Two-thirds of South Africa’s surface area is largely reliant on groundwater, owing
mainly to the dearth of perennial streams in the semi-desert to desert parts, where
groundwater is more valuable than gold.
By Kim Kemp*
While groundwater resources only
played a supplementary role in the
past, South African policymakers now
intend using it to strengthen and even
*Contributor: JG Afrika
Water Sewage & Effluent July/August 2017
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He is concerned that the existing
municipal supply chain system is
discounting the onerous requirements
of these groundwater projects when
awarding contracts to companies, with
many being awarded to the lowest
bidders that do not have the necessary
skills or capacities. Rose attributes
this situation to a dearth in technical
capabilities at municipal level that
overlook the demands of these projects
during the tender evaluation stages.
“There are many examples of
projects being awarded to service
providers who were unable to
realistically fulfil their obligati ons in the
first place, depleting their resources
long before the project was completed.
This is to the detriment of the entire
industry, including those companies
that abide by strict and accepted norms
and standards, as well as rates that
they can charge for their professional
services.”
This issue can be addressed within
the groundwater fraternity at the
Groundwater Association of KwaZulu-
Natal meetings, and he believes that
the initiative can also be introduced to
other provinces to ensure widespread
success of groundwater projects. u
alleviate pressure on existing surface
water and supply infrastructure,
following the example of countries
such as Denmark that, despite its high
rainfall patterns, has continued to
develop its groundwater resources to
ensure water security.
A municipality in the Western Cape
has been working with JG Afrika since
2012 to develop groundwater resources
at sports complexes. This was long
before the effects of the drought were
fully felt and, therefore, reflects the
proactive approach taken to harness
the benefits of this resource.
However, Rose notes that there is
still significant room for improvement
in water monitoring practices at some
municipal groundwater operations.
He says the technical abilities of
municipalities to conduct groundwater
monitoring must be strengthened and
incorporated into the daily operation of
the infrastructure to ensure the ongoing
success of groundwater projects.
“The ability to analyse and interpret
the data at most of these operations
is very limited, and therefore requires
geohydrologists’ input timeously. The
ability to identify a decline of the water
level or deterioration of the water
quality well in advance is a critical
proactive measure that will help avoid
failure,” says Rose.
Many people living in informal urban and rural parts of the
country still lack adequate and safe drinking water.
Planning for communities
L
imited technical skills and a lack
of an in-depth understanding of
groundwater compromise the
success of groundwater projects.
Geohydrologist
Regan
Rose,
executive associate at JG Afrika, says,
“Groundwater is an extremely under-
utilised resource in South Africa,
despite the immense potential role it
is able to play in future water planning
in the country. It has taken time for
trusted experts in the field to change
decision-makers’ negative perceptions
of this resource. This is considering the
failure of many of these projects that
were not undertaken on a scientific
and technical basis and, unfortunately,
we are still witnessing practices that
threaten to undermine the development
of groundwater resources in the
country.”
He says there are cases where
private property owners have bypassed
the upfront planning before embarking
on a project, ignoring the critical
preliminary study stages, to save costs.
“This is a very short-sighted approach
that will, unfortunately, lead to costly
mistakes without seeing a drop of
water. The role of the geohydrologist
is to find suitable water and to work
with the drilling contractor to bring it
to surface. A contractor firm’s core
competency has never been locating
water, but rather providing an expert
drilling solution, and it charges for
every metre that it drills,” he says.
He adds that in some instances,
contractors, along with their clients,
have had little understanding of
the geological and geohydrological
conditions and have, therefore, been
unable to challenge rock formations
with their existing equipment. “On the
other hand, significant unnecessary
additional costs have been incurred
owing to over-drilling,” he adds.
Raising groundwater’s profile