What more can be said? You don’t need to be smart to predict this with the current state of the countries water. Will the next world war be fought over this precious resource?

The following extract from Times Live

Water pollution

South Africa faces a water crisis that could cripple economic growth and cause a plague of health problems – but critics say the government has yet to act with urgency.

The most immediate concern is the acid mine drainage (AMD) polluting a vast swathe from the Witwaters-rand to Mpumalanga. Other threats include pesticide run-off, broken infrastructure and failed sewage plants.

As the population grows and economic recovery puts more pressure on limited inland water resources, experts predict a shift of industrial activity to coastal areas where desalination plants will have to meet a growing share of demand.

Environmentalists warn that if the government and industry fail to act, within two years mine water as corrosive as battery acid will gush from Johannesburg’s Wemmer Pan and seep into the city’s streets and gardens.

“It is acutely toxic,” said Mariette Liefferink, who leads a group of non-governmental organisations lobbying for action. “It affects the soil and neural development of the foetus, which leads to mental retardation; it will cause cancer, cognitive problems, skin lesions,” she said.

“These are all the foreseeable risks if we do not manage our AMD.”

The plight of water is gaining speed across the world as communities are starting to face the stark reality of a potential global water shortage. Garden like Descanso are setting the benchmark for sustainable public recreational areas and many more will be following suit.

Nowhere in the West is sustainable gardening a harder sell than in Southern California. Public gardens preach conservation, but their grounds are surrounded by turf. The message to visitors: Eastern-style, highly irrigated gardening is not just OK here, it’s the way it’s done.
And so, it is beyond refreshing, more like happy dance exciting, that Descanso Gardens has begun what will be a long-range overhaul in which water conservation is the central theme. The messaging will start with the landscaping.

After five years work poring over conservation possibilities, Descanso has a mission involving truly progressive goals, which include irrigation of its 150 acres with locally harvested water, capturing storm water with bioswales, generating enough solar power to take Descanso facilities off the electricity grid and composting all its own green waste.

Some of the parkway replanting should be complete by June. This change alone, Brown estimates, should save 600,000 gallons of water a year. By contrast, the long-range plans anticipate water savings in the millions of gallons. Under Portico’s conceptual plan, the garden’s current annual use of almost 25 million gallons could be cut to roughly 19 million. These savings become much more meaningful when you consider that by better managing native water, the garden could eliminate its current draw of 9 million gallons a year of water expensively treated to potable standards, but then squandered on irrigation.

Source: latimesblog

The centre harvests all the rain that falls on its roof and sends this water by gravity to the rainwater storage tanks. From here is it pumped back into the building as fresh water. The water that is used for showering and washing hands gets send to a Water Rhapsody grey water system where the water is treated and then reused to flush the numerous toilets in the building.

The sensitive ecosystem surrounding Ecology Park benefits greatly from the water conservation systems as the majority of the water is reused and significantly less water than usual is send to the sewer. By fitting these systems, False Bay Ecology Park is demonstrating its commitment to reducing wasteful water consumption habits and educating the surrounding community the value of this precious resource.

Mava Scott, spokesman for the Department of Water Affairs, made the comment last week, after business leaders from Sasol , Anglo American, drinks company Brandhouse, Standard Bank and Coca-Cola met in Johannesburg to discuss assisting the government to manage and conserve water.

“It is true that the capacity of water resources has been challenged by the rainfall patterns, which appeared to be low in SA,” Scott says.

“The department will welcome a partnership with business to address the challenges.”

Water demand has increased in recent years due to population growth and industrialisation, putting pressure on the existing infrastructure. The meeting came in the same week as a government report was released which found that just 7% of SA’s waste water treatment plants met broad international criteria, such as effluent quality, treatment capacity, and process controlling skills.

The department’s Green Drop report said this was putting ecosystems at risk, causing headaches for farmers, and may be damaging the health of poor rural communities.

Nick Segal, a consultant and visiting professor at the Gordon Institute of Business Science, says that unless there is an awareness and explicit recognition of the risks and challenges by both the government and business leaders, the country could be in trouble.

“The short answer to the question ‘Does SA face a water crisis now?’ is ‘No’.

Other factors adding to the challenges are maintenance backlogs of ageing infrastructures and water plants that were not functioning.

Norman Reyneker, corporate relation director at brandhouse, says a partnership with the government is necessary.

He says it is important for companies to join in because “companies are consuming more water than households”.

“If people fail to treat water as a vital resource, surely we will experience a total shutdown like we did with energy two years ago,” he says.

Richard Garner, water manager at Anglo American , says his company would support the initiative.

Source: Business Day

Judging by this report, corporate SA is recognising that the country will be a water crisis unless  our water  resources are managed properly. If this were to happen companies could face major financial setbacks. It is vital for further economic development that we secure a water future for the country.

Cape Town Water Tariffs (2010)

The table on the left indicates the new water rates structure and the table on the right show the old water rates.

How to read the graph:

• The Red line indicates the price you will be paying for sanitation (sewage). This is automatically calculated at 70% of your fresh water consumption.
• The Blue line shows the price of water in Kilo litres (Kl). This you can read off your water meter.
• The Green line indicates the cost that you are actually paying for every litre of water that comes into your home. This is the sum of both you fresh water and your sewage charge. You literally pay twice for the water you use – once as it enters your property and again when it leaves.

Simply draw a line up from your current water use and the bring that point across to the left. Doing this will show you what you will be paying for water.

Imagine if you were to recycle your greywater, using a Water Rhapsody garden irrigation system. You could be saving a third of your water consumption. Think how much you would be saving every month and your garden would be watered every day, exempt from water restrictions.

With Water Rhapsody conservation systems you have the potential to save 90% on your water consumption. A 90% reduction in your water usage could place you with in the first water tariff increment “FREE” (0 to 6kl). You can’t imagine not paying for water and still having a green garden, can you?

If you are able to suspend your disbeliefs and are intrigued by the thought of a 90% reduction, think how much water falls on your roof every time it rains. How quickly would your rainwater tank fill? Could it be possible that this tips the scape to a 90% saving?

Contact your Water Rhapsody dealer for your free water assessment. Summer 2010/2011 is on its way and it’s a great time to be prepared.

“Your department has let South Africa down, and seriously so,” Democratic Alliance MP Annette Lovemore told Water Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica.

Lovemore, speaking during debate on the water affairs budget vote in the National Assembly, called on the minister to show “vital, critical and urgent leadership to address the current shocking level of mismanagement of our water resources”.

Ground and surface water quality in South Africa was deteriorating fast, and people had died after drinking polluted water, she said.

“Animals in the Kruger National Park and ecosystems across the country are under threat. Tourism is compromised by the eutrophication of rivers and dams. Water treatment costs are escalating due to poor raw water quality.

“Farmers are unable to irrigate with polluted river water. The availability of water to sustain economic development and human and environmental health is diminishing. Opportunities are being seriously undermined,” Lovemore said.

United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa told MPs “We are sitting on a time bomb. This is a water-scarce country with a growing population and outdated infrastructure designed to serve a small portion of citizens who live in the privileged areas.”

Holomisa said government had failed in the past 15 years to bring the infrastructure in underprivileged areas on a par with privileged areas. A drive through provinces such as KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and the Eastern Cape revealed the “apartheid topography” of these regions. Access to clean water was a basic human right, but it did not exist in many rural communities.

“Billions are being spent on expanding or maintaining infrastructure inherited from the old regime. On the other hand, the infrastructure where the majority live is sorely neglected.

Source: Times live

The state of South Africa’s water is certainly becoming a hot discussion. The department of water affairs has promised to release the green drop report on April 28. Will this shed more doom on the countries water concerns?

Can we rely on the department to preserve this vital resource? Is it time that individuals to start fending for themselves to ensure access to clean fresh water? You decide…

Isn’t relying on desalinating just treating the symptoms (too little water) instead of treating the cause (uneducated, ill disciplined water use)?

Capetonians could be drinking desalinated seawater in four years’ time when our growing demand for water will have exhausted current supplies.

And because desalination is expensive, the cost of Cape Town’s water will increase.

This emerged at a pre-budget briefing yesterday where Water and Environment Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said her department was “forging ahead with unconventional supplies” of water, which included desalination of sea water in coastal towns.

“My view is that desalination must be seen as one of the sources for water supply… We have a coastline of 3 000km. We don’t have enough water and we are facing climate change. So in future this is a technology South Africa will need,” Sonjica said.

The Berg River Dam, the newest of the province’s dams, will meet Cape Town’s growing water demand only until 2014.

Desalination might be able to solve the cities water problems but will you be able to afford to afford it? Will the city still be offering household 6000 litre free each month if making the water potable comes at a great financial cost?

To find ideas on how you could be saving water contact your Water Rhapsody dealer.

Eikenhof dam

Picture from Elgin Grabow angling club

Dam level information from CSIR

For ideas on how you could conserve water contact your Water Rhapsody Dealer