Cape Town continues to grow and it is essential to secure the long-term balance between available water resources and water demand. The Water and Sanitation Directorate of the City of Cape Town is in the process of updating its Water Conservation and Water Demand Management (WC/WDM) Strategy, in order to support the goal.
Considering this, the residents are encouraged to review and comment on the draft by Sunday, May 25, 2025.
The WC/WDM Strategy of the City of Cape Town was first approved by the Council in year 2007. It has been periodically reviewed to reflect the changing conditions and lessons learned. Over the passing years, Cape Town has made notable progress in implementing water-saving initiatives.
The achieved progress mainly includes:
- Proactive leak detection and repairs on water infrastructure
- Pressure management across the network
- Meter replacement programmes
- Tariff reviews to promote responsible usage
- Internal leak repairs for indigent households
- Ongoing public education and awareness campaigns
- The draft Water Conservation and Water Demand Management (WC/WDM) Strategy is also available
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Water and Sanitation – Councillor Zahid Badroodien said that the water is a vital resource that they all need to use responsibly. The public input is crucial because the water future depends on collective action.
The revised strategy outlines the planned interventions of the City of Cape Town for the next decade to ensure sustainable water use that improves water distribution system performance and reduce non-revenue water.
Notably, WC/WDM Strategy outlines major goals for the next coming 10 years. the City of Cape Town anticipates to reduce and maintain the non-revenue water (the water that is lost and not paid for) by the year 2034-35, by volume to below 20% of water supplied from 28.1% recorded in the year 2023-24.
City of Cape Town is also aiming to reduce and maintain water consumption by the year 2034-35 to below 150 litres per person per day of total potable drinking water supplied from 157 litres per person – per day as recorded for the year 2023-24.
The city is ready to ensure and maintain the ongoing effective management systems and water use efficiency measures. Cape Town must maintain WC/WDM as one of the key water service delivery strategies and must give priority to its implementation and ensure an ongoing adequate enabling environment.
The officials’ objective is also to reduce the projected drinking water demand to an average growth rate of not more than 1% per year. Once finalised, this updated strategy will replace all previous versions and guide the Directorate’s efforts to further meet the current and future water needs sustainably.