The City of Windhoek is facing severe water scarcity, and a 15% water-saving target has been set for all residents in the city. 

The capital city has been facing drought since July, and the municipality has resorted to enforcing strict water savings measures that came into effect on Sunday. 

As the water situation in the central part of Namibia worsens, the City of Windhoek has put in place stringent water-saving measures under Category D, which is severe water scarcity, such as implementing penalty rates for high water consumption levels for domestic or postpaid consumers. 

The penalties do not apply to the first six cubic metres or 6,000 litres of water to be consumed per household monthly. 

This means the lowest tariff applies to households that consume about 6,000 litres per month and will be charged N$24.41 per litre.

The CoW has also prohibited outdoor watering and irrigation between 10:00 and 16:00.

It has, however, given permission for the watering of plants to be done with semi-purified water once a week. 

Cars should only be washed at certified car wash services with permits, while fleet washing is only limited to once a month unless required for health and safety, and street cleaning can only be done with semi-purified water. 

Swimming pools should not be filled with drinking water and must remain covered, while public pools' operating hours will be reduced.

Fountains and waterfalls are not allowed to operate. 

Commercial, and industrial processes or construction are subjected to water restrictions and urged to prioritise water-saving measures or make use of semi-purified water where possible. 

The reuse of water is strongly encouraged.

The CoW says it will embark on an intensive community awareness campaign with weekly consumption updates while fines and disconnection for non-compliance will be implemented.

It is projected that NamWater can only supply Windhoek with 148,822 cubic metres of water per week, compared to the projected demand of 498,631 cubic metres per week. 

This is only 30% of Windhoek's water demand, leaving the remaining 70% to the City of Windhoek's managed water resources, namely the Potable Reclamation Plant and the Windhoek Aquifer.

The city's Water Management Plan, Category D, requires a 15% water savings target, with a new weekly water consumption of 498,631 cubic metres, 22% potable water reclamation weekly supply capacity, and 33% weekly supply capacity from the Windhoek aquifer. 

The municipality commended residents for their ongoing efforts to use water sparingly and urged all water consumers to continue conserving water and adhering to the restrictions.