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Episode details

World Service,15 Feb 2018,23 mins

Why is Cape Town Running Out of Water?

The Inquiry

Available for over a year

It is feared than in a few months’ time Cape Town could run out of water. The city is planning for so-called Day Zero when the supply is switched off and people will have to collect water rations. Cape Town is an extreme example of what is now a global phenomenon of water scarcity. We investigate how the city got so close to the brink, and whether there’s anything that other cities around the world can do to avoid a similar fate. (image: A man collects drinking water from taps that are fed by a spring in Newlands,Cape Town at the foot of Table Mountain. Photo credit: Rodger Bosch/Getty Images.)

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