• 2 February each year is World Wetlands Day. This day marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Each year since 1997, the Ramsar Secretariat has provided materials so that government agencies, non-governmental organizations, conservation organizations, and groups of citizens can help raise public awareness about the importance and value of wetlands.
• Ramsar Convention defines wetlands as “areas of marsh, fen , peat land or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six meters” .
• Such definition would include rivers, lakes, swamps, marshes, wet grasslands, estuaries, deltas, mangroves, coral reefs, human-made sites such as fish ponds, rice paddies, reservoir, and salt pans among others.

Phosphate film with Jeremy Westgarth-Taylor

The problem:

Bloemfontein:Water problems in high-lying areas

Bloemfontein and the greater Mangaung area are struggling since September with water supply and delivery problems. First, water restrictions were introduced and lately residents are experiencing irregular supply and low pressure.  This is due to the fact that two reservoirs of the city nearly ran dry and left most of the traditional Mangaung suburbs without water for five days.

The current problem is that water is drawn out of the reservoirs as fast as it is pumped in. This effectively means that no reserves can be built up.

In a statement by the Mangaung Metro the levels of the reservoirs are indicated to be at 48%. This is only sufficient for the water network and not enough for the delivery of water to high-lying areas in Bloemfontein.

Residents in high-lying areas will have some water during the morning but as the day progress, the pressure and supply desiccate.

With summer just underway, what will happen during the season as the demand for water increases?

The solution:

Take control of your own water supply rather to be dependant on the municipality.  Water Rhapsody can help you by harvesting rainwater and recycling of your grey water.

We specialize in the manufacturing and installation of Water Conservation Systems and have 16 years of experience behind us.

For more information and a quotation, please contact us by using the contact form on the right of this page.  You may also contact us on 082 7712 062 or 082 8519 761.

According to tests made by Pathcare Laboratory at St. George’s, water in certain areas of the Bay is not safe to drink. This is caused by the lack of free-chlorine, which is meant to kill harmful contaminants in the water, therefore making the water an ideal breeding ground for germs and bacteria.

Tests carried out for The Herald by Pathcare Laboratories have revealed that water samples from Livingstone Hospital contain traces of the potentially deadly E.coli bacteria

( Fecal Coliform/E coli: Fecal coliforms and E. coli are bacteria whose presence indicates that the water may be contaminated with human or animal wastes. Microbes in these wastes can cause short-term effects, such as diarrhea, cramps, nausea, headaches, or other symptoms. They may pose a special health risk for infants, young children, and people with severely compromised immune systems.) Water from the Korsten area contains unacceptable high amount of coli form bacteria, which indicate the presence of either human or animal faeces and the absence of effective water treatment. The presence of coli form bacteria in drinking water indicates that disease-causing organisms, or pathogens, are contaminating the water system.

( Total Coliform: Coliforms are bacteria that are naturally present in the environment and are used as an indicator that other, potentially-harmful, bacteria may be present. Coliforms were found in more samples than allowed and this was a warning of potential problems. ) Residents are being warned to boil drinking water. Water filters are largely ineffective in filtering the micro-organisms.

For the past month, in Framesby, the waters’ free chlorine levels have been zero (according to Mr. Pieter Rossouw, a water analyst) – way below the Department of Water Affairs’ recommended level of between 0.3 and 0.6mg/litre. “Without intervention, it’s just a matter of time until the whole system is fully contaminated. A disaster is coming”, he said.

According to the Department of Water Affairs guidelines, there should be no presence of E.coli in treated water, while any total coli form count between 10/100ml and 100/100ml was worrisome and ‘indicative of inadequate treatment, post treatment contamination or growth in the distribution system with a risk of infectious disease transmission with continuous exposure’.

The municipality was stripped of the department’s prestigious Blue Drop status earlier his year, when it failed to score 97% for its water assessment, losing points in the areas of water planning processed and drinking water quality compliance, instead achieving 90%.

Mr Rossouw wrote an urgent letter to the municipality highlighting the lack of free chlorine in the water supplying his suburb, and the likely chance of bacteriological contamination of the city’s supply should nothing be done. He didn’t receive any response from them yet. “It’s just a matter of time until the pipelines are contaminated. Major corrective action will then be needed, and without it a disaster is coming,’ he warned. Another worrying phenomenon was also occurring with the distilling process, with the municipal water periodically beginning to froth and foam – a phenomenon Rossouw thought could be due to the presence of potentially harmful organic chemicals.

What can Water Rhapsody do for you??

Let Water Rhapsody install a Grand Opus System at your residence or business. You will harvest clean rainwater, it will be filtered by our Rain Runners, will reach your rainwater tanks via a closed system, not allowing light or air to reach it (therefore no algae growth or mosquito larvae in your water). The tanks will be connected to your home supply, making it your main water supply. With a manifold override, you will have the option to use municipal water when you need to.

We supply water tanks only. We install water tanks. We guarantee the best service and advice in the Eastern Cape. Our systems are being installed in Cape Town since 1994.

Rain water is the purest form of water. Make use of it when you can. At this stage, after this article today, water tanks is not a ‘maybe one day’ or a ‘nice-to have’, it’s becoming a necessity.

Acid Mine Water Pollution

According to his findings, McCarthy said in 2011, possibly 2012, AMD will seep up through the main shaft at Gold Reef City, and this underground facility will be forced to shut down. Boksburg, he warned, could see acid mine drainage rising up through drainage points, spewing toxic filth into the town.

Professor McCarthy explaining the seriousness of the Mining Water Pollution in JHB

The geologist said the mine void, a large hole left after decades of mining, will have filled and underground water carrying sulphuric acid, heavy metals and a number of other toxins will spill out and could compromise “our cities and towns, our economy and environment, our reputation, and arguably, our future”. McCarthy said the Department of Water Affairs last year indicated that AMD from abandoned mines could result in catastrophic ground and surface water pollution.  

Johannesburg Mine Water Pollution

Already, the Western Basin of the Witwatersrand is decanting, meaning that acidic and heavy-metals-laden water from the mines is now spewing into rivers and the surrounding environment. Environmental activist Mariette Liefferink warned this week that AMD is not only associated with surface and ground water pollution and degradation of soil quality, it also harms aquatic sediments and fauna and allows heavy metals to seep into the environment.

Derek Watts (Carte Blanche presenter): “Since our last story the mine water crisis across Johannesburg has been headline news around the world. The government appointed a technical task team which has reported back to the ministers involved.” They compiled this report, released last week in which they outlined suggestions to fix the problem in the short term.

Edna Molewa is the new minister of water affairs. Edna Molewa (Minister, Department of Water Affairs): “One of the things that the team suggested is that we should begin with the area around Krugersdorp where the problem is very bad right now. And that’s a decision right now that stands; there is money provided for that programme.”And after a long stalemate government have finally agreed to pick up the tab to pump and partially treat the water. Edna: “Right now there is almost a R400-million cost estimation. We do know that the amount needed is going to be close to a billion… thereabout. And that is not the end.”

Acid water running into our rivers

Prof McCarthy: “What the recommendations are is to return the situation to the status quo as it was in the case of the Central basin to 2008, in the case of the Western basin to 2002, and in the case of the Eastrand basin, what it was before Grootvlei stopped pumping. So that will involve pumping and basic treatment, which involved precipitation of the iron in the heavy metals with the addition of lime and oxygen, and then the release of the sulphate rich water into the rivers.” But pumping is only half the story. Water is so toxic it needs to be treated properly before its released into the rivers and that is where the proposed solution falls short. The team proposed that government neutralise the water. What that means is that lime is added. That attracts the heavy metal particles to settle to the bottom as a toxic sludge. Around 100 000 tonnes per year of this sludge will need to find a home in pits. The rest of the water is released into rivers but still contains salt or sulphate levels way beyond any international or locally acceptable levels. Prof McCarthy: “It’s not a long term solution because you need high quality water to dilute but you also need to use that high quality for consumers. So you are caught between a rock and a hard place: you have to throw away good water simply to improve the quality of bad water and that is an enormous waste.” Already a million tonnes of sulphates per year are going into the Vaal barrage. Clean water from the Vaal Dam is released simply to dilute the water so it can be cleaned up for drinking downstream. High salts means your water costs could double.

Prof McCarthy: “So in order to provide additional water to allow for the dilution they will have to bring on the Lesotho Highlands scheme earlier. If you can take the salts out or prevent them getting in then obviously you save water.” So surely then salt removal should be at the heart of any solution?

We took a look at three different solutions to see what is on offer. Physicist Richard Doyle says their solution is zero waste as it removes all the salts. Richard Doyle (Managing Director: Earth): “The water problem, the mine effluent problem is not a water problem it’s a salt problem. All of the technologies can manage – or many of them can produce clean water. What differentiates us is that we can usefully employ the salts and that is critical.” Richard: “So here is a tin of soup – imagine this comes in the front of the plant. Here’s our pilot plant – it is a small version of what we’d eventually build – and the easiest way to think about it is that on this side we’ve got this type of vegetables: carrots, let’s say, yellow vegetables. These are typically the metals like uranium, calcium and magnesium and iron and aluminium. And in here we’ve got little resin beads, but these are like rabbits, they grab the carrots because they like them. What comes out of there is the vegetable soup, but it only has peppers in it. And here we’ve got donkeys that like the peppers and they grab the peppers. So we take the carrots out there and the peppers out here and what you see is just drinking water; we’ve completely cleaned the water.” Richard contends that his process will be funded by the sale of the by-products; selling the water would be a bonus. Richard: That means we will enter into an off-take agreement with the mine – they will give us their junk, we will raise money and build a business around that, and it is a great story.”

In Randfontein is the pilot plant of the WUC process which was the forerunner in the big clean up.” Jaco Schoeman is the CEO of the Western Utilities Corporation. Their plan is to pump the water from each basin to a central treatment station. This pilot plant is a miniature version of a proposed 14 hectare plant costing about R1.5-billion. WUC uses a solution developed by the CSIR called the Alkali Barium Calcium process to clean the water. Jaco Schoeman (MD & CEO: Western Utilities Corporation): “What you see here today is just the technology – there are five specific legs to the solution.” Jaco has spent 4 years and R75-mllion rand in the hope that government will accept their pumping and treatment proposal. But they have faced a barrage of criticism because the only way they could fund it was to sell 100 million litres per day onto Rand Water at a profit. The WUC process was also the mining industry’s answer to the problem. Jaco: “When we presented this plan to government it was perceived that we were trying to privatise water, which is against the Constitution. That was obviously not the intention – we were tasked to find a long term self-sustainable solution for the mining houses. We are prepared to do this entire project open book in terms of operating cpst and capital cost.” Four mines send their toxic water here to Anglo’s Emalahleni plant in Mpumalanga. According to Terence the water around the town is so polluted in some cases it’s unusable. Prof McCarthy: “The power stations in the Witbank and Middleburg area cannot use the water for power generation. The salt level in the local rivers in the Middleburg area is so high now from coal mining that they can’t use it. They have to import water from the Usuthu and Komati rivers.”

Back in 1995 the water was corroding the pipes at Anglo’s mines so quickly that hydrologist Peter Gunther started researching different clean up solutions. Peter Gunther (Regional Manager, Hydrology: Anglo American Thermal Coal): “There was a water issue – the plant was corroding away and we needed somebody to look at water. So as a challenge I took it up.”The result is this R500-million plant that has won awards for its innovation and is sending high quality water to Emalahleni residents.

When you look at the water as it comes through initially, it looks like a lost cause. But Peter states that Reverse osmosis technology has the ability to remove anything from water. And with the mine water that they have got they know they can make good quality potable drinking water.”

Lime Treatment to Purify Water

The way it works is that the water comes in from the four different mines like this. The water is then pre-treated using lime and limestone to neutralise the acidic water. The solids are separated out into these enormous tanks and then the water is taken through a three stage desalination process to remove the salt from the water. The plant is expanding and will soon release no salt water as waste. The downside is its expensive and in effect they make a loss on the water they sell.  R11 per kilolitre is the right amount at the moment, but the focus was going for zero waste will help our costs over time.” And they are turning their waste into houses. One of the ideas that they came up with was instead of just disposing of the waste for eternity is what can we do? Gypum and housing are synonymous with one other so we have now built 66 houses out of Gypsum.”

Houses, explosives, fertiliser – South Africans have found innovative ways to turn the toxic tide into an opportunity and create jobs at the same time. We could turn our acid mine drainage problem into an opportunity but do our leaders have the vision?

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 reservoir to the well, thereby increasing the area from which natural gas and liquids can be recovered from the targeted formation.

The key risks and impacts of shale gas and shale gas processes and development can be divided as follows:  contamination of groundwater by fracturing fluids/mobilised contaminants arising from wellbore/casing failure; and/or  subsurface migration; pollution of land and surface water (and potentially groundwater via surface route) arising from:o spillage of fracturing additives; and  spillage/tank rupture/storm water overflow from liquid waste storage, lagoons/pits containing cuttings/drilling mud or flowback water.  water consumption/abstraction;  waste water treatment;  land and landscape impacts;  impacts arising during construction: noise/light pollution during well drilling/completion; flaring/venting; and  local traffic impacts.

Plains for Camdeboo, part of the vast Karoo hinterland, where dinosaurs once roamed, are under threat. 200 000 Square kilometres, a massive 15% of South Africa’s total land mass, is up for grabs for exploration to extract natural gas, trapped in the shale formation of the Karoo basin.Behind the plans – three oil companies: Royal Dutch Shell, Falcon Oil and Gas and Bundu Oil & Gas. Karoo residents are angry. They may own their land, but according to South African law they don’t own the minerals that lie beneath them.

Hydraulic fracturing – ‘fracking’ – is a mining technique developed in the United States which releases natural gas trapped in shale. These pictures show horizontal drilling in the United States. It allows the shale layer to be penetrated for kilometres underground. Underground explosions then fracture the shale, and by injecting water, sand and highly toxic chemicals at high pressure, gas is released. But it’s a controversial method of mining and has major environmental side effects, still under investigation in the US.

“The hydraulic fracturing process has to be done on a very large scale. It takes upwards of 25 million litres of water and chemicals to perform this hydraulic fracturing process. That 25 million litres of water is for one well – there could be many wells… 6, 8, 10, 12, 16 wells drilled from one spot.”

Just one hydraulic fracture uses the same amount of water as the town of Graaff-Reinet would use in about three days. But water consumption isn’t the only issue in this arid region: fracking chemicals are also very toxic, and not all of them can be brought to the surface and safely disposed of. Thousands of wells over a very short time… the probability of there being accidental spills, leaks from pipelines, leaks from valves, breakage in compressor stations, overturned trucks, leaking tanks, all these things happen. Those spills can lead to contamination of surface waters.This dam, which is the main source of water supply for the town of Graaff-Reinet, has been known to empty in times of severe drought. So, it is not just the farmers who depend on the underground aquifers – it is also the towns.” Shell has proposed using seawater, or brackish water from aquifers, as one of the ways of addressing this massive water requirement.One cannot directly use seawater in hydraulic fracturing because – it is too salty. It does not work well with the other chemicals that have to be added to the water for the hydraulic fracturing process to work. It’s quite possible that the toxic fracking water left in the shale could contaminate the surface aquifers. And worse: there is no legislation currently that regulates fracking.

Graaff-Reinet lawyer Derek Light represents farmers in the area, including Princess Irene and billionaire Johann Rupert, and a growing number of interested parties. He successfully opposed the last two exploration applications by Bundu Oil & Gas and says the legal process is failing us. Applicants have 120 days to inform and consult the public and come up with an Environmental Management Plan for a technique no-one fully understands. But the public, spread out on isolated Karoo farms, have only 30 days to respond. He says none of the three companies is giving the public the full facts.

If you can envision over a relatively large area thousands of wells – each of which has its own pipeline going to some central location… roads, pipelines, compressor stations, noise, dust, air pollution, light pollution, noise pollution… you have to get used to it and accept it, or not.

We know they will take all the precautions to do their utmost not to pollute the water and not to pollute the earth, but there is always a risk. And we have seen in the Gulf of Mexico and we have seen in Nigeria. American environmental health analyst, Dr Theo Colburn, says in this US documentary that most chemicals used in fracking fluid are harmful, causing a myriad of disorders.

Red Blood Worms

They are called Bloodworms. Bloodworms are one stage in the life cycle of the non-biting Midge fly. The red colour comes from haemoglobin in the Midge fly’s blood and has no reference to any blood sucking activity. They are herbivorous and feed on algae and other plants or waste material – therefore harmless to you or your animals.
Many fish keepers buy bloodworms as a protein rich food for their fish.

The non-biting Midge looks like a mosquito, but doesn’t bite. Midges live near water and are found in streams, rivers, ditches, lakes and ponds – and of course your water tank. The midge develops in a life cycle that includes four stages: egg, larvae (bloodworm), pupae and adult. The larvae stadia last between 2 to 7 weeks.

The best cure is prevention. Water Rhapsody always ensures that your rainwater harvesting system is a closed system and does not allow any entry for water based breeding insect. We make use of Rain Runners to first sift the water from the gutters before diverting it to the tank. We only make use of the existing outlet/inlet to the tank – no holes are gut into the tank and it therefore remains sealed to insects and sunlight.

Also make sure you do not have a light source close to the water tank as this attracts the adults and invites them to lay their eggs in your tank. Avoid the use of unnecessary lights until 45 minutes after sundown since 90 percent or more of flight activity takes place before that time.

For mosquito infestation we introduce the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis subsp israelensis to the water. This bacterium is harmless to humans and animals and only feeds on the larvae of the mosquito. This however does not work for the Midge fly larvae.

If you need any help to take preventative measures to prevent future infestations, do not hesitate to give us a call.

An anticipated 800 – 1,000 leaders for this global dialogue that will focus on Water, Wealth & Power for  the Eco-Century.

As we confront a growing scarcity of the world’s most indispensable resource, the International Women’s Forum (IWF) will convene in Canada  (13-15 October 2010)  to explore and better understand what’s at stake — drawing together from our global membership, leaders of influence from outside the traditional realm of the “water community”.

Hearing from the world’s leading experts, advocates and catalysts for change who will address the World Conference, their global membership will be challenged to test the boundaries of possibility for a new era of improved access to and utilization of water resources. Werner Neuhoff, a South African born entrepreneur, would be presenting to this global audience on October 15, 2010 at 8:35 am in Montréal for the Plenary Program – Ecopreneurs: The Blue Gold Rush.

The conference is designed to invite a serious rethinking of how domestic and foreign policies must be shaped for strong global leadership on this most pressing and urgent issue.  Aiming at the heart of what our global leaders understand best, the program will underscore how enterprise, economies, societies and nations will be built in an eco-century that is reshaping wealth and power for more equitable social, economical and political realities.

The International Women’s Forum (IWF) is a global organization of preeminent women of significant and diverse achievement. It is a one-of-a-kind organization of singular standing in the world today that furthers dynamic leadership, leverages global access, and maximizes opportunities for women to exert their influence. www.iwforum.org

Have a look at this video to see the effects of overloading our environment with phosphates usually used in washing powders on a daily basis.

Use our Eco-friendly Products links to find out more about phosphate-free detergents. Also read this very informative post on Eco-friendly Laundry: http://www.watersafe.co.za/2010/03/10/eco-friendly-laundry/

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 more sensible to buy a water tank, get it installed by Water Rhapsody with the necessary filters, so that in the unlikely event of your town running dry, for whatever reason… you and your family will have some degree of protection? Contact us to get a quote to install a water tank now and protect your most important assets, your family.

Posted by Water Rhapsody