50 Liters Life

50 Liters Life is a documentary telling the story of the worst drought ever to occur in South Africa between 2015 and 2018. Because of irregular rainfalls, the Government was forced to ask citizens to reduce drastically water consumption down to just 50 liters per person, per day in order to conserve their most precious resource. Whilst strategies carried out by the most ingenious citizens in order to save water have led to good results, on the other side of the conversation, the future of agriculture and the effects this had on the poorest fringe of the population is still unknown, giving rise to disputes around the city.

The target of 50 liters per day can be easily spent! A few examples of our daily use that are hard to imagine include:

• 1 toilet flush = 9 liters
• 1 shower = an average of 7.5 liters per minute, depending on the shower.
• 1 dishwasher cycle = 9 liters
• Laundry = 10 liters
• Drinking water = 3 liters per person
• Cooking = 2 liters

However, as the rules were enforced, citizens got used to changing their lifestyles and were wasting less water. What the city of Cape Town did to deal with the drought has never been attempted before in the world. This documentary explores the ways it was managed, and the difficulties the residents had in collecting their water. Work and school schedules had to allow for the collection per person – and doing so without a car was a challenge many citizens had to solve themselves. The entire situation provides a lesson that other countries can learn from South Africa, whether or not they are at risk of running out of a water. This could be a model of sustainably regardless of its need.

So, is it possible to live a 50 litre life?