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Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) – partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 15 June 2011
By: Sarah Wild – guest of Royal Dutch Shell in Wyoming
Having seen a natural gas extraction facility that works — and, despite its problems, Shell’s onshore natural gas development in Pinedale, Wyoming, works — it is not certain whether natural gas extraction will be the holy grail of energy and the employment cash cow that SA expects it to be.
 Wyoming’s Pinedale anticline raises new concerns about natural gas extraction The country has been divided since it became public that Shell and several other energy companies had fixed their gaze on the Karoo and the shale gas reserves far beneath its surface.
Some have argued that it will solve SA’s energy crisis, ensuring a fuel supply for about 200 years; help the country move away from its dependence on coal; and create “unprecedented” employment.
According to the US Energy Information Administration, SA has technically recoverable shale gas resources of 13,7-trillion cubic metres, which could allow it to be energy independent.
The 1,1-trillion cubic metres of natural gas from the Pinedale Anticline can supply 10-million homes with electricity for more than 30 years.
Others have said natural gas would simply reinforce SA’s dependence on fossil fuels and cause irreparable environmental damage to an area with world- renowned biodiversity.
The Pinedale facility debunks a number of the myths but raises new concerns about natural gas extraction, including the contentious technique of hydraulic fracturing or “fracking”. Continue reading Working frack site raises new concerns about natural gas extraction
Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) – partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 06 June 2011
An amount of R2 million has been allocated to the Adopt a River project to allow it to continue for another 12 months.
 Adopt-a-river. Women beneficiaries clean litter out of the Buffalo River. Launching the Buffalo Adopt a River project on Friday in King Williams Town in the Eastern Cape, Deputy Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Rejoice Mabudafhasi, reported that 595 job opportunities have been created through the project.
The initiative is currently implemented in Limpopo, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape and Free State, which were the pilot provinces.
Mabudafhasi said through the project, women have acquired skills in waste management, occupational health and safety, identification of alien weeds and herbicide application, water safety, snake handling, first aid, environmental education and life skills.
“The other direct benefit is that the health of rivers has improved drastically. The Buffalo River project employed 100 women from the rural poor communities around the 17 wards of Amathole District Municipality, including Buffalo City Municipality and Amahlathi Local Municipality, who are involved in the cleaning of solid waste and alien vegetation species along the banks of the Buffalo River. Continue reading Adopt a River project allocated R2 million
Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) – partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 24 May 2011
It will cost in the region of R300 million to remove alien vegetation from the Berg River that’s drastically affecting the water quality.
 The Berg River’s degraded ecosystem is not being managed correctly The river – 294km long – runs through several agricultural communities and is an important element in the development of the tourism industry in areas between Franschhoek and Velddrif.
Iaan Badenhorst, manager and resident at the Berg River Resort, said debris (mainly logs) and alien vegetation were the biggest problems in the Paarl area.
“The vegetation takes oxygen out of the water and affects the ecosystem. The government needs to put money into solving the problem when it can still be solved. This river is essential to farmers.
“Their business depends on the quality of the water. If it isn’t right the EU cancels export contracts, which is a major loss to the farmer and the local economy,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Western Cape Department of Agriculture, Francis Steyn, said the river’s degraded ecosystem was not being managed correctly and would “drastically affect” human health, the rural economy and ecosystem if nothing was done. Continue reading Alien vegetation affects Berg River water quality
Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) – partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 13 May 2011
Seven Joburg primary schools are competing in the Schools Water Audit and Monitoring Competition, which looks at the quality of water in local rivers.
 Bullfrog numbers are dwindling at a frightening rate. Photo: Louis du Preez The schools are Tsosane from Ivory Park; Wilhelmina Hoskins from Riverlea; Julius Sebolai from Bram Fischerville; Khomanani from Diepkloof; Ikage from Alexandra; Kensington from Kensington; and Refalletsi from Orange Farm. From each school, 60 children will take part in the competition.
It is supported by the City’s environmental management department in partnership with City Parks, Joburg Zoo and Rand Water. Speaking at the launch of the competition at the zoo on 11 May, the member of the mayoral committee for environment, Matshidiso Mfikoe, said its purpose was to promote environmental education and awareness.
“The activity aims to increase student awareness and involvement in protecting water bodies by engaging them to monitor the water condition in their community,” said Mfikoe.
For six months, using simple test kits, learners and teachers will take water samples from their nearest water bodies to test temperature, acidity (pH), clarity (turbidity), and dissolved oxygen. Environmental specialists will visit the schools to explain how to carry out water quality data collection. Continue reading Activity aims to increase student awareness in protecting water bodies
Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) – partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 28 March 2011
More than one third of 231 local municipalities do not have the capacity to perform their sanitation functions, a new study by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has found.
 Overflows of raw sewage are severely detrimental to the environment. The report, discussed at a United Nations water conference in Cape Town, includes a comprehensive survey of South Africa’s levels of water pollution.
It also tracks access to clean, safe water and sanitation. And it warns that South Africa is heading for disaster unless it tackles the problem of water pollution, including its failing sewage treatment systems.
It found that the situation was so bad, it called for waste-water facilities that did not comply with their licences to be prosecuted.
Water quality, the report stated, was excellent in metropolitan areas, but in many rural areas and towns, drinking water quality and waste-water effluent quality were frequently below the standards set. Continue reading Call for wastewater facilities to be prosecuted
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