Rainwater Harvesting
It is now viable to harvest rainwater for your whole household. This includes rainwater harvesting, storing and pumping rainwater for bathing, showering, toilet flushing, pool, laundry and irrigation. Rainwater harvesting together with other Water Rhapsody products can save up to 90% of your water bill.
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Tag Archives: Natural Resources
Kouga Dam Yesterday
Morning ! Just want to share this beautiful picture of Kouga Dam with you from yesterday, what a amazing site !!! Regards Victor It truly is! Thank you for sharing this with us Victor. -Water Rhapsody Eastern Cape
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
Posted in Climate Change, Water Conservation
Tagged going green, Natural Resources, Water Conservation
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Latest Rainfall Figures in Eastern Cape
EASTERN CAPE 03 July 2011 CAPE ST FRANCIS 28 FLOWER RESERVE 10 JOUBERTINA AWS 01 NGQURA (COEGA) 03 PORT ELIZABETH 11 THIRD AVENUE DIP 26 TSITSIKAMMA 15
The Nooitgedacht Low Level Scheme
While the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro still suffers from strict water restrictions, the Municipality has in the meantime started with the upgrading of the Nooitgedacht Low Level Scheme. This upgrade, at a cost of R450 million, is aimed at allowing an additional 70Ml of water to be pumped into the distribution network every day. Nooitgedacht brings water from the Gariep Dap through the Sundays River Valley to provide water for areas like Uitenhage, Despatch, Deal Party and Blue Water Bay. According to Kupido Baron, Municipal Spokesperson, nine contracts in total will be awarded for this project, of which two have already been granted. These two contracts are the laying of pipes, which are more than 1meter in circumference. He added that the project will be fully implemented from July 1 this year and should take about 16 months to complete. This project was part of the municipality’s long term planning, and was planned to be implemented in 2013. It was decided to start with this project as early as possible because of the ongoing drought. -Port Elizabeth Express
How to make your Harvested Rainwater pay for itself.
After some frequent rain in the Eastern Cape the water tanks are all filled to the brim; yet not enough rain has fallen to fill up our dams and alleviate the water restrictions. What to do with all that water then? Your garden doesn’t need any water now and your swimming pool is probably full and not being used as frequently in this icy weather. Why not let your rainwater harvesting system pay for itself? By using your harvested rain water instead of municipal water, you not only save money on your water bill but also on your sewerage costs. Municipalities charge for sewerage based only on the volume (number of kilolitres) of water that you consume. You are charged for the amount of water that has run through the water meter and the same goes for your sewerage charge. If less water runs through your meter and rather from your full water tank, the lower your water AND sewerage charge will be. What to do with all that rainwater in your tank? • Pump it through your whole household • Toilet flushing • Laundry washing machine The installation can be as simple as a pump connected to the tank … Continue reading
Calculation of average capacity of water supply dams.
According to Kupido Baron, spokesperson for the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, the rain was just in time, as the average level of the dams was very close to to 30%. This would have meant that the Municipality would make drastic decisions regarding the water scarcity and that quotas/contingents could be implemented. The average level of the dams before the rain was at 31.3%. How the average capacity of dams is calculated: Each dam has a full supply capacity expressed as a volume in Mega liters (Ml). The percentages that are reported weekly represent the volume of water left in each dam, expressed as a percentage of that particular dam’s full volume. The volume for each dam is different. One cannot add up the percentages and divide by five. The volume left in all the dams (example 96 906 Ml) is then expressed as a percentage of the total volume (277 401 Ml) if all the dams were full. Therefore 96 906 Ml divided by 277 401 Ml gives 34.93%. Have your rainwater harvesting system installed by Water Rhapsody and become independent of supply dams. Contact us for a quotation.
Dam Levels as on 03 May 2011
The dams levels are indicated below and reflects a total level of 31,4% which is ever closer to the 30% level, where more stringent water restrictions will be imposed . Major Storage Dams supplying the Metro Dam Capacity Volume of water Kouga 37,5% 48 217 Ml Churchill 30,9% 11 002 Impofu 19,0% 18 658 Loerie 37,8% 1 482 Groendal 67,2% 7 826 Total 87 185 Ml Average daily consumption for the period 19 April to 30 April 2011 was 238 Ml Average daily consumption for April was 245 Ml Our target is to remain under 250 Ml per day Make use of Water Rhapsody’s unique water conservation systems to minimize your daily consumption. Have a look at our systems on the Product Demonstration Page. Contact us for more information or a quotation.
Water a commodity or a resource?
This is all about water, the stuff we drink, wash in, use it as a medium to carry away our urine and fecal matter, and irrigate our gardens. Furthermore industry and commerce use evaporation of water for cooling in air conditioning plants, and a whole host of other uses. When referring to water do we know the difference between water as a commodity and resource?
Securing energy needs
Everyone in the energy (petroleum) industry talks about security of supply. In the case of electricity security of supply, feedstock (mainly coal) for base-load power station is locally available, whereas in the petroleum industry analysts are concerned that almost 100% of crude is imported into SA. This is seen as a major risk to the country, considering that the bulk of crude imports are from Middle East. So when the Petroleum Agency of SA permits companies to investigate the availability of shale gas plans, this is the opportunity for SA to minimize the risk that experts talk about — of crude processed in South African refineries imported from the Middle East. One just needs to read the Energy Security Master Plan — Liquid Fuels that was published in August 2007 to see the government’s concerns about security of supply. The energy plan supports the promotion of local production of liquid fuels and recommends a policy of limited imports. In other words, companies search for crude, shale gas, natural gas, and mine more coal, etc. In the energy plan it is mentioned that in support of energy security and the balance of payments, there is a need for the maintenance of … Continue reading
Hydraulic Fracturing planning in the Karoo
Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, has been used since the 1950s to stimulate oil and gas wells. The process involves pumping a sand-laden slurry into a well and subjecting it to enough pressure that the rocks in the productive formation fracture, or break. The purpose of the sand is to prop open the fracture, so it stays in place. The carrying fluid can then flow back out of the well, along with oil and gas if it’s been a successful frac. The technique of hydraulic fracturing is used to increase or restore the rate at which fluids, such as oil, gas or water, can be produced from a reservoir, including unconventional reservoirs such as shale rock or coal beds. Hydraulic fracturing enables the production of natural gas and oil from rock formations deep below the earth’s surface (generally 5,000-20,000 feet or 1,500-6,100 m). At such depth, there may not be sufficient porosity and permeability to allow natural gas and oil to flow from the rock into the wellbore at economic rates. For example, creating conductive fractures in the rock is essential to produce gas from shale reservoirs because of the extremely low natural permeability of shale. The fracture provides a conductive path connecting a larger area of the … Continue reading
Posted in safe water, Water Conservation
Tagged Drought, eco-friendly, Fracking, Global Concern, Karoo, Natural Resources, Water sources, Water usage, Waterproblem
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