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Cape Town lowers water restrictions to Level 3

The City of Cape Town will lower water restrictions from Level 5 to Level 3 from December, it announced on Thursday.

This means that every person can now use 105 litres a day, up from 70 litres a day, Mayor Dan Plato said.

Tariffs will also be lowered. If residents use less than 6000 litres per month, they can now expect to pay 35.5% less.

Plato said the lowering would come into effect from December 1. This was following meetings between the national water and sanitation department and provincial water users and stakeholders.

READ MORE: Here are the City of Cape Town's guidelines for Level 3 water usage

Water mayoral committee member Xanthea Limberg explained that the city viewed 2019 as a "recovery year" after having successfully emerged from a severe and unprecedented drought.

As tourists start to flock to the Mother City for the festive season, businesses will be relieved to hear that the 40% restriction on their water usage has been removed.

The sector and citizens were asked to continue doing as much as it could for efficient water use.

Deputy Mayor Ian Neilson said: "This is not a complete abandonment of water restrictions, it is simply an adjustment to another level... we want to harness and look after this recovery".

He said the agriculture sector had suffered severely and incurred significant losses as a result of the drought.

It will thus only reduce water usage by 10%.

Neilson said it was very important that vines and fruit trees were not lost.

"If you lose orchards, the cost of replanting these are very significant."

Information on how much water and sanitation tariffs will be reduced can be found here and frequently asked questions about Level 3 restrictions can be found here.

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