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: Port Elizabeth
Storm activity over Nelson Mandela Bay area
31 May 2011, 8:17
Posted in Rainwater Harvesting, Water Tanks
Tagged Drought, Eastern Cape, Nelson Mandela Metropole, Port Elizabeth, Rain fall
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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
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.
What kind of droughts does South Africa experience?
A brief synopsis of drought in South Africa since 1960 -2005 Introduction The rainfall climate of South Africa is one of great variability. Seasonal rainfall percentage deviations since 1960 demonstrate wide fluctuations about the long-term average and it is in this context that large rainfall deficits must be assessed. Between July of 1960 and June of 2004, there have been 8 summer-rainfall seasons where rainfall for the entire summer-rainfall area has been less than 80% of normal. A deficit of 25% is normally regarded as a severe meteorological drought but it can be safely assumed that a shortfall of 20% from normal rainfall will cause crop and water shortfalls in many regions accompanied by social and economic hardship. Discussion All but the south-western and southern regions of South Africa rely on summer rainfall, which normally falls between October and March, the summer season. Rainfall is heaviest in the east and decreases westward. For convenience the rainfall season is taken to run from July until June of the following year, but rainfall outside of the summer season is usually insignificant. The consequence of rainfall being confined to six months of the year is that most crops can only be grown during … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, Energy Saving, Green, Grey Water Recycling, Rainwater Harvesting, Renewable Energy, safe water, Water Conservation, Water Tanks, Weather
Tagged Dam Levels, drought disaster area, Eastern Cape, Port Elizabeth, Rainwater Harvesting, Saving water, Solar, Solar geysers, Solar panels, Water shortage, Water tanks, Water usage, Yes Solar
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Use a Water Tank for your Garden
Using rainwater tanks is the perfect way for you to create the garden of your dreams and keep it green all year round. One of the biggest drains of a city’s water supply can come from people using their water for gardening. Most people enjoy the look of beautiful lawns and lush gardens, however this is using precious water that is needed for bathing, cooking or drinking. Gardens account for most of the water used in the home and is therefore the biggest domestic contributer to the water shortage. No matter what type of water problems you are experiencing and whether you stay in Western/Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Natal or anywhere else in the world for that matter, there is a way to have lush gardens without using up your city’s water supply. To build a system that is suitable for your garden, you need to calculate
50% Renewable energy by 2030 for South Africa – WWF
One-half of South Africa’s electricity generation could come from renewable energy sources by 2030, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said in a new report on Tuesday, 10 August 2010. “Renewable energy is not just an environmental issue anymore. It is about assessing the health of our economy going forward,” said WWF climate change programme manager Richard Worthington. He said that reaching the 50% renewable energy target by 2030 was distinctly feasible, despite the country’s heavy reliance on coal to produce electricity, and added that it was necessary to ensure low-carbon re-industrialization, which would be required under emission reduction commitments in the climate change arena. The report, entitled ‘Renewable energy in a just transition to sustainable electricity supply’, argued that South Africa had the potential to rapidly upscale its use of renewable energy, and with a combination of energy-efficiency measures, this would result in cheaper electricity over the medium term. The report also introduced the sustainable national accessible power planning (Snapp) tool, which was commissioned by the WWF, and was freely available on the Internet. The Snapp tool allowed for interrogation of government’s proposed energy plan, and allowed for the modeling of different energy scenarios, depending on the different inputs made. … Continue reading
Solar Water Heating
People have been using solar power for many years to heat up their water, light up their homes and for general low-voltage appliances. Solar power energy is now more easily accessible to the public than ever before, and millions of people around the world are installing solar geysers in their homes in order to save money on electricity consumption and thus helping the planet. Converting your home to use solar power can be a considerable undertaking, but the results are very rewarding. Going solar is a growing trend, but where do you begin the process? Solar power systems use energy from the sun – which is an unlimited source of renewable energy – and convert it into electricity or heat. The most practical place to start the process of conversion is with the installation of solar geysers on your roof. Solar water heaters use a roof-mounted, heat-absorbing panels (thermal collectors) to heat water with the power of the sun. The heated water is fed into a special solar geyser that stores the water. Firstly, you should find the most appropriate position suitable on your roof. The solar panels should not be shaded either by trees or any other obstacles. Even if … Continue reading
Why would I install a Water Tank when there is no rain?
This is a good question. Obviously a rainwater tank will not help if there is no rain at all. The thing is that most true drought occur inland whereas most of the population lives near the coast where it does rain. Sure we sometimes have dry seasons where we get below average rainfalls but even if you were to receive half of the average rainfall it should be enough to keep your tanks full for most of the year, if not all of it. This of course depends on the size of your rainwater tank and how much water you use but providing you have a reasonable size tank you should be right. Rainfall from 1990 – 1999 In Port Elizabeth 1990 441.8 Avg 569.41 1991 451.7 Lowest 441.8 1992 619.5 Highest 772.4 1993 638.7 1994 620.3 1995 513.1 1996 772.4 1997 539 1998 602.1 1999 495.5 For example, if you live in Port Elizabeth, where water restrictions are amongst the most severe the lowest rainfall in recent years was around 400mm, as shown in the table above for the years from 1990-1999. With a roof harvest area of 200 square metres you would collect around 80 000 litres. Port … Continue reading
Authorized Water Tank Dealers for JoJo Tanks
Water Rhapsody dealers have become authorized dealers for JoJo Tanks. Water tanks are available in a wide variety of sizes and dimensions – ranging from 100 litres through to 15000 litres. The most common tanks are the 2500 and 5000 litre tanks. The newest addition to the JoJo range is the Slimline tank, available in a wide variety of colours The elegant JoJo Slimline is 1800mm x 750mm, holts 750lt of water and fits easily through a regular door frame. Water Rhapsody can install your water tank as well as advise and supply you with the various filters (Rain runners). The full rainwater harvesting system (Grand Opus) is a system that pumps rainwater collected in the water tank, back into your home. For more information contact your Water Rhapsody dealer in the Eastern Cape to get a free quote on tanks or any of our other systems.
What would you do if Your Town Ran out of Water?
Instant panic! Immediate thoughts would turn to your family and home. The taps would open, but nothing would come out, there may be a little water left in your kettle, and some in your geyser. Then you may hear the news that the city will be out of water for a month. More panic, but what to do about it. First things first. You need water to drink. You race off to the shops, only to find a long queue, patiently and some not so patiently waiting to buy bottled water. You may be among the lucky ones that get in first. I once saw people in a holiday town, fight at the Spar for a limited number of Bread Rolls that were becoming available. Imagine if the scarce resource were water! Then you would think of a longer term plan. Get a water tank. Quickly! So you could harvest any coming rain off your roof. But think about this. There are only about 140,000 water tanks made each year in South Africa. And we have a population of about 50 million. So there would be a mad scramble for water tanks until they were sold out. Isn’t it just … Continue reading
