In June 2020, Cape Town ETC reported that the City of Cape Town had decommissioned its temporary Strandfontein desalination plant on 17 June, a month ahead of schedule. Over roughly two years it had supplied 3.8 billion litres of drinking water while the drought pushed the city towards running dry. The early shutdown followed a request from the contractor, who pointed to demand at other sites; the city said it bore no costs. An environmental control officer was to oversee site restoration.
The report showed that Cape Town treated the emergency plant as a learning project, citing its operating experience as a basis for permanent large-scale desalination under the city's water strategy.
Source: Cape Town ETC