Dry Days Ahead: How swimming pools of the rich are leaving cities parched

A new study reveals that the wealthy elite’s lifestyle choices are the primary cause of severe water shortages in cities.

The study was published in Nature Sustainability and focuses on Cape Town, South Africa, where an urban water shortage means that many underprivileged people live without taps or toilets and use their limited water sources for drinking and personal hygiene.

It found that wealthy individuals use excessive amounts of water for their own personal pleasure, including filling up their swimming pools, watering their gardens, and washing their cars.

Professor Hannah Cloke, a hydrologist at the University of Reading who co-authored the study said, “Climate change and population growth mean that water is becoming a more precious resource in big cities.”

In the past 20 years, severe water shortages have affected more than 80 cities across the globe, including Miami, London, Mexico City, Rome, Cape Town, Moscow, Chennai, Beijing, Tokyo, and Melbourne.

Cape Town, South Africa’s capital, also experienced a devastating drought that resulted in “Day Zero,” an unprecedented water crisis from 2015 to 2017.

The researchers point out that problems affecting Cape Town were common to many other cities and important to how those cities were making future plans.

According to the report, 13.7 per cent of Capetonians are considered to be “privileged” and live in homes with gardens and swimming pools and use water at rates that are unsustainable.

A little over 40 per cent of people reside in low-income neighbourhoods, and another 21 per cent do so in unofficial settlements.

The absolute poorest people only use roughly 178 litres per day, whereas the richest can use more than 2,100 litres per home daily.

More than one billion people are expected to encounter water shortages in cities in the future years, and the most vulnerable individuals will be at the greatest danger.

The study concludes that the only way to preserve available water resources is to change privileged lifestyles, limit water use for amenities, and more evenly distribute income and water resources.