infrastructure
municipalities
and recreational activities. Should the
measures fail to lower consumption,
it is perhaps not inconceivable that
government may move to implement
even stricter efforts to clamp down on
water usage, such as water shedding.
Yet, according to industry stakeholders,
this is far from the silver bullet that
would assist the country in surviving the
current drought.
Instead, water shedding could have
potentially devastating effects on South
Africa’s water infrastructure and could
see the country ending up with an even
Anthony Turton
tech news
networking
“We need
honest people to
develop a plan
that is credible
and sustainable.
We need more
carrots of
incentive to do
things differently,
and less big
sticks to beat
recalcitrant
users.”
industry
debate
consumption did not reduce between
November and January, the entire Vaal
River system could collapse. She noted
that agriculture constitutes 62% of the
country’s water use, urban domestic
users 23%, rural consumers 4%, and
power generation 2%.
However, in Gauteng, 79% of the
water goes to urban domestic use, 9%
to mining and other industrial activity,
6% to agriculture, and 5% to power
generation. Of the 79% going to urban
domestic use, 40% goes towards nonhuman consumption such as gardening
Water shedding is but another rung on the ladder of state
failure, says water expert Professor Anthony Turton.
Water Sewage & Effluent November/December 2016
23