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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Damian Carrington Environment editor

Swimming pools of the rich driving city water crises, study says

View from The Silo Hotel on Victoria and Alfred waterfront, Cape Town, South Africa
The study found the richest people in Cape Town, South Africa, used 50 times more water than the poorest. Photograph: imageBROKER/Alamy

The swimming pools, well-watered gardens and clean cars of the rich are driving water crises in cities at least as much as the climate emergency or population growth, according to an analysis.

The researchers said the vast difference in water use between rich and poor citizens had been largely overlooked in seeking solutions to water shortages, with the focus instead on attempts to increase supply and higher prices for water. They said the only way to protect water supplies was by redistributing water resources more equally.

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