South Africans flush toilets with drinkable water: why not use seawater instead?

By The Conversation | Published Apr 10, 2025

As the planet gets hotter and freshwater sources dry up, cities and towns will not be able to continue the global norm of using millions of litres of clean, drinkable water to flush toilets. South Africa’s Water Research Commission recently commissioned a study into using seawater to flush toilets in Cape Town.