Environment and energy
39
Are we dammed?
South Africa is in desperate need for water in all industries, particularly in some parts of the country. The Western and Eastern Cape immediately come to mind. The last time I heard, the Western Cape only had 120 days left for water consumption.
By
Andrew( Andy) Camphausen
If no rain had fallen by the time this contribution is published and read, the Western Cape will be in dire straits. Both the Nelson Mandela and Cape Town metropolitan areas are presently considered as disaster areas and monitored on a month-tomonth basis.
Rivers in the Western Cape are getting appropriated by farmers upstream of the dams, thus the natural flow is stunted by this.
The basic disregard of water saving over the past five years or so in this country has led to various consequences and greatest of these is the drought in which we find ourselves.
According to a professor in the water space, South Africa is in the throes of a 100-year drought. This means that this drought could last between six and 12 years. The Cape Town and Nelson Mandela metropolitan regions are living proof of this. Once the dams are less than 20 % in capacity, large amounts of sediment would be found and not much water. Water could still be extracted from this sediment, but it would put even greater pressure on the pumps that are used. Once the dam is below 10 %, it would be virtually impossible to extract water and the dam would be declared empty.
As our government is still in the process of planning dams for the 2030 strategy, it is not going to assist the drought-stricken areas of the country at this moment. This situation is dire and virtually on the verge of disaster from a human point of view.
Many residents comply with the ruling of the water bucket system in the Cape, but if rain doesn’ t fall in this region, I am sure that this sanction will be taken away too— if it hasn’ t already.
The once picturesque Cape is becoming a tourist nightmare where in some places, patches of sand are overshadowing previous luscious grassy parks. This does not bode well for the city’ s GDP and economy, not to
Andrew Camphausen
Andrew( Andy) Camphausen has been in the building / plumbing industry for over 20 years. During his six years in the Free State, he was nominated and served as vice-chair of IOPSA Free State. He now resides in Gauteng and is employed at Grohe Dawn Watertech as national technical project support.
mention the rural / poor communities. Would tourists want to invest in a semi desert?
I am sure that this topic has become the subject of many a conversation. But as we talk about this, are we actually taking it seriously as the solution providers?
We are the plumbing fraternity that should be providing solutions, and talking to our customers on ways to save water at their dwellings and being mindful of the dire situation in its entirety.
Are we just talking, or are we doing? PA
We are the plumbing fraternity that should be providing solutions. www. plumbingafrica. co. za April 2017 Volume 23 I Number 2