Taking the good from CT’s water crisis

When searching for a new home by checking out listings of property for sale in Krugersdorp, Cape Town’s water crisis is likely to be the last thing that you would think about, but it could benefit you to see how the drought impacted on the way their residents live.

Gauteng almost had its own water crisis years ago, before some heavy rains completely eased concerns. Cape Town was not as lucky though, and they almost became the world’s first major city to run out of water. This is no exaggeration, as a date had been set by local government for what was termed Day Zero – the day that taps would no longer supply water to residents and collection points would need to be set up.

The disaster touched almost all aspects of life, with buildings in the city shutting off taps in bathrooms and instead supplying waterless hand sanitser. Hotels and guesthouses pulled the plugs from bathtubs and urged visitors to help save water.

Even the property market felt the impact, with estate agents suffering stock concerns while buyers had been put off by the situation. Holiday rentals were hurt too, with low occupancy levels recorded during the crisis. It took until halfway through 2018 for there to be positive movement in this regard, but Harold Kolnik, who is the principal for Jawitz Properties South Peninsula, says that even now, many regular visitors are unaware of how things have changed.

Solid rain in winter allowed dam levels to finally breach the 50% mark, which signalled good news for residents who now had at least two years of water security.

However, even though it was tough, residents did gain some valuable insight on how to save water, and these skills could prove highly valuable for many years to come. Around the province, people started making use of grey water systems and personal storage tanks, which in turn helped lower their dependency on water supply from the government for everyday needs.