The kejptaun could become the first big city in the world to stay without stock of fresh water.
Patricia de Lille, the mayor of the South African city, said that the available water supplies will last for a maximum of 90 days, until April 22, if residents meanwhile do not reduce water consumption.
For this reason, water consumption is limited to 87 liters per person per day.
Citizens are advised to take down the shower for two minutes, to limit the use of washing machines, to recycle water from the bathroom and not to use water for watering their gardens.
This crisis is due to three-year drought and low precipitation, combined with increasing population and increased water consumption.
Reserves in the dams currently account for less than 30 percent of full capacity, and once the level of 13.5 percent of capacity is reached, the authorities will have to turn the taps to everyone except for the most important institutions, like hospitals.
If this happens, citizens will have to put themselves in some 200 nearby municipalities, where they will be able to get a maximum of 25 liters of water.
