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the city, with informal settlements in low-lying
areas also subjected to flooding.
In amongst all this chaos, South Africa is
searching for all manner of sustainable water
solutions, from desalination to water from
waste and pondering on how municipalities
can generate water revenue in the wake of
reduced usage.
But there is hope, as increasingly ingenious
solutions are sought … from aquifers to secret
Table Mountain dams.
On the Antarctic horizon, the vision of
dragging an iceberg to our shores has been
mooted. Salvage master Nicholas Sloane (best
known for leading the salvage operation of the
wrecked Costa Concordia in September 2013)
believes it is practicable to tether an iceberg
that has broken off from Antarctica and drifted
northwards, around 2 700km south-west of
Cape Town, and tow it to the Mother City to
melt and use.
According to research, over 2 000
billion tonnes of icebergs break off from the
Antarctic every year and drift until they melt
in warmer water.
While the group says that only 7% of
icebergs would be suitable though, a mere three
tugboats and a tanker should be all it takes.
The City is not that convinced, however,
and the idea is still on ice. u
Kim Kemp | Editor | [email protected]
Water Sewage & Effluent May/June 2018
1
I
f South Africa isn’t being crisped in the
African sun, it’s being washed away from
the ‘Rains down in Africa’.
While huge tracts of the country continue
to sag under the relentless drought, sighs of
relief are emanating out of Cape Town as it
supposedly avoids the dreaded Day Zero — by
a whisker. In the meantime, in neighbouring
Mozambique, following failed rains, the
country’s disaster management council
imposed strict water rationing across the
capital city, with taps turned off every other
day, and all irrigation prohibited.
Unlike Cape Town, though, Maputo has
not reached the stage where officials have
predicted a ‘Day Zero’, but it is close on
the Mother City’s heels as, without urgent
attention, it could be the next southern African
city to suffer extreme water shortages — and
even run dry.
Mother Nature is relentless, erratic,
and harsh.
Running dry is now not an immediate
issue with Cape Town. While the winter
rainfall patterns could not be forecast with any
certainty, flooding was always a known hazard
and several departments have worked hard to
lessen the impact of such occurrences during
the rainy season.
And not a moment too soon.
Just as the Mother City was breathing a
little freer, torrential rains slashed Cape Town,
drowning any hope of normality, resulting in
flash flooding and the closure of some roads in
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technology
An iceberg appears to dwarf a 3 000-tonne ship in the Antarctic Peninsula.
To the editor
A veritable flood of solutions