Sewage leak

The report details an assessment of municipal waste water management systems, and credits well-run systems with a Green Drop Award for “excellence in achievement”.

Six provinces received a Green Drop Award, with the Western Cape leading the pack with 19 awards.

A total of 156 municipalities and 821 waste systems were assessed – in 2009 only 98 municipalities and 444 systems were assessed.

Of the 821, 40 were found to be in excellent condition, 78 were in good condition, 243 were average, and 143 performed very poorly.

It said 317 plants are in critical condition.

The picture in Eastern Cape was grim: 64% of the province’s sewerage works posedhealth and environmental risks.

“Renewed efforts must be dedicated to compel plants into medium and low-risk positions,” the report said.

None of the water-treatment plants in Limpopo won an award, indicating that the performance of the entire province was weak.

At the province’s Leyenye works, the report said, “Poor effluent quality is being discharged as a result of inadequate treatment during upgrading of the plant, presenting a significant risk to public health and the environment, given that the receiving resource is the sensitive Letaba River, which flows into the Kruger National Park.”

Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa, who presented the report, said the situation was unacceptable.

“I am concerned … that we still have, especially given the disparities of our provinces and our municipalities, a situation where some of the municipalities are still struggling to get their level of accounting on the quality of water to the extent as it is reflected in Eastern Cape, as well as in Limpopo and poorer provinces.”

She said monitoring of water-treatment systems in Eastern Cape and Limpopo would be prioritised because of the high risk they posed.

The minister also unveiled the 2011 Blue Drop Report – which looks at drinking water quality and management.

A total of 66 systems won Blue Drop Awards during the 2010-2011 assessment period for excellent compliance and standards, and for “good management practice in drinking water quality management”, among other criteria.

The top five performers were Johannesburg, Cape Town, Ekurhuleni, Witzenberg local municipality and West Coast district municipality.

Source: Times live

Lanseria Corporate Estate will use greywater for irrigation

Industry is often a red rag to the green movement, however one industrial hub is making sure of environmental sustainability, so much so that a new report on the carbon footprint of Lanseria Corporate Estate shows it has off-set its carbon footprint for the next 15 years.

This is a conservative estimate according to a comprehensive environmental assessment by global construction and management consultants Turner & Townsend.

The ultimate goal of developers is to create a platform for sustainable working environments which facilitates the use of natural light in an aesthetically pleasing surrounding with verdant planting which all underpins sustainable workplaces, and which are known to boost employee attraction, retention, productivity and wellbeing.

Lanseria Corporate Estate is a business park in every sense of the word, meticulously planned and to be lushly planted with indigenous vegetation, including 4,900 trees, not only to please the eyes but also to pay the development’s carbon debt.

Using South African specifications regarding the absorption of carbon by trees, the 78.73 tonne per year carbon emissions from the estate’s annual activities will be negated by the 96 tonnes per year of carbon dioxide sequestrated by the lush landscaping.

“This is after taking into account the likely 272-tonne carbon content of the grassland typifying the area before development,” explains Jurgen Erhart, of Lanseria Corporate Estate.

These impressive figures are based on research conducted by the University of Pretoria, which concludes that “the average urban tree will gain 500kg of carbon over a 15-year period, with a 60 percent survival rate,” according to the Turner & Townsend report.

Then, when the gardens are pruned, the estimated four tonnes of trimmed foliage will be composted or recycled, as will all suitable waste from the estate.

“However, carbon sequestration levels can vary,” says Erhart, “so we are not using these figures as the sole means of offsetting our emissions, but also creating a sustainable environment using multiple disciplines and resources.

Our green ethos is all-encompassing; we are determined to reduce our environmental impact.”

While the gardens are the most visible facet of environmental planning at the development, behind the scenes lies the most modern waste water works in all Gauteng — a joint venture between neighbouring Lanseria International Airport and Lanseria Corporate Estate.

Treated water is then returned to the environment for irrigation and other greywater uses, which should result in substantial water savings at the estate.

The owners of Lanseria Corporate Estate are already investing a massive R200-million into basic infrastructure, but investment is estimated to increase to R2-billion as development takes place over the next six years, all of it spent with a keen eye on minimising impact.

“The estate’s proximity to the world-renowned Cradle of Mankind heritage site is a constant reminder of the environmental sensitivity we face, and the importance of being true to our ecological values,” says Erhart.

“Companies and entrepreneurs can either rent or own premises here, knowing they’re making a sound, principled choice for the future of their business, as well as the planet.”

Lighting accounts for some 55% of the estate’s footprint, so as many bright ideas as possible are being exploited and various street lighting strategies keeping both environmental and financial costs down.

Of course, natural lighting is to be used extensively throughout the buildings because it is freely available and innately ecocentric, and also because it’s good for the soul, and has been shown to improve both the wellbeing and productivity of employees.

A recent study by the School of Planning, Design, and Construction at Michigan State University found that a green-certified work habitat meant a 60% decrease in allergies and asthma in staff, and a 30% drop in absenteeism due to depression and stress.

To continue reading “A green light for Lanseria Corporate Estate” click here: SA Commercial Prop

SA is a water-scarce country where, even when there is an abundance of water, it often cannot be used because of pollution such as acid mine drainage and E.coli contamination from leaking sewage plants.

The department said a maximum 556-million cubic metres of water were available in the Western Cape Water Supply System (WCWSS) each year and consumption last year topped 511- million cubic metres.

At current rates of consumption growth, the remaining 45- million cubic metres would be utilised by 2017-2019.

The actual timing of full water supply utilisation will be determined by the growth in the area and of water conservation.

The department complimented Cape Town for providing R60m in the current financial year for the upgrading of infrastructure and further measures to reduce water losses. Losses in Cape Town, measured as a percentage of water supplied as a fraction of water treated, have been reduced from 24,4% in February last year to 19,9% this February.

“Population growth and subsequent growth in the economy have been identified as major factors in placing exponential strain on the users in the WCWSS,” the department said.

The WCWSS includes Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Drakenstein, Swartland and Saldanha.

Of the water available, 32% is used for agriculture irrigation and 68% for urban dwellers.

In the pipeline in the next month is the issuing of a tender for a feasibility study on a large-scale sea water desalination plant. Other possibilities include the re- use of water, and whether this would be cheaper than desalination because it uses less electricity. Also to be investigated is tapping into the ground water known as the Table Mountain aquifer on a sustainable basis.

Source: Business Day

Mr Grylls said the government’s controversial decision to pump treated waste water into the Gnangara Mound aquifer was necessary to sustain Perth’s water supplies.

The recycled water could be released into the main supply for public consumption within 18 months, with the city’s dams on the verge of running dry.

“Some people are nervous about recycled water being used in Western Australia,” he said.

“Time to get over that.

“We’ve got a major challenge in providing water for the future and there could be two choices: recycled water or buy it in a bottle and tip it into the bath.”

Mr Grylls emphasised his point by saying he had no issue allowing his family to drink recycled water.

“Am I prepared to drink it? I am,” he said. “Am I prepared for my kids to drink it? Yes I am.”

The Minister for Regional Development and Land used his speech at the Urban Development Industry Association conference to call on the Opposition not to feed public concern.

“If one side of politics balks and says no [to recycled water], it becomes very, very difficult,” he said.

“It’s a bit like the carbon tax. A lot of the facts are washed away and a lot of the rhetoric becomes what people understand.

“Direct recycled water into the grid is probably tricky [to convince the public to support] but water reinjected into the aquifer, shandied with existing ground water sources, filtered through the same sand-water filter that many of you have on your pool filter at home would be a step that I think the community is willing to take.”

The Centre for Water Research has predicted Perth’s drinking water supplies – from dams – will run out by the end of next summer even with decent rainfall. The dams are currently about 22 per cent full.

The Centre’s director, Professor Jorg Imberger, told WAtoday.com.au last week that recycled water was the only option to top up Perth’s drinking water supply by summer.

Other options include expanding use of the Yarragadee aquifer in the South-West – which also has attracted community opposition – and doubling capacity of the second desalination plant at Binningup, which is due to come online by the end of the year to provide 45 gigalitres of water.

Source: BBC

In Beaufort West, South Africa, recycled water is already circulating through the water network of the town. In the not to distant future this will be a reality for many South African cities and town as the country prepares for the effects of climate change and water supplies running dry.

The decision by Anton Bredell, Western Cape MEC for Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, comes after the developer spent R250m on the project over the past eight years, having obtained all the requisite approvals right up to the final hurdle.

Lagoon Bay golf estate

Bredell had to give final approval for the subdivision and zoning of the 651ha piece of land. But he turned it down based on a combination of factors.

LagoonBay, an investment worth R5bn, would have created up to an estimated 17 000 jobs over ten years in the construction phase and 1 650 permanent jobs thereafter.

The development between the Maalgate River and Glentana would have included a five-star hotel with conference facilities, two 18-hole golf courses and 1 800 houses. The plans also included new houses on 25ha for 37 poor families living on the Hoogekraal farms and without access to electricity or water.

Bredell told Sake24 that he was totally convinced that he had made the proper decision and that he was comfortable with it.

Although he was sensitive to the issue of job-creation, he said that was not the only factor and an important consideration was always the availability of water.

He said a golf course’s average daily water consumption ranges from 1.2m to 3m litres. This amounts to 36m to 90m litres a month, which is enough
to supply 6 000 to 15 000 households with free water a month. South Africa has almost 500 golf courses. Greater George already has 12 top-class courses.

Furthermore, the development is 14km outside the heart of George, and Bredell questioned whether the municipality would be able to deliver affordable services sustainably over that distance. An additional factor is the 37 smallholdings involved, which is land that could be used to produce food, he said.

LagoonBay chief executive Dr Werner Roux said developers were being misled. They had had to go through every process, chronologically and successively, to get to the rezoning, only to be disappointed at the final hurdle.

He said the land on which the development was planned had lain fallow for the past 20 years without any economic contribution being made towards the inhabitants. And the provincial and national departments of agriculture had approved the project.

In July 2010 the George municipality had approved the subdivision and zoning of the land.

As far as the water situation was concerned, LagoonBay had reached an agreement with the municipality to pipe waste water to the premises, where it would treat it for consumption. It had also agreed to provide the municipality with 5m litres of potable water every day. Roux said the project had had the full support of the Department of Water Affairs.

He said LagoonBay would not leave the matter there, and would request the formal reasons for the minister’s decision, after which the decision would be contested in court.

Source: Fin24

“Have you ever had the opportunity to watch your kids stare out the window after a bath and watch as their bath water gently sprays out onto the garden? To them this is a moment of utter amazement.”

By installing a grey-water system, families and organisations can recycle water from washing and bathing for use in the garden or toilets. “Doing this means not only saving money, but also removing this water from the sewage treatment streams, thus alleviating pressure on waste water works and allowing them to treat just ‘black water’ or waste water from toilet systems,” said Guy Jubber of Clevergreen Environmental Systems in Durban, a franchise of Water Rhapsody water conservation systems. Water Rhapsody systems were developed in Cape Town and have won a World Wildlife Fund Green Trust award for product innovation in water conservation.

“The first rule of grey water is that you may not store it unless the storage tank is fitted with a purification system to clean the water. This means the first decision property owners need to make is what they want to do with grey water: irrigate lawns and gardens or use it to flush toilets. If it’s only for the garden, water is first piped from the bathroom and laundry outlet pipes into an underground tank. The system switches on automatically and pumps the water from there as soon as about 35 ℓ is accumulated.

Water Rhapsody offers a turnkey system, supplied and installed, that includes all the requires pipes, hoses, sprinklers, tank, pump and filter.  An overflow is also provided which is connected to the sewer system, in case of overflows.” Grey water systems can also be combined with rainwater systems.

Clevergreen has installed grey water systems for private homes throughout the province, including Pietermaritzburg, Durban, and the north coast. It can also install larger systems for commercial or industrial plants and has completed installations for Wits University in Johannesburg, the Old Mutual buildings in Pinelands (see picture), Cape Town, and the University of Cape Town.

WHAT IS GREY WATER?

GREY water is the waste water generated by showers, basins, baths and laundry. It does not include toilet waste water or kitchen waste water, eg water from dishwashers or washing up by hand. Grey water can be captured and used to water gardens to flush toilets. When harvesting grey water, it is important to use low or phosphate-free washing powders for laundry and not to use fabric softeners or sodium hypochlorite cleaning solutions, eg Jik to avoid harm to plants or animals. Water Rhapsody recommends Ecosoft washing powder as an environmentally friendly option because it is phosphate-free. Waste water from dishwashers must go into sewers because dishwashing detergent is very abrasive. Grey water produces a faint odour while it’s being dispersed onto a garden, but the odour disappears quickly. The cost of a grey water recycling system depends on the requirements of the installation, but vary between R900 and R13 000. The average time it takes for the cost of a domestic system to be amortised is three to five years.

“Economic accounting for water – EAW – is a process of systematically measuring the contribution of water to the economy as well as the impact of economic activity such as agriculture, mining, and industry on water resources through abstraction and pollution,” explains Dr Gift Manase, lead author of a just-concluded study for the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

EAW complements information in the System of National Accounts, the standard tool for economic reporting and planning. It collects and quantifies detailed data about water use to understand the value of non-marketed goods and in so doing better appreciate the true contribution of water to the economy, which is presently underestimated.

“To put it very simply, EAW helps us to better understand the trade-offs that are made when using water,” says Dr Amy Sullivan of the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network who heads the Limpopo Basin Development Challenge.

The SADC Economic Accounting of Water Use project set out to establish standard methodologies, raise awareness around water accounting and build capacity for countries to set up their own water accounting systems.

The pilot was run in Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia and Zambia as well as in two river basins, the Orange-Senqu and the Maputo. It revealed several challenges to implementing EAW in the region, including collecting the wide range of data required from numerous institutions and in the case of transboundary river basins, coordinating this across national boundaries.

“EAW requires substantial data and data availability varies greatly among SADC member states,” says Manase.

Economic accounting for water produces six accounts that track quantity and quality of water, as well as its flow into the economy and back out again – including monitoring pollutants in wastewater and sewage. It presents the physical stocks and movements of water alongside the economic figures for productivity of the many sectors that use water as an input.

The picture that emerges provides a more comprehensive valuation of water’s contribution to sectors like agriculture and mining and as a consumer good in its own right in the case of domestic water supply. It also accounts for the environmental value of water, for example in the contribution wetlands make to water purification and flood control.

“Economic accounting of water combines different factors relating to water use such as hydrology, economic assessment of water resources, pollution and social distribution. It is a multidimensional system,” says Sullivan.

“It doesn’t just look at the hydrological component or the economic returns, but also takes ecological sustainability and equity into account. So it is a step up from either taking a purely hydrological, economic or ecological point of view. It is an attempt to plan and manage water resources on a basin level in the best possible way.”

“Although EAW is a critical tool for efficient and effective management of water resources,” says Manase, “it is not yet widely applied in the SADC region.”

At present, only Namibia, Botswana, Mauritius and South Africa are compiling water accounts at varying levels of detail.

More accurate assessment of the role water plays in the economy – and the effects of economic uses of water on present and future availability – will aid comparison of benefits across sectors and accurately document inefficient use. It could also help water managers make a strong case for investment in water infrastructure.

“Water accounting started as a research tool, but it is slowly moving on to be a useful tool to inform policy-making,” says Sullivan. “It is still early days, the potential of economic water accounting has not yet been reached, but as the models get more detailed and allow for elaborate scenario-testing EAW will be better suited for decision-making.”

Source: IPS

As aging infrastructure and a wasteful attitude are to blame for much of the Cities water concerns it is still surprising that the city is still not trying to tackle the issue of water and sanitation at the cause of the problem. Cape Town sewage works frequently overflow into rivers, harming the environment. The point is that many of these sewage treatment works would be able to function as intended if they received well water. One way this could be done is stopping all greywater from entering sewage pipes. The benefits of doing this works in two ways. Less water will be consumed for irrigation and sewage treatment works will be able to cope with the volume of effluent they receive.

The following article highlights this concern.

Cape Town – As World Water Day approaches, the department of water affairs and host city Cape Town are determined to change perceptions about water as a scarce resource.

This year the theme of Water Day on March 22 will focus on how urbanisation puts pressure on water and sanitation services. In SA, though, the problem is compounded by “legacy issues”, according to the City of Cape Town.

“We have various legacy issues: There has been inadequate maintenance and we’ve reached the point where there’s no lead time. We’ve consumed 52% of our water infrastructure – that’s a challenge,” director of water and sanitation services Lungile Dlamini told News24.

He also said that there were serious funding shortfalls for maintenance of the water network.

“Our funding shortfall is about 1.7% of the operating budget whereas the international best practice is 7% of operational budget. Our tariffs do not enable us to fund the services we provide.”

‘Green’ energy

A further challenge is that water is being lost because of the age of the networks and Dlamini said he was concerned about how strategies are translated into action.

There are plans to put more focus on “green” energy into pumping water, and this was already being investigated with a view for implementation, said Dlamini.

“Climate change is a spanner in the works, and we have to be mindful of the energy input when we pump water. We’re looking at harvesting the methane gas at our treatment plants to make them self-sufficient,” he said.

Water development is key to the growth of the country in general and the province in particular, and there is co-operation of all spheres of government to create sustainable plans for water management.

“The province has developed the integrated water management action plan to meet growth and development needs for the province,” said Dr Joy Leaner, of the Western Cape provincial government.

In terms of provisioning water into the future, Dlamini said that water is not an infinite resource and that the purpose of the Water Day campaign was to raise awareness and change mindsets about water usage.

“In our long-term planning, we will be able to meet demand [for water] up until 2016 to 2019, all things being equal. By 2016, alternative water resources should be at an advanced stage.”

One of the ideas being actively investigated was a desalinisation plant at Silverstroom, near Atlantis in the province.

“We’re also looking at raising some of the dam walls. That has a short lead time so we can do it quickly. We are already using 20% of our effluent water for irrigation purposes, but it’s not for drinking water,” said Dlamini.

Source: News 24

Hearing Starbuck curse was an object lesson in the poetry of vloeking. It was from the heart.

The new meaning of “fracking” doesn’t come from the heart. Instead, it’s a punch to the gut.

The word “fracking” is a convenient abbreviation of the phrase “hydraulic fracture”. I’ll tell you more about that in a second.

First, let me set the scene. Picture, if you will, the Groot Karoo. Graaff Reinet. Ostrich territory. Dusty, scrub-covered terrain. Angora goats. Sheep. Boreholes.

All right. Now hold that image as you cast your mind halfway around the world to where Big Energy has turned its attention from the PR disaster in which oil is engulfed, to the relatively unexplored miracle of natural gas.

The sedimentary shale formations that stretch across the United States contain untold volumes of natural gas just waiting to be tapped for energy. Until recently, it was very difficult to get to, but new drilling methods are able to clear a way down.

What happens next is extreme, and brings us back to that curious word, “fracking”.

“Hydraulic fracturing” involves injecting vast amounts of chemically treated water into the cavities created in the drilling process, the pressure of which then fractures the rock formations around it, allowing the gas trapped in the shale to be harvested.

The gas is then processed and turned into energy, and not only does everyone live happily ever after, but wealthily ever after too – because, you see, the companies that do this have been paying good money to lease land for this purpose from private landowners across the length and breadth of the United States.

And there we thought the world was running out of fossil fuels.

No, no: we get to loot and pollute the planet for a little longer.

Good times.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, if you’d kindly turn your attention to The Catch.

It turns out that many of the land owners who have leased their property out for this process are having a bit of a rough time. Sure, the actual equipment is about the size of a small van – hardly takes up any space at all. But it squirts some apparently rather dodgy chemicals into the ground. Which trickles down into the groundwater – and if the land is serviced by boreholes… well, you can imagine.

But if you can’t . the documentary film Gasland shows footage of people turning on the taps in their home, letting the water flow, and then bringing a lit match near to the running water.

Have you ever seen running water, coming out of a tap, catching fire? Watch Gasland. In some instances, we’re talking fireballs.

In the film there’s also footage of farm and domestic animals with hair falling out, testimony from families who have developed serious and chronic illnesses, and energy executives insisting that there’s nothing wrong with the water – yet in the same breath refusing to drink any of it.

Of course, the companies involved in the fracking deny there’s any risk to the public. They’ve got studies to prove the chemicals they use cause no harm to the water, the environment or to humans.

Perhaps they’re right. But so what if they’re not? What’s it to us, here, halfway around the world?

Well, fellow citizen of the RS of A, encouraged by their success in the United States, the companies involved in fracking are spreading their wings and hopping the slick – sorry, I mean “pond” – and are partnering up with the likes of Sasol to apply for licences to frack the crap out of the Karoo.

Our Karoo. Which lies atop a vast – and evidently gassy – shale formation. They’re lining up for it! Shell International and oil and gas company Falcon already have a licence to scout for gas. And potentially flood the Karoo’s groundwater with tasty chemicals.

And of course we’re letting them. Because sometimes this land – my land, your land – is its own worst fracking enema.

Source: Times live

The following article from IOL

South Africa’s real water crisis is that the stuff is just too damn complicated. What do you think about when you worry about water? Can you afford to pay your water bill?

Is the water in the tap safe to drink? Is there even water in the tap? Or perhaps what you really want to know is when you are going to get a tap?

If you run a business, is the quality and reliability of the water good enough for your needs? Do you even know where your water comes from?

Different South Africans face very different water challenges as a few cases will show.

For a taste of an immediate water crisis, start in the municipality of Nkomazi between Kanyamazane, Malelane and Komatipoort. Through the cane fields south of the N4, you are in rural South Africa, with half a million people living scattered across what used to be the homeland of KaNgwane.

There is normally some water in the big rivers, the Komati, Lomati and Crocodile, because downstream Mozambique vigorously defends its rights to a share of their water. That’s just as well because if you ask anyone what their water problems are, you will be told that, too often, the pipes are dry.

Even when the water flows, it may not be safe to drink. Here the problem is not the water resource, the water in the rivers, but rather the water services, the water in the pipes. Even where there is infrastructure, its management is an impossible task in an area with too many users and not enough supply.

If the problem for the rural poor is pipes with no water, the issue the rich people who live around Hartbeespoort Dam contend with is what comes out of the pipes. Once their pristine playground, the dam is now an environmental disaster. It was turning green and smelling bad even before sewage started flowing directly in, when the town pumps failed. But its state now is often unbearable.

Yet for the farmers downstream and the people who live and work among the platinum mines of North West, the dam is part of an infrastructure lifeline that collects Gauteng’s wastewater for reuse. More than half the water in the Crocodile River basin, of which the dam forms part, comes from the Vaal. People might prefer it to be cleaner, but without it, there would be disaster. That is cold comfort for those waterfront homeowners who can’t sit outside for their sundowners because of the stench.

Down at the coast, the water problems of the Nelson Mandela Bay metro are different again. The region certainly has water problems. That’s because the local rivers are simply too small to meet the area’s growing needs, aggravated by the current drought. The city has priority access to a huge supply through massive tunnels from the Orange River.

But because of the cost of bringing it to town, Port Elizabeth’s city fathers always tried to survive using their own resources. Now they’ve pushed their luck too far and are pleading for national subsidies for expensive desalination plants that can be built quickly. The rule is that drought hits places with too little capacity.

Ethekwini is the exception to that rule. Water demand has substantially outstripped supply but a series of good rains has kept the dams full and enabled them to live without restrictions – so far. The city’s water managers got away with it during the World Cup and, if the Spring Grove Dam gets from drawing board to ground in time, they will be safe again.

These examples illustrate the complexities of water and its management. We rely on unpredictable nature for the raw material and on our own ingenuity to manage it. As Hartbeespoort shows, water can be gainfully reused, but do it badly and the solution becomes the problem.

So successful water management is about sound knowledge, long-term strategy, sustained application and commitment. The real water crisis will occur not just if we lose our ability to understand and plan but if, as a country, we turn “Eskom ears” to the technicians and don’t listen to their advice. However, asking questions is the first step. Worrying about what the water crisis is and what can be done will help keep us on the right track. – Business Report

Mike Muller is a former director-general of water affairs and forestry, a registered engineer and a visiting adjunct professor at the Wits Graduate School of Public and Development Management.