Water supply to several areas affected as leak on Airport runway are fixed

The water supply to Walmer – below 7^th Avenue, South End, Forest Hill, Humewood and some surrounding areas, will be affected today as a result of a water leak being repaired on the runway of the Port Elizabeth International Airport. The work could result in some areas having no water and others experiencing low water pressure for at least eight hours.

The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality would like to apologize for any inconvenience caused by this unforeseen leak.

Issued on behalf of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality by Media Management Officer Kupido Baron (0827802726).

How strange it is that a department DEA (Department of Environmental Affairs) which ironically shares a ministerial portfolio with Water Affairs (DWEA) should suggest that fracking be given a chance and saying that there was “merit” in carrying out some hydraulic fracturing.  There were no merits in what was reported though the report did mention one demerit in what they had said viz – “the avoidance of the contamination of fresh water resources” in the Karoo.  So what in fact are the merits of fracking?  As there were no meritorious things mentioned we have a chance to look at some of the negative things.

• Shell’s employees are on record as having said that they wish to burn the methane gas produced from fracking wells on their pad sites.  These pads will be on somebodies farmlands, and they plan to generate electricity from the burning of the gas thus sending millions of tons of carbon dioxide per annum into the air.  This will supplement the CO2 already generated in South Africa from the burning of coal.  The question should be asked why use fossil fuels to generate electricity? Have they not heard that economists agree that it is now less expensive to generate electricity with renewables such as from photo voltaic panels i.e. solar energy than by using fossil fuels.
• Forever is a long time.  the process of well drilling involves a huge hole some four and a half kilometres into the ground and a lot further horizontally.  The frackers say that they will seal the sides of the hole to some depth with steel and concrete and do their methane extraction.  The concrete and steel they say will prevent gas and the toxic cocktail they use for fracking from escaping.  Furthermore Shell say that these will not leak, but they cannot guarantee this.  It takes only one of the tens of thousands of possible wells drilled to eventually leak, and the water in the Karoo will be spoilt forever.  Fracking in itself, causes earthquakes and each new drill hole may cause a previous capped hole to rupture.  The results – methane escaping into the groundwater.
• The next problem is the methane that escapes while the methane extraction itself is taking place.  In the USA the estimate for the amount of escaping methane is 4%.  This forms a whopping 28% of the sum total of all the escaping methane in the USA.  This is on spite of all the policing of the fracking there.  in South Africa we have no such police, and any recruits would easily be led astray with a very small bribe.
• Those advocating fracking say that the methane gas produced is much cleaner and less harmful the environment. That is true, but that does not include the flaring off of the harmful gases on their pads. The sum total of the gases are equally bad as coal.
• Shell say glibly that the returning toxic fracking fluids from the drill holes which jet up the well once the shale is fractured, would be dammed and taken away to municipalities for treatment in the  municipal sewerage treatment works.  Let us be absolutely clear about this: There is not a single sewerage treatment works in South Africa that could deal with this carcinogenic cocktail of fluids that will contain radioactive matter as well.
• Water:  where will the water come from to drill 60 000 wells several times, each frack requiring 20 million litres of water?  Shell say that they will truck in sea water!  The volume of sea water required is far bigger than the volume of water in the Vaal Dam.  This water would all be carried by Road!  Even worse for our roads would be that the truckloads of sea water would be a fraction of the total stuff that needs to be trucked backward and forward.
• As for the sister department – Water Affairs, this department has found itself having find billions of Rand for a solution to AMD (Acid Mine Drainage) and half a trillion of Rand for rapidly worsening countrywide sewerage and water treatment works, they now openly promote the merits of fracking. the very reason why it is left to the helpless department to sort out the AMD problems is that the mining companies at mined out places have gone away and abandoned their once profitable mines.  This department too is unable to get hundreds of mining companies to comply with a water license for existing and active mines.

If fracking should go ahead expect unprecedented food shortages, water shortages and air pollution.  Expect also further acidification of our oceans as carbon dioxide dissolves into the water. Extraction and burning of the presently stable methane gas will be a position from which there will be no return.

So given the negative side, please would DEA  tell us what the “merits” are?

Jeremy Westgarth-Taylor

Water Rhapsody

Relative low water demand shows that residents heeded conservation call

It is evident that residents are still responding to the call to safe water as the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality’s demand is relatively low for similar hot periods in the past when the water consumption is normally at its highest, said Standing Committee Chairperson for Infrastructure, Engineering and Energy, Cllr Andile Mfunda.

Water demand is currently still at an average of 250 megaliters per day as oppose to the ±300 megaliters that it can reach during summer.

His statement is especially meaningful as the country is currently celebrating National Water Week, spearheaded by the Department of Water Affairs that will culminate in World Water Day on Monday, 12 March.

 Cllr Mfunda thanked all citizens on behalf of the Municipality for their support in conserving water during the drought. “As part of the drought, we focused on Water Conservation and Water Demand Management, boreholes, the Nooitgedaght Low Level Scheme (NLLS) and a desalination plant. These four key areas will remain important into the immediate future.

“The NLLS is progressing well and completion of Phase 1 is scheduled for October 2012 with Phase 2 schedule for completion in July 2013 depending on the availability of funds. Desalination remains a long term intervention that the NMBM is pursuing to secure water for the future,” Mfunda added.

The ability of the NMBM to respond to water wastage is linked to the fact that all these incidents must be recorded at 0800 20 5050. Residents are therefore urged to continue reporting water and sanitation problems at this number. According to Cllr Mfunda much improvement has been achieved in this area, but much more can be done to improve this situation and thereby improve service delivery.

“The NMBM is committed to conserve its water resources for the future and therefore call on its citizens to walk with us to achieve this goal for our future generations,” Mfunda added. Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality’s well-known water conservation mascot, Thontsi, is still currently active to inform passersby of water saving tips as part of National Water Week.

Issued on behalf of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality by Media Management Officer Kupido Baron (082 780 2726/041 502 0000).

The Rhodes University Green Fund is designed to promote environmental sustainability at Rhodes and in Grahamstown more generally. This is a great opportunity for Grahamstown NGO’s to be part of the Grahamstown community and engage rivals through a team challenge. The idea is to challenge rivals (or friends) to enter and even race against each other.  Ideally, the losing team would make a donation of a mutually agreed penalty to the Green Fund.  Therefore, please:

-          encourage your staff and members to participate in the Green Fund Run, and

-          challenge competitors to enter the race.

The relay race

The race is at 4:30 pm on Sunday 18th March 2012 starting at the entrance to the Botanical Gardens on Lucas Street, Grahamstown.  The Green Fund Run is in the form of a relay of 3 legs.  Therefore, there will typically be 3 members per team each completing a distance of about 1.7 km (total distance = 5 km), but some teams may wish to have more than 1 member per leg while others may wish to have members complete more than 1 leg.  Therefore, team size may vary depending upon individual preferences.  Participants may walk or jog – teams are expected to complete the course in an hour.

Registration

Teams (ideally 3 members) or individuals are welcome enter the 5 km fun run/walk event. To enter, each participant is asked to make a minimum donation of R10 (see entry form). Entries will be taken:

-          Friday 16th March at a registration table outside the Rhodes University Library (09h00-15h00), or

-          Sunday 18th March, at least 30 minutes before the start, or

-          through deposits into the RU Green Fund account 621-455-03076, FNB branch code 210717, with reference “55258 769 372 + name of person/company”. Please bring proof of payment on the day as participants will be presented with a symbolic ticket.

“Prizes”

Certificates and symbolic prizes (a tree planted in honour of the achievement) will be awarded for:

-          Winning teams/individuals (first, second, third).

-          Best and second-best outfit – a weird, wild or wonderful outfit depicting world leaders’ lack of leadership on the issue of environmental sustainability,

 Contact

For more information, entry forms, challenge forms or adverts, please contact Zelda Kirstein (z.odendaal@ru.ac.za) or Fred Ellery (f.ellery@ru.ac.za) or phone 046 603 7002/3.

Opportunities to advertise

Organisations  are encouraged to advertise on the lawn at the start / finish of the race. You may advertise what you do or upcoming events. Please provide whatever you need to place a free-standing advert on race day, such as poles, pegs, ropes etc.  Hope to see you there!!

More info: www.ru.ac.za/environment/committee/greenfund/funrun

I am a green enthusiast, where I believe everybody has to play their role in preserving the community and the nature where we live for future generations to sustain. When South Africa is considered the numbers of people living in cities are much higher than compared to outskirts. When you have a closer look into the people in cities, most people travel to work from the same source to same destination for their daily work, by linking these people together few vital things can be achieved.

1. We can reduce the number of vehicles in our street, which in turn reduces traffic congestion.
2. We can reduce the amount of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere, which preserves our environment and gives cleaner air to breathe and contributes for slowing down factors related to global warming.
3. We can save more money which will improve our living standards.
4. It also reduces the number of parking places required.

By considering all these factors we have developed a website “www.TravelShareSouthAfrica.com” for the travelling people to communicate with each other. This website does not charge anything for the service provided, please make full use of the website and have a pleasant journey.

Website : www.TravelShareSouthAfrica.com

For more information please contact us at support@travelsharesouthafrica.com

With Regards
Team TravelShareSouthAfrica
(Avoid pollution & Save money)

It is expected that electricity will increase with a massive 25% , while rates and service charges are set to increase with between 12% and 14 %. This according to information received from DA Ward 2 Councillor, Dean Biddulph, with regard to the 2012/2013 Draft Budget that will be tabled at a joint meeting of the Mayoral Executive Committee and Budget and Treasury Committee on March 14.

An outraged Mr. Kobus Gerber, chairman of the Rate Payers Association in the metro said, “I find it ironic that the Municipality would table such proposed increases while the previous increases are still being disputed”. According to him the increased bankruptcy of businesses, leading to excessive job losses should indicate that the metro’s economy cannot sustain any further increases. “They are only impoverishing the public and halting the economy”.

Gerber said in difficult economic time, rate payers need alleviation, but instead the municipality is ‘milking the cow dry’. “Should they hike rates and taxes further beyond the means of individuals and businesses; the economy will undoubtedly be destroyed beyond repair’. He said the reason for the steep hikes is directly related to misappropriation of funds and bad business decisions by municipality individuals. “The metro should be run like a business, but the people in charge have no business skills or clue of how to run it successfully. Projects are approved to the value of millions of rands and then either fail halfway through the development phase or are completed and result in very expensive white elephants all around town”.

He said the only way in which the situation can be turned around is if individuals within the municipality is brought to justice for bad decision making resulting in emptying the public’s pockets to make up for losses. Gerber said the rate payers association currently has 18 actions against the municipality and hopes to bring all of these to court successfully. “We will be doing everything within our power to keep these increases to affordable levels.” said Biddulph. “The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality had spent 19.5% of its total budget of just over R8 billion by the end of the first quarter of the current financial year. Figures released by the National Treasury indicate that this figure is slightly higher than for the same period last year. The figures show that the Metro had spent R1.4 Billion of its operating budget of R6.6 Billion and R126.4 million of its capital budget of R1.4 billion,” said Buddulph.

Consider installing a Solar Geyser which will save 70%-80% of the electricity used for water heating. Contact Frans at 082 7712 062 or Ansie at 082 851 9761 from Yes Solar.

Residents from large parts of Nelson Mandela Bay could experience the disruption in their water supply by lunch time today after an electrical transformer at the Loerie Water Treatment Works malfunctioned last night.

This affects the pumping of water to some of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality’s supply reservoirs.Repairs to the transformer is under way but it is unlikely that power will be restored before 14:00 today.

The affected areas are Westering, Framesby, Sunridge Park, Kabega Park, Cotswold, Linton Grange, Lorraine, Ben Kamma, Kamma Park, Weybridge Park, Kragga Kamma, Sherwood, Kunene Park, Rowallan Park, Shauderville and Malabar.

Residents from these areas are requested to urgently cut the non-essential use of water.

Issued on behalf of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality by Media Management Officer Kupido Baron (082 780 2726/041 502 0000).

So waarsku Eskom, die nasionale kragvoorsiener, wat al vir die afgelope paar weke sukkel om aan die verwagte vraag te voorsien. Die kragvoorsiener- wat veral sukkel om die mas op te kom tussen 5nm en 9nm- voorspel n krag-tekort van 9 terrawatt uur. Dit is gelykstaande aan die operasionale bestuur van n 1000MW-kragstasie.

Volgens Roland Williams, munisipale direkteur van kommunikasie, is die Metro se elektrisiteit-aanvraag net onder 700MW. “Die Metro beskik nie eens oor n kragstasie of substasie wat naastenby 1000MW krag kan opwek nie.”

Eskom se uitvoerende hoof, Brian Dames, het gesê die kragstelsel sal vir die volgende 5 jaar onder geweldige druk verkeer. “Die instandhouding-agterstand het oor die jare onvolhoubaar geword. Spaarsamigheid wanneer dit by kragverbruik kom, het dus n noodsaaklikheid geword om ‘spasie’ te skep vir Eskom om sy  instandhoudingsskedule te implementer,” het Dames gesê.

Volgens Williams het Eskom die Metro verlede week gewaarsku dat daar n ernstige tekort aan krag is. “Ons moedig alle inwoners en besighede aan om krag so spaarsamig as moontlik te gebruik. Indien al ons verbruikers 10% van hule gewone verbruik bespaar, sal dit die taak vergemaklik om die kragstelsel in dié moeilike tyd te bestuur,” het Williams gesê.

PE EXPRESS – 08 Februarie 2012

Weereens n goeie tyd om n Solar Geyser te oorweeg. Ons water verhitting in die huis gebruik 30% – 50% van ons maandelikste elektrisiteit. n Solar Geyser kan 70%-80% daarvan bespaar!  Kontak Yes Solar: Frans 082 7712 062 of Ansie 082 851 9761 om meer uit te vind.

This smart device will allow you to view your water tank levels from the comfort of you home or office. The kit contains an electronic gauge which measures the water level in your tank and transmit that information to a receiver located where you can comfortably monitor it. Communication distance to the receiver is greater than 200m, and measurement resolution is down to 1cm.

Get yourself one and you will be the lucky person monitoring the water level of your JoJo tank from the comfort of your favourite armchair!

AVAILABLE FROM WATER RHAPSODY EC FOR  ONLY R1127 incl. (R1495) with installation in Port Elizabeth.