comply and was therefore asked to leave. The landlord said he may lose out on rental income, but that the need to save water in Cape Town due to ongoing droughts was more important.
Meanwhile MoneyWeb reports Cape Town has tightened water usage restrictions, banning the use of potable water to irrigate gardens, wash cars or top up swimming pools, as it confronts its worst drought on record and a delay to the onset of the winter rainy season.
The level of usable water in dams that supply South Africa’s second-largest city and top tourist attraction dipped below the 10% mark in the first week of June, down from 20% a year a ago. While Capetonians cut average daily summer consumption to 666 million liters (176 million gallons), from 1.1 billion liters a year ago, that’s still shy of the city’s 600-million-liter target.
