The City of Cape wants to introduce Level 4 water restrictions which would ban all use of municipal water for outside and non-essential use and limit residents to 100 litres of water per person per day.
This means no car washing, watering of gardens, irrigation with municipal drinking water at all, and no new golf courses or sports fields to be built unless they will be watered with non-potable water.
Should Council approve the restrictions, it will be in effect from June 1.
The Level 3 restrictions had allowed watering by watering can for an hour on Tuesday and Saturday, but that would be out of bounds if the Level 4 restrictions are passed. Filling and topping up swimming pools would also not be allowed.
The Level 4 restrictions would also come with sanitation tips such as using old bath water to fill the toilet cistern and not flushing each time the toilet is used.
''Use water only for drinking, cooking and essential washing,'' a city statement said.
It wants every Capetonian to use no more than an overall 100 litres of water a day.
“Every single drop that is wasted or saved is making a difference to our dam levels,” said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Informal Settlements, Water and Waste Services; and Energy, Councillor Xanthea Limberg.
The proposed fines for overuse still have to be approved by the council and the Chief Magistrate, but they range between R1 000 and R5 000 for a spot fine.
In the meantime, the city continues with its pressure reduction programmes across the metro which forcibly reduces supply at a given time. Other emergency interventions are under way, and if required, the City will start to implement a lifeline supply of water across the metro.
The city will announce the Level 4 restrictions if they are approved by council.