CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA — One of the biggest cities in South Africa may soon become the first major city in the world to run out of water.<br /><br />Cape Town is facing a water crisis, and has less than a hundred days before "Day Zero" on April 21, when the water supply is expected to run out, according to the South African.<br /><br />Years of extreme drought have caused storage levels in dams to drop below 30%. Once it falls to 13.5%, taps in the city will be shut off.<br /><br />Local authorities restricted water usage to 87 liters per person per day, but after only 39% of residents complied, the limit has now been lowered to 50 liters.<br /><br />Its four million residents are being told to take 2-minute showers, and have been banned from filling pools, watering gardens, or washing cars.<br /><br />Households that go over their water allowance will also be asked to pay higher tariffs.<br /><br />After "Day Zero", citizens will need to line up at one of 200 water collection points throughout the city, where each can collect a maximum of 25 liters a day.<br /><br />Authorities have also been looking into alternative ways to source water, like wastewater recycling, drilling into aquifers, or seawater desalination.
