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: Water shortage
Rainwater Tanks: Part 2
Trends in Water Tanks There are many styles of water tanks available, with new innovations coming out all the time. The most common types of tanks are the plastic or polymer tanks which are traditionally been round in shape. These days, manufacturers are working with rectangular or square designs which are often much easier to place within a home and look much less intrusive. These tanks are also available in a huge range of colours, so that they are able to suit any home colour scheme. Steel tanks are still common, also, and these are usually lined with polyethylene in order to prevent corrosion. While round is still the most common shape, it seems that manufacturers are finding new ways to work with steel all the time. Concrete water tanks are best if you need to locate your tank underground. As thy are load-bearing, they are great for placing under things such as driveways and entertaining areas. More foreign designs: One new innovation in water tank design is to design the tank so that it resembles a boulder or a rock. This allows the tank to be placed unobtrusively within the landscape, so that the casual observer wouldn’t even know … Continue reading
Water tariffs increasing soon!
Nelson Mandela Bay residents can expect a massive increase in punitive water tariffs, applying to consumers who use more than 15 kilolitre per month. DA caucus leader: Leon de Villiers introduced an urgent motion at yesterday’s budget and treasury committee meeting, saying he had received notification on Monday evening that the municipality was poised to introduce a much higher punitive tariff. The letter, dated 11 May, said the decision followed a meeting of the water management committee on May 5 that had accepted the need for a ‘considerable’ increase in the light of the ongoing drought that has already seen the metro declared a disaster area. The details of the planned increase would be made available at next week’s joint meeting of bugdet and treasury and the mayoral committee, he was told. According to Water and Sanitation Director, Mr Barry Martin, the metro is experiencing the ravages of ’a green drought’. Rain has been received in the city areas, but unfortunately not where it is most necessary to supply the same area with daily water. A briefing on the Emergency Drought Implementaion Plan has been arranged for tomorrow. The combined capacity ot the metro’s dams currently stand at 35.05%. The Kouga … Continue reading
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
Bitou council hopes ease Plett’s water problems
Themba Boyi | The Bitou Municipality has put out a tender for the construction of a desalination plant.The Water Affairs Department and the municipality have signed an agreement for the release of R20,000,000 to construct the plant in drought-stricken Plettenberg Bay.A similar plant opened in Sedgefield near Knysna a few months ago.The municipality’s Henry Geldenhuys said it has managed to cut water usage by 40 percent since the drought set in.He said tenders for the plant have already been advertised.“We hope to finalise the tenders by the middle of June and have the plant completed by the end of October.” - Why does it seem like desalination is the only solution munisipalities are grabbing at? At such a high cost……? Not cost effective! Rather make use of narural resources.
Proposed water tariff hike on cards
The Amathola Water Board is proposing an 8.8 percent water tariff increase to its main recipients, which means that consumers in Buffalo City and areas under the Amathole District Municipality can expect further increases in tariffs, reports Msindisi Fengu. Amatola Water Board finance director Craig Step said the proposed increase should be viewed in the context of increases in major inputs such as electricity, bulk water purchases from the Department of Water Affairs and worker’s salaries. “The tariff increases could have some impact on the final pricing by municipalities, which could then be projected to the end user (residents). As water boards are part of the water value chain, any changes effected would have an effect on the rest of the components of this value chain,” he said. Step said the increase would also affect police stations, clinics, schools and industrial clients - Daily Dispatch, 10 May 2010
“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
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Innovations needed as climate change sees water supplies dwindle – Andrew Muir
LARGELY due to climate change, South Africa is becoming drier from the west to the east. Climate modelling for our area shows that our annual precipitation (rainfall) will reduce by between 10% and 15% at current warming levels. As a result, along coastal areas fresh water has to be transported from further and further afield to meet the demand of ever-growing urban areas. This has become a worldwide challenge, and around the globe researchers and scientists have being looking at the use of technology to increase the supply of fresh water. Proposals include towing icebergs from Antarctica to water-stressed regions, cloud-seeding, desalination plants and extracting fresh water from deep submarine aquifers. A longstanding proposal beginning in the late 1970s has been to tow icebergs from Antarctica to supply fresh water to water-scarce regions of the world. One major challenge to this proposal has been how to tow the icebergs towards the equatorial zone without them melting before reaching their destination. Cloud-seeding is a process in which dry ice or potassium iodide particles are used to increase rainfall. Although there is little scientific evidence that this actually works, many communities faced with water shortages are willing to try it. There is … Continue reading
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
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
