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. [...]
A rainwater tank is a beneficial addition to any home, whether new or established, and the additional water can give a homeowner freedom from the water restrictions that are in place in many areas of South Africa/Eastern Cape. However, there are some things that you need to consider when choosing a water tank in order to [...]
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 [...]

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.
To test whether this technique could induce droplets, the researchers fired a high-powered laser through an atmospheric cloud chamber in the lab containing saturated air. They illuminated the chamber using a second, standard low-power laser, enabling them to see and measure any droplets produced. Immediately after the laser was fired, drops measuring about 50 micrometres wide formed along the plasma channel. Over the next three seconds, the droplets grew in size to 80 micrometres as the smaller droplets coalesced. The team’s results are published online in Nature Photonics (www.nature.com) Continue reading Rain-making lasers could trigger showers on demand
Daily Rainfall over South Africa to the nearest mm
Preliminary 24-hour rainfall data ending at 08:00 on the 2010-04-29
Rainfall in whole mm
EASTERN CAPE
ADDO ELEPHANT PARK
48
BISHO
13
CAPE ST FRANCIS
22
DOHNE – AGR
09
EAST LONDON WO
07
ELANDS RIVER-BOSBOK RAND
15
FORT BEAUFORT
08
GRAHAMSTOWN
11
JOUBERTINA AWS
02
NAHOON DAM ARS
02
NGQURA (COEGA)
07
PATENSIE
05
PORT ELIZABETH WO
15
SOMERSET EAST
15
STEYNSBURG – POL
19
SWARTKOPS POWER STATION
15
THIRD AVENUE DIP ARS
50
TSITSIKAMMA
06
UITENHAGE
55
Port Elizabeth had an impressive amount of rainfall last [...]
by Michelle Hardy-Berrington – Business Link Magazine
Wastage of water by business is both antisocial in times of drought and a waste of money.
Business Link has uncovered the following hints to help save water and improve the bottom line:
Grey water
Many business processes can make use of dirty or “grey” used water. An audit of “grey” water, and [...]
You may ask: What are the implications regarding any toxic levels to the plants or animals in your garden using grey water?
Answer: Not bad at all. As long as you follow a few simple rules regarding the use of grey water for your garden.
Garden Rhapsody
Water Rhapsody has installed more than 3000 grey water [...]
On average we use 240l of water per person per day. With the new water restrictions we are only allowed to use 400l per day per household on the normal tariff of R5.29/kl. We will pay R9.53 for the next 600l and a staggering R14.88 for the next 1000l.
Let’s say you have a household of [...]
Going Waterwise in the Garden
You should be watering your garden very early in the morning or in the early evening as this helps reduce and prevent evaporation and allows for moisture to be taken in by the soil.
Only water ones or twice a week: having an indigenous garden makes this tip an easy one – remember [...]
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