“Waters will burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert plain” – Isaiah 35:6, 7
Lessons from Cape Town’s Day Zero: Why Water Matters
In 2018, Cape Town faced a crisis that felt like something out of a movie—Day Zero, the moment when the city was at risk of running out of water. Dams were drying up, taps were almost turned off, and we had to change the way we used water. Suddenly, every drop mattered.
For months, we took two-minute showers, reused water, and carried buckets to flush toilets. Restaurants stopped serving tap water, and people lined up for daily rations. It was scary, but it also opened our eyes to how much we take water for granted.
Day Zero wasn’t just about Cape Town—it was a warning to the world. Climate change and water waste are real problems, and unless we act now, more cities could face the same crisis.
Even though the crisis passed, the lessons remain: saving water isn’t just for emergencies—it’s a daily responsibility. Simple actions like turning off taps, fixing leaks, and using water wisely can prevent another Day Zero.
We are the generation that can push for change. Water is life—let’s treat it like the precious gift it is, before it’s too late.
Dr Kevin Winter , a member at Christ Church in Kenilworth was one of the speakers at the Water Conference . Kevin was a member of the Water Resilience Advisory Committee, which provides advice to the City of Cape Town’s Water Resilience Task Team that was set up in response to the Cape Town water crisis (2016-2018)..
He says
“Reducing water demand and using it more carefully decreases the fossil fuel energy required to produce clean drinking water. The more water used in waterborne households, the more sewage needs to be treated in energy-intensive sewage systems. Therefore, it stands to reason that reducing and conserving water use reduces the expansion of our collective carbon footprint and lowers our environmental impact and the rate of climate change. Think water, think energy.”