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Running dry: the 100 litre water challenge

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Mills and Trautman recently returned from a UN-endorsed global campaign to raise awareness of the global water crisis. Cape Town's new water restrictions will limit residents to using only 100 litres of water per day, and the duo urges Capetonians to come together as a city and commit to making their water resources last.

Read more: 8 easy ways you can save water at home

Their eight-week long expedition involved documenting water stories from six of the world’s most iconic rivers: the Colorado, Amazon, Murray, Yangtze, Nile and Thames. 

“The assignment made us acutely aware of how freshwater resources are lifelines for society, globally. It was sobering to see first hand the magnitude and far-reaching effects of this crisis,” Trautman said.

As part of their expedition, the duo spent time in Sao Paulo, a city that ran dry for five days in 2015.

“The stories people told us about those five days were hair-raising. I will never forget the expression on a local woman’s face when she explained what it was like when water stopped flowing from the taps. She said that chaos erupted all around the city. It sounded apocalyptic,” Mills said. 

Currently, under level 3b restrictions residents are using on average 350L of water per day, and to meet Level 4 restrictions of 100L residents will have to reduce their water use by another 70%. 

“A 24-hour-non-stop, 100km run sounds crazy, and that is the point. It is equally crazy to think we have allowed the city’s water shortage to get this severe without significant intervention or action,” Trautman said.

The run for water will start on Thursday June 1st at 09:00am and will end on Friday, June 2nd at 09:00am. The route will include the Atlantic Seaboard and CBD and anyone is welcome to join for sections of the run. 

The duo is also asking Capetonians to spread the #RunningDry100 message to let people know about the maximum water use limit of 100L per person, per day.  

Images: Supplied

Find #RunningDry100 on Facebook, Twitter and on the website.

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