Cape Town to become 1st major city to run out of water

As re: that last sentence, your cohort’s experience has been ... unusual. #husbandofarchitect

 

Planners, not architects.

 

Any in your cohort have the first name Art and faked the architect bit?

Wait, I may be screwing up my reference.

 

Hopefully by the people in the region, not by everyone in the country. The Feds don't pay for snow removal in the Rustbelt.

 

Was a bit of good news today as Day Zero got pushed back four days to April 16, due to people's conservation efforts. I mean, ultimately probably meaningless but I think it's first time they've pushed it back instead of forward.

My wife got into a mini Facebook debate (AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH) with a school friend of hers from back in the day. The woman is constantly showing pictures of her kids prancing around in a gigantic pool at their home. Yes, she is part of the problem, but, I pleaded with my wife, please don't turn this into an online fight. "I didn't, I was subtle about it."

Will be there in a week. Our flight always stops in Joburg first and we always use one of the lounges to take nice showers, before finishing the trek to Cape Town. It's usually just to refresh after the marathon flight. This time I might stay in that shower for 25 minutes since it'll be the last long shower for a month and a half.

 

Amid record heat and dry conditions, fears of another drought in California

 

Dangerously Low on Water, Cape Town Now Faces ‘Day Zero’

 

Update from our early days here: It just started raining tonight. My in-laws started celebrating. In big picture it won't do much of anything to fill the dams but every drop helps and a lot of people are collecting rain water so it's good for that.

Day Zero was bumped back to May 11, owing to a huge drop in water use by the agricultural sector.

I've showered once in four days. It's been all right, although I've also spent nearly every moment inside. Would be much smellier story if I'd been out at all in the African sun. It was a 2-minute shower and we had a big tub in the bath tub and used the plug so collected the water. No flushing when it's only pee. When we do flush we use the water that's collected in the tubs to fill the cistern, so that saves quite a bit of water and after first few times doing it now seems perfectly natural.

The plans for what they'd do if Day Zero does come remain fairly baffling -- where will the collection points go, how will people haul around the water, million other questions -- but in our little space in the city life without much water is going about as well as you could expect.

 

Thanks for the update STG. I suppose I could look this up, but how hot is it? I know it's summer, but you are further away from the equator than most of Africa.

And... is it a dry heat? (Probably not near the ocean).

 

Temps are like 70s and 80s, can get into 90s (winter, rainy season, it'll be in like the 50s and it can get cold in the homes because there's not central heating, etc.). But at night in the summer gets nice with two ocean breezes. The weather is basically perfect in the summer because there is no humidity. Johannesburg apparently has lots of humidity but Cape Town is great. Perfect weather, one of the most beautiful cities in the world....but no water.

The sun does affect you in a way it doesn't in the States. Just more draining. So even though it won't be scorching, or won't feel scorching, you'll burn much quicker and it just takes more out of me than it does back home.

Sidebar to the drought, the president, Jacob Zuma, is supposedly resigning. Or being impeached. Or is staying. Or is going to be arrested. Lots of drama.

 

Commentary: In drought-hit South Africa, the politics of water

The South African government, which is strongly aligned with the Palestinian cause, has snubbed informal offers of help made by the Israeli ambassador, according to the South African Jewish Report. Israel has substantial expertise in desalination technology, but last year the mere presence of a former Israeli ambassador on a panel to discuss water management aroused such protest that the event was cancelled.