Cape Town’s crisis shows us the real cost of water

Sometime this summer, residents of Cape Town, South Africa, are expecting ‘Day Zero’ – the day when almost all the taps in the city will run dry. On that day, its 4 million inhabitants will have to queue at approximately 200 designated sites when they want water.

With all the attention on how Day Zero will impact household use, we are left to wonder what city residents will have to eat and how expensive that food will be. The region’s agriculture, which has long benefitted from nearly unlimited access to the local water supply, is also experiencing a rude awakening. And that’s a big part of the problem.

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