South Africa Drought Reduces Water Supply as Curbs Sought
- Daily demand for water exceeding country's storage ability
- Gauteng province won't have `long-term' water shortages
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Water usage by customers of the biggest South African provider exceeds what it’s able to store by more than 1,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools each day as the nation experiences record temperatures and the worst drought in 23 years.
Daily demand by clients of Rand Water Services (Pty) Ltd. is currently 4.9 billion liters (1.3 billion gallons), while the system is storing only 1.9 billion liters, Water Affairs Minister Nomvula Mokonyane told reporters Friday in the capital, Pretoria. Normal demand is about 4.5 billion liters and storage about 5.8 billion liters, with the high temperatures raising evaporation rates, she said. An Olympic pool can hold 2.5 million liters.