According to Justin Williams at cape{town}etc, “… the city’s water inspectorate will begin to install devices to restrict water consumption at the addresses of offenders who made the City’s top 100 consumers list.” Apparently, Cape Town has only two months of water left before the reservoirs run dry.
Quite pathetic.
Everyone is going insane about this when the solution is all around us. The article and the City government are poking around in the dark when there’s a headlamp strapped onto their faces.
Privatize. The. Water. Supply.
The incoming water companies will immediately increase the price of water which will immediately lead to a noticeable decrease in water use. These high prices will persist until water levels have returned to normal, which will be much sooner in light of the higher prices.
If government is so inclined, it can give the poor water vouchers to purchase water if they are unable to afford it. But keeping government in control of the water supply, as we have now seen, is a bad idea. It does not accord with the laws of economics.
I get it. Privatization probably doesn’t solve every problem. But it certainly does solve this one.
In this article
