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.
-
Tag Archives: safe water
Water Rhapsody provide in all your needs!
I read in a newspaper article today, all the Alternative ways to use your rain water. To start with, Water Rhapsody will help you to install water tanks at your premises. We will help you to decide which size water tank for the size of your house you need and will suit you best. By adding our unique device called a Rain Runner at every down pipe, the water is sieved clear before it reached your water tank. Usually the harvested rainwater are being used to irrigate your garden and lawn, but there are many more ways you can utilise your water and conserve municipality water: ” Only recently introduces in South Africa there is now a controller system on the market which can switch automatically between municipal supply and rainwater tanks, based on whether or not there are rainwater available for use”. – Not so true, we (Water Rhapsody) have been installing our systems for 16 years throughout South Africa. Our Grand Opus System also has a municipal water inlet, which can be used as is needed. In rainy seasons, the whole household can be supplied only by rainwater, never needing to make use of municipal water, should the tank … Continue reading
Groundwater Pollution
Groundwater pollution is a very serious problem. Unlike a lot of the pollution on the surface waters, like trash floating in the bay, groundwater pollution is harder to recognize until after illness has occurred. Groundwater, which is the water that remains under the ground and is tapped into to provide drinking water for homes is generally polluted by the activities that occur just above it. People are the number one cause of groundwater pollution. Having water samples tested regularly is the only way to be sure that the groundwater is not contaminated. Unfortunately, there are a multitude of potentiol groundwater pollutants that can seriously contaminate drinking water. Most ground water pollution happens because of improper disposal, use or stotage of chemicals, pesticides, or substances like car engine oil. Deicing salts that are used for clearing driveways and pathways can contaminate groundwater. Landfills have been known to cause toxic runoff that infiltrated the groundwaters supply and underground tanks for storing gasoline and diesel for petrol stations can develop minor leaks and seep into the ground. A groundwater supply that is directly over a plot filled with animals, such as a farm environment, can be contaminated with the bacteria from aminal waste, The chronic use of … Continue reading
Posted in Green, safe water, Water Conservation
Tagged Groundwater, Pollution, safe water, Water Conservation, Water tips, Waterproblem, Waterwise
Leave a comment
Dangers of Water
What is the Single Most Dangerous Use of Water? The most dangerous ‘use’ is the agricultural, industrial and municipal pollution that threatens human health. Pollution is very insidious because it often happens out of sight and out of mind. The water that runs from farm fields, factories, or municipal wastewater treatment plants may enter rivers or groundwater. When we draw that water from streams or pump it from the ground we also get those contaminants. Major solutions to solving these water problems across the planet today are: 1) reducing nutrient and pesticide pollution (from our agriculture, our lawns, driving our cars, and destroying our wetlands); 2) reduce sewage pollution; 3) improve storm water management and watershed monitoring; 4) stop deforestations; 5) stop coastal development; 6) reduce pollution from oil and petroleum liquids; 7) reduce mercury emissions; 8.) clean up mining practices; 9) clean up chemical pollution; 10) stop global warming. What is the Biggest Misuse of Water? On a global scale; the excessive pumping of groundwater. It is most scary in India and China, which rely on large-scale, industrialized agricultur to feed their huge populations. They with f\draw more groundwater than Mother Nature provides reliably each year. The aquifers are declining. … Continue reading
“Water-shedding” in the pipeline for Grahamstown
Due to the consistently low levels of dams in the Grahamstown area, the Makana Municipality is considering limiting water supplies in some parts of town. Addressing a media conference on Thursday, Makana Municipal Manager Ntombi Baart said this “water-shedding” process will help the municipality to meet its demand for water supply. She added that this process of regular water cuts would work in a similar fashion to the electricity load shedding which is occasionally carried out by Eskom. Explaining how the municipality’s water operations sank to the level where they are “erratic” to the extent that the residents start questioning the water quality, Baart blamed the situation on earlier municipal reports which were never addressed.
Water Stress – New Global Headache
A third of the world’s people might have access to only half the water they need in the next decades if nothing is done on a sustainable basis right now. And South Africa is particularly vulnerable.The high amount of water usage in South Africa – as much as 25% of its renewable freshwater resources – puts it way above that of its sub-Saharan neighbours. And causing water stress, that is when the amount of water used exceeds 10% of renewable resources. Companies that rely on water for manufacturing or production processes need to look at ways of re-using their waste water for energy and irrigation. This is one way of stretching existing resources. This is a global problem and it has been estimated that has much as 80% of waste water is being discharged untreated in developing countries because of lack of regulations and resources. Global giant Coca-Cola is an industry leader in this regard – all its production facilities in South Africa have water treatment plants. It has a long-standing commitment to not only replace the water that it uses in the production of its beverages, but also on broader issues of water stewardship. It is one of … Continue reading
Posted in Water Conservation
Tagged Eastern Cape, Global Concern, safe water, Water shortage, Water sources, Water Stress, Water usage
Leave a comment
Rain-making lasers could trigger showers on demand
Lasers that stimulate condensation may help to induce rain artificially. Zeeya Merali Make rain while the laser shines.J-P. Wolf / University of Geneva The rain dance is getting a twenty-first-century revamp using laser technology. Optical physicists have demonstrated that shooting lasers into the air can trigger the formation of water droplets, a technique that could one day help to stimulate rainfall. For more than 50 years, efforts to try to artificially induce rain have concentrated on ‘cloud seeding’ — scattering small particles of silver iodide into the air to act as ‘condensation nuclei’, or centres around which rain droplets can grow. “The problem is, it’s still not clear that cloud seeding works efficiently,” says optical physicist Jérôme Kasparian at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. “There are also worries about how safe adding silver iodide particles into the air is for the environment.” Kasparian and his colleagues realized that there might be a more environmentally friendly alternative. Firing a laser beam made up of short pulses into the air ionizes nitrogen and oxygen molecules around the beam to create a plasma, resulting in a ‘plasma channel’ of ionized molecules. These ionized molecules could act as natural condensation nuclei, Kasparian explains. … Continue reading
The Green Drop Report
Municipalities battling to manage human waste will be scrutinised by the state. Water Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica on Friday vowed a turn-around strategy will be implemented, to improve performance. Her ministry released its Green Drop Report on Thursday examining the state of waste water treatment plants countrywide. Most local authorities have been found wanting. The report painted a shocking state of affairs at sewage plants countrywide. It suggested most of the plants could be described as either poor or non-functional. South Africa’s 852 sewage plants and pipelines treat and transport about eight billion litres of waste water daily. Sonjica estimated her department will need more than a R100 billion over the next three years, to tackle shortcomings. “We will be introducing alternative waste water treatment technologies in some municipalities. We are going to have a programme of coaching the municipalities because some do not have the necessary capacity,” said Sonjica. She added municipalities that have failed to comply with the required sewage treatment standards will be under close surveillance. Read he Green Drop Report for the Eastern Cape at this link: http://us-cdn.creamermedia.co.za/assets/articles/attachments/27314_greendropreport.pdf
Posted in Green, safe water, Water Conservation
Tagged Eastern Cape, going green, Port Elizabeth, safe water, Water Conservation, Water sources, Waterproblem
Leave a comment
Host cities’ tap water safe
Cape Town – Tap water in the 2010 Soccer World Cup host cities is safe to drink, the water affairs department assured soccer fans on Wednesday. Visitors could be certain the tap water in host cities complied with required standards, Water Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica told journalists, speaking in Cape Town at the release of her department’s 2010 Host Cities Drinking Water Quality Management Audit Report. According to the document all nine host cities – Cape Town, Ethekwini, Johannesburg, Mangaung, Nelson Mandela Bay, Nelspruit, Polokwane, Rustenburg and Pretoria – have achieved Blue Drop status. Blue Drop certification means the city concerned has scored 95% or higher for its compliance with chemical and microbiological standards. Remarkable improvement The report shows Blue Drop scores achieved by the cities included 98.39% for Johannesburg, 96.36% for Tshwane, and 95.05% for Mangaung. Audits of the host cities were carried out between October last year and February this year. There has been a “remarkable improvement” in drinking water quality across the country, the report notes. “For the past six months, the overall South African DWQ (drinking water quality) was measured at 96% on average for both microbiological and chemical determinants (across the country including smaller towns … Continue reading
Posted in safe water
Tagged Nelson Mandela Metropole, Port Elizabeth, safe water, water safe, Water sources
Leave a comment
Plans to supply desalinated water
The article by Melanie Gosling, environmental Affairs writer refers. Water and Environmental Affairs (DWEA) Minister Buyelwa Sonjica has said that her department was forging ahead with plans to supply desalinated water to Cape Town, and furthermore extract water from the Table Mountain (TM) aquifer. As mentioned in the article, all rivers in the Western Cape have been dammed, and the maximum amount of water is being extracted. There is no more water that can possibly be squeezed from our rivers. What was not said is that this water is used, polluted and largely wasted to rivers around the Western Cape with concomitant damage to riverine and marine life. The focus has always been and remains to supply more and more water. Now DWEA are looking at other ways, hence the aquifer extraction and sea water desalination. Has the Minister not been advised by scientists that by extracting fossil water from the TM aquifer, the relatively finite amount of water in the aquifer is being permanently reduced for all practical intents and purposes. This is a fossil aquifer, and has been there for millions of years. Not only would extraction permanently reduce the amount of water in the aquifer, but it … Continue reading
Metro to supply Water tanks to RDP Houses
“Ten directorates from the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro were requested by Dr. Sitembele Vatal, Director of the Metro’s Integrated Development Plan, to cut R750 000 from theirbudget to supply 1000 water tanks to governmental houses. They believe the water tanks will solve the current water crises in the Metro. The only problem with this project will be that none of the 40 square meter RDP house are equipped with gutters. Gutters are necessary to collect the rainwater and divert it to the water tanks. The total amount to be spend on the water tanks will be R7.5 million, which indicate that R7500 will be spend per water tank. Does this include the installation of gutters? No clear answers on this could be given, as the spokesperson for the Metro: Mr. Kupido Baron is currently participating in the SAMWU-strike. This project was not included in the water crisis plan that was approved by the Integrated Development Plan last month, but Mr. Vatala indicated that the water crisis in the Metro requested such drastic action. ” – Die Burger This project should also be an indication of the necessity for public to prepare their residents for rainwater harvesting, not only for gardening purposes, but mainly for household usage. This … Continue reading
