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Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) – partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 24 Aug 2011
Environmental rights groups have expressed concern about the state of the country’s rivers following a report made to Parliament last week.
 Those who use rivers for recreation, consume the water, or water crops all face health risks Briefing parliament’s Water and Environmental Affairs portfolio committee, water affairs acting chief director for water resources information management, Moloko Matlala, listed the main problems affecting the quality of the country’s river water.
Microbiological tests in June found that KwaZulu-Natal’s river systems were badly affected by pollution, he said.
Those who used rivers for recreation, consume the water, or used it to water crops all faced health risks.
“Water from these rivers, if drunk untreated, poses a high risk to those consuming the water due to the presence of Escherichia coli (more commonly known as E.Coli),” he said. Continue reading Quality of our rivers
Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) – partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 31 March 2011
By: Tamir Kahn
Farmers who depend on the Loskop Dam to irrigate their crops can breathe a sigh of relief after scientists found the water poses no immediate threat to human health, which means exports of fruit and vegetables are safe — at least for now.
 CSIR warns that the water quality in the Loskop Dam is deteriorating rapidly “It’s a great relief,” said the Loskop Irrigation Board’s Diek Engelbrecht yesterday.
Farmers have been so worried about the declining water quality in the heavily polluted Olifants River, which flows into the dam, that the irrigation board commissioned a study from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the University of Stellenbosch. Farmers were concerned that if their crops became contaminated with heavy metals or pathogens, their produce would no longer make export grade.
The dam provides water to 16000ha of agricultural land, and supports a European export market worth about R1bn a year.
The Transvaal Agricultural Union (TAU) last year said its members were worried that polluted water would jeopardise their livelihood. If they lost their export markets, they would have to dump produce locally and prices would fall, with knock-on effects for farmers who rely on domestic customers, it said. Continue reading Loskop Dam water deteriorating rapidly
Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) – partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 09 March 2011
Tap water in SA could be undrinkable in the next 19 years if the country does not change the way it uses water, or how it treats used water, scientists say.
Already, some of the tap water in SA contains poisons.
 Blue-green algae produce toxins that rob water bodies of oxygen. Poor quality water will negatively affect the economy, curbing the manufacturing sector directly and indirectly, says limnologist Bill Harding. Limnology is the study of freshwater bodies.
Despite Water Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica promising a turnaround in the parlous state of wastewater treatment almost a year ago, there has been no visible action taken to curb the risk from semi-treated water discharged into SA’s rivers and reservoirs, the scientists say.
Last year’s Green Drop (wastewater quality) report showed that only 32, or 3%, of SA’s estimated 850 wastewater treatment works complied with requirements for safe discharge. The report noted that only 449 of the works had been assessed, with the rest either ignoring, or being unable to comply with, the call to submit to scrutiny.
Only 32 (7%) complied with the Green Drop criteria after being measured for E. coli bacteria, nitrates, phosphates and ammonia and other nasties.
The national Green Drop Programme was launched in 2008 and was meant to cover all wastewater treatment works so as not to harm the water bodies into which they discharge their product. Continue reading SA tap water could be undrinkable in 19 years
Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) - partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 31 May 2010
IMBY (In My Back Yard), a community-oriented environmental awareness organization, held their ‘Join the Poo Parade’ protest at the Disa River mouth on Hout Bay Beach last Sunday.
Jeremy Westgarth-Taylor of Water Rhapsody Conservation [...]
Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) - partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 30 April 2010
The Department of Water Affairs finds that 7,4% of all wastewater systems can be classified as excellently managed, but the reality remains that various levels of improvement are required in about 55% of the systems assessed.
Water Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica has asked the Treasury for a staggering R23 billion over the next six years to fix waste water treatment works that need “urgent” attention.
 Photo by 'hilmy2007' under creative commons licence. Sonjica said yesterday the bill for refurbishing the plants could rise even higher, as the figure was an estimate. She said that while there was reason for concern at the parlous state of the country’s sewage treatment works, “we have not reached crisis levels”.
She briefed journalists at the Union Buildings at the release of the much-delayed Green Drop report, an assessment of how sewage treatment works are performing.
Water experts have expressed concern over deteriorating conditions at the plants, which treat just under 7 600 megalitres of waste water every day.
Poorly treated waste water pollutes land and rivers, posing problems for farmers, damage to eco- systems and health risks.
Only 449 of the country’s 850 waste-water treatment works were assessed, with the rest either ignoring, or being unable to comply with the call to submit to scrutiny. Continue reading Only 7% comply with Green Drop Report criteria
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