Category Archives: Climate Change

Harvest Rainwater with Jojo Tanks!

It’s time to start preparing to harvest rainwater at your house of business. Be ready to collect rainwater for your house, garden, your pool, laundry or for whatever need you might have for rainwater. As Jojo Dealers and one of their listed preferred installers, Water Rhapsody is offering the 2500l for R1550 and the 5000l for R2785 (incl VAT & Delivery) until the end of October 2011. So hurry, order your tank(s) now and we will visit you for a no-obligation quote on the installation thereof. We might be in the unfortunate position of having water restrictions again in the future, so start now becoming independent of Municipal supply. Saving water is an excellent way to show that you care and are willing to do your little bit to help. Whether you store just a small amount to reduce your use of the municipal supply or get off the grid completely,it will be beneficial for the entire community and for future generations.

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Subsidies vir sonkraggeisers droop op!

Die installering van laedruk-sonkraggeisers in die Baai is voorlopig gestaak omdat Eskom se subsidies daarvoor opgedroog het. Die sondraggeisers is n Eskom-projek en word deur hom gefinansier. Sowat 30 586 geisers is al by regeringshuise hier aangebring. George Ferreira, van die maatskappy wat die geisers installeer, het gesê hulle het al 120 000 huishoudings voorsien. Ferreira het op n onlangse komiteevergadering oor infrastruktuur, ingenieurswese en energie gesê die projek is gestaak weens geldnood en hy weet nie wannneer dit hervat sal word nie. Volgens Mnr. Ferreira spaar huiseienaars  maandeliks sowat R30 aan krag met laedruk- sonkrag-geisers. Hulle het egter heelwat probleme ondervind tydens die installering. “Talle huiseienaars wat by hul huise laat aanbou het se dakke voldoen nie aan die standaarde nie en ons kon nie installasies doen nie. Ons het ook enkele lekke ondervind omdat vullertenks wat plaaslik vervaardig en SABS-goedgekeur is, foutief was. Ons moes 6000 van die vullertenks vervang. Sommige foutiewe krane is vervang. Van die geysers wat verkeerd geïnstalleer is, het van huiseienaars se dakke afgewaai.” Dié probleme het veroorsaak dat die maatskappy nie soveel wins gemaak het as wat hy aanvanklik bereken het nie. Helga van Staaden – PE Express, 21 September 2011

Posted in Climate Change, Go Green, Solar Energy, Solar Geysers, Solar Power, Solar Water Heating | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Global Water Scarcity

Threat or Opportunity for Aquaculture? (An Article by Leslie Ter Morshuizen from Aquaculture Innovations) The shortage of suitable freshwater resources is fast becoming a global catastrophe. How do we know this? In the 20th century the global population tripled and currently 220 000 people are born daily. This population growth, along with industrialisation and urbanisation, has resulted in several countries facing serious water shortages. A direct result of this is that 50% of hospital beds are occupied by sufferers of poor water related conditions. It may seem hard to believe, but globally more people have cellular phones than access to a toilet. And water usage in agriculture? Well, 70% of freshwater resources are allocated to agriculture. Practical usage includes: 25 000 ℓ of water to raise 1 kg of beef 4 000 ℓ to raise 1kg of chicken 1 120 ℓ to produce a cup of coffee 125 ℓ to produce a sheet of paper (please don’t print this!) As a result of this looming water crisis, social and government agencies are looking for ways in which to limit new water allocations, reduce the usage by existing users and improve the quality of effluent water. This is all in an … Continue reading

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Wind Power in South Africa

Kilian Hagemann, director at G7 Renewable Energies (one of SA’s leading large-scale wind farm developers), rates wind power as the leading technology available to meet South Africa’s renewable energy targets. “It’s the only technology that has really been successfully rolled out on a large scale worldwide and we have a wide variety of international projects to learn from to ensure a successful implementation in SA. According to Hagemann, South Africa can expect to see its first large-scale wind farms operating in late 2013 if the procurement process is concluded by the end of this year.” “We expect the SA market for wind-power to grow significantly over the next three years. I’ve had various meeting with role-players,  including government officials, and it seems clear to me that the current SA administration is intent upon moving increasingly towards renewable as far as energy supply is concerned.” Applications for at least 88 wind farms have been received by the Eastern and Western Cape authorities and some of these wind farms are expected to have as many as 600 turbines located on them.

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I will die for water

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No vision in Karoo fracking plans

A well written article from the Green Times: What is it going to take to stop the plans to threaten our sensitive Karoo region from being destroyed by Shell’s plans to blow it apart in search of natural gas? A controversial application by oil giant Shell to explore for gas in an area of the Karoo should be put on hold, the Democratic Alliance said on Tuesday.

Posted in Climate Change, Dam Levels, Rainwater Harvesting, Renewable Energy, Water Conservation, Weather | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Radio Interview with Water Rhapsody’s Founder

We are proud to share this interview with Jeremy Westgarth-Taylor on SAFM  with everybody. After reading through this, we hope the necessity of harvesting rainwater, specially through the Water Rhapsody System, will become not only a consideration to you, but a must-have to all households and businesses. Try to make use of natural water supply to help keep you going during the times when water is scarce. Radio Interview on SAFM 104 – 107 with Karabo  14hr30. 18 January 2011 TRANSCRIPT NOT VERBATIM Are we doing enough to control flooding?  On the line we have Jeremy the founder of Water Rhapsody.  Welcome Jeremy, are we doing enough to control flooding? J Flooding should not be seen as a bad thing.  Water that reaches the sea from rivers is not wasted water.  Estuaries need floods to be able to function as estuaries. Rivers need to have the mouths to the sea scoured from flooding which makes a flood a good thing.  Estuaries are places where sea fish swim during floods to breed and spawn to procreate more, and because of over extraction of water from rivers, there is between three and four percent of fish left in the sea that there … Continue reading

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What is Climate Change?

Outline of the potential problem of climate change and its cause as understood by the South African Weather Service The climate of the world varies from one decade to another, and a changing climate is natural and expected. However, there is a concern that the human industrial and development activities of the past two centuries have caused changes over and above natural variation… What is climate change? Climate change is the natural cycle through which the earth and its atmosphere are going to accommodate the change in the amount of energy received from the sun. The climate goes through warm and cold periods, taking hundreds of years to complete one cycle. Changes in temperature also influence the rainfall, but the biosphere is able to adapt to a changing climate if these changes take place over centuries. Unfortunately, human intervention is currently causing the climate to change too fast. (Climate models predict that the mean air temperature over South Africa will increase by an estimated 2°C over the next century.) Plants and animals may not be able to adapt as quickly to this rapid climate change as humans can, and therefore the whole ecosystem is in danger. What causes climate change? … Continue reading

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Grahamstown: Limited Water

“Serious water shortage in Grahamstown causes some areas  to have access to water only one hour per day. It is especially rural settlement Vukani that are being hit by this the worst. During a public meeting earlier this week held by The Movement for Unemployed People, it became clear that the only hour water would be available is during the middle of the night. Around 50 people, mostly woman, from the Vukani Location attended the meeting. Prof. Denis Hughes, the Director for Water Research at Rhodes University acted as chairperson for the meeting. Both the Makana Municipality’s municipal manager, Me. Ntombi Baart and Mr. Dabula Njilo, director of Technical and Infrastructural Services were expected to attend the meeting to explain to the public what the state of the situation is, but none showed up.” Die Burger, 26 Nov’10 – Anna-Karien Otto Let this not be said from your town one of these days. Try to start changing your lifestyle and think different about water and the usage thereof. Contact Water Rhapsody to give you a quote on greywater re-use, recycling your pool’s backwash water, saving the amount of toilet flushing-water, being prepared to harvest rainwater etc. Do what you can … Continue reading

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Water Tanks -6 Reasons Why You Should Have One

There was a time – not that long ago – when almost every house had its own water tank and harvesting rainwater was something that just happened during the course of life, not a big environmental event. But as more and more people moved into towns and cities, we started using fresh town water and the tanks began to disappear from view. But in this time of drought when green citizens are trying to reduce their carbon footprint, water tanks have once again become a household fixture – and for more than just environmental reasons. A water tank is good for the environment, yes, but is also good for your lifestyle and your hip pocket. Here are some good reasons to install a water tank at your home or business: 1. Save water Water shortages resulting from the drought have made it more important than ever to conserve the water we have. South Africa receives from the least rainfall of all inhabited continents and water is the most valuable resource we have – we need it to live! 2. Keep town drinking water for drinking Instead of wasting fresh drinkable water on the garden, to wash the car or flush … Continue reading

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