City of Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille says two-minute showers, doing laundry once a week and leaving dishes in the sink help keep her personal consumption below 90 litres a day.
In a tweet on Wednesday, De Lille revealed the daily average water consumption of her household in Pinelands.
"Capetonians challenged me to share my water bill. Here it is: We're three people and four dogs at home, using 267 litres per day. Let's #ThinkWaterCT," De Lille tweeted.
In August, the City of Cape Town introduced Level 5 water restrictions, whose aim is to limit water consumption to 87 litres per person per day.
When De Lille was asked by a Twitter user why her water consumption was above the city's target, she replied: "My family and I are working to reduce our water use further. I hope you are too."
Her spokesperson, Zara Nicholson, told News24 that the mayor stopped filling her swimming pool early in 2016 and only washes her vehicles with waterless carwash products.
The mayor uses the city's water calculator app to calculate her daily consumption and reduce it where necessary, Nicholson said.
"The mayor wants to encourage people in houses and people in their workplaces to see who can save the most water and also save them money with a very low water bill by using this application."
Facebook users praised the mayor's honesty about her water consumption.
Sarah-Kim Boyd said: "Everyone could do better if they were judged by other people's standards. She's making a difference with the amount she uses and that's okay. I think she's brave for sharing it."
Andrea Lachner said De Lille's consumption could definitely be lower.
"However, I think this is being honest rather than posting a MUCH lower usage," Lachner commented on the Water Shedding Western Cape Facebook group.
Bryan Bruton questioned whether De Lille would be labelled a water abuser and penalised accordingly for using 2 litres more than the target.
On Monday, the city said it would be fining domestic users who consistently use more than 20 000 litres per month.
The commercial sector, where water usage has not declined, must also bring consumption down by 20% year-on-year or face penalties, mayoral committee member for water and waste services Xanthea Limberg said in a statement.