With climate change - Water Research Commission

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With climate change - Water Research Commission
UPFRONT 5

                                    Help for small towns dealing                                      Water by numbers
                                        with climate change
                                                                                                      • 1,6 million ℓ/s – The speed of the
                                                                                                        Augrabies falls, following the release of
                                                Small towns and subsistence farmers
                                                                                                        water from the overfull Gariep Dam.
                                                in the Northern Cape are thought to
                                                                                                        Usually the waterfall, known as the
                                                be most vulnerable to climate change.
                                                                                                        ‘Place of Great Noise’ by the indigenous
                                                                                                        Namas, flows at 30 000 ℓ/s.
                                                                                                      • US$500-million – The funds being
                                                                                                        mobilised by the African Development
                                                                                                        Bank until 2007 to finance clean water
     Photo courtesy of SA Tourism

                                                                                                        projects and a social hygiene pro-
                                                                                                        gramme to benefit rural regions in Africa.
                                                                                                      • 40% – The improvement in access
                                                                                                        to basic sanitation, according to the
                                                                                                        Department of Water Affairs & Forestry
                                                                                                        (DWAF). By March, about 3,91 million
                                                                                                        households still did not have safe toilet

A   new publication which can assist small
    towns, especially in the Northern Cape,
deal with the onslaught of climate change,
                                                     strategies and adaptation policies will have
                                                     to be directed. “There is a need for proac-
                                                     tive strategies at local and national level to
                                                                                                        facilities.
                                                                                                      • 84% – The average percent of rural
                                                                                                        households around the world that
has been published by the Water Research             deal with the impacts of drought and climate       participate in agricultural activities, ac-
Commission (WRC).                                    change.”                                           cording to the UN Food and Agriculture
     Most climate projection models suggest               The authors note that emphasis should         Organisation. In some areas this figure is
a decrease in rainfall over the western part of      be placed on demand side management.               as high as 99%.
southern Africa in the coming decades. The           Several strategies are described in the          • 30% – The black economic empower-
Northern Cape, where water resources are             report, including the implementation of dry        ment target set by the newly signed
already scarce, small towns and subsistence          sanitation systems rather than flush toilets;      construction charter by 1013. The
farmers are thought to be most vulnerable.           public information and school education            charter further targets a 10% economic
     Most rural residents (or 30% of total           programmes; as well as rising block tariffs        interest in the hands of black women.
population) are dependent on groundwater             and water restrictions.                          • 2,8 billion – The number of people
reserves. However, the reliability of ground-             “Groundwater is likely to be most se-         believed to be living in water-stressed
water supplies is not adequate due to, among         verely affected, with the groundwater table        and water-scarce parts of the world.
others, restricted resource availability, quality    dropping due to reduced recharge. Strict         • 83% – The percentage of bucket
of water, erratic precipitation, drought and         groundwater management systems should be           systems that have been replaced to date
water management issues.                             put in place, with early warning mechanisms        in Gauteng. According to Premier
     The WRC funded study, undertaken by             to report depleted groundwater reserves.           Mbhazima Shilowa, all the 12 000
the University of Cape Town, investigated the        Continual monitoring of the aquifer against        remaining buckets will have been
adaptive capacity of small towns and com-            climate conditions will provide some knowl-        replaced by June ahead of the 2007
munities in the Northern Cape to climate             edge of the future potential under projected       target.
variability, specifically drought. In the past,      climate conditions.”                             • R130-million – The funds set aside
poor planning for emergencies and the lack                It is also recommended that each local        by DWAF and the KwaZulu-Natal Depart-
of structured contingency plans have resulted        authority develop a locally-based strategy,        ment of Agricultural and Environmental
in water shortages during times of scarce            which follows the multi-criteria analysis tool     Affairs for the eradication of alien planta-
rainfall. An estimated 25% of the towns have,        set out in the report. It is recognised that       tion in the province.
as a result, over-utilised their groundwater         there is huge deficiencies in capacity in some   • 85% – This is how full South Africa’s
resources.                                           areas, and this will have to be addressed if       main dams are, compared with 65%
     At present, water shortages are dealt with      the challenges brought on by climate change        last year. According to DWAF, only the
reactively, i.e. by tanking water in from other      are to be overcome.                                Eastern Cape, Limpopo and the Western
areas. However, this is not reported to be a                                                            Cape have less stored water than the
sustainable long-term solution.                      • To order the WRC Report No 1500/1/06             same time last year.
     According to the authors of the WRC               contact Publications at                        • 14% – The percentage of South Africa’s
report, climate change will add an addi-               Tel: (012) 330-0340 or                           estimated 800 wetlands which are fully
tional layer of stress to which adaptive               E-mail: publications@wrc.org.za                  protected.

                                                                                                          The Water Wheel May/June 2006
With climate change - Water Research Commission
6 UPFRONT

                      Polluted mine-water still                                                      Turning ‘Cinderella’ of
                        threatens Gauteng                                                           water sector into princess

 I f the now defunct compartment adjacent
   to existing gold-mining operations at
 ERPM on the Central Rand Basin is allowed
                                                        Strachan told delegates it was very
                                                  difficult at this stage to predict exactly when
                                                  decant would take place, since basin dy-
                                                                                                    T   he Cinderella of water services, sanitation,
                                                                                                        came under the spotlight with the first
                                                                                                    ever National Sanitation Week held in South
 to fill up with underground water unabated,      namics are not yet fully understood.              Africa in March.
 decanting of polluted mine-water could oc-             One possible solution for the ERPM situ-         The theme of the week was ‘Washing
 cur within less than two years, with potential   ation is to construct a 2,5 km shaft and siphon   Hands for a Healthy Life’ with government en-
 disastrous consequences for the greater          (about 200 m below surface) from the mine’s       couraging its citizens to practice safe health
 Johannesburg metropolitan area.                  South Vertical Shaft to manage water through      and hygiene habits. “Germs play a major part
       So reports manager of the Water Geo-       controlled decant at a point southwards on        in the millions of cases of diarrhoea among
 science Unit at the Council for Geoscience,      the Elsburg Spruit near the Elsburg Dam. The      children under the age of five. Almost 50%
 Leslie Strachan. He was speaking at a            water can then be treated at the dam.             of all reported cases diseases are related
 mine-water symposium in Johannesburg                   The Council of Geoscience has been          to poor sanitation,” said Minister of Water
 earlier this year organised by the Geological    undertaking an investigation into this and        Affairs & Forestry Buyelwa Sonjica.
 Society of South Africa.                         other mine-water pollution issues on the
       At present, ERPM is pumping out about      Witwatersrand on behalf of the Depart-
 35 Mℓ/day of water with financial assistance     ment of Minerals & Energy since 2002.                R2 m. for flood victims
 from government to enable mining in the          The project aims to, among other, prevent
 South Vertical Shaft. However, water in the
 adjacent No 3 Shaft is rising at about
                                                  ingress of (clean) water into underground
                                                  mine workings both from surface and under-        T   he North West government has donated
                                                                                                        more than R2-million to about 300 fami-
                                                                                                    lies affected by recent floods in Taung.
 1,3 m a day at a level of about 800 m below      ground sources and recommend solutions
 surface.                                         to the State to reduce risks associated with           The donation is part of the Social Relief
                                                  minewater in the Witwatersrand area.              of Distress programme. Only families who do
                                                        It is interesting to note that the West     not already receive social grants qualified for
                                                  Rand Basin, near the Cradle of Humankind,         assistance.
                             Council for                                                                 Meanwhile Africon Consulting Engineers
                                                  is the only area included in the study where
                             Geoscience                                                             has assessed the extent of damage caused by
                                                  decanting is taking place at present. In-
                             Manager: Water                                                         the floods on behalf of the provincial govern-
                                                  vestigations are continuing in each basin,
                             Geoscience Unit,                                                       ment. According to the National Disaster
                                                  including the identification of ingress areas;
                             Leslie Strachan                                                        Management Committee set up in the area a
                                                  development of groundwater geohydrologi-
                                                  cal conceptual models, and the establish-         long-term plan is being formulated to ensure
                                                  ment of shaft level and sampling networks.        Taung is not susceptible to future floods.

                                                                   Diary
  ASSET MANAGEMENT                                renewable energy and desalination, and            CAPACITY BUILDING
  MAY 17-19                                       economics of desalination plants, among           MAY 24-26
  A workshop on strategic asset management        others. Enquiries: Desalination Studies &         The Third International Water Association
  and maintenance for the public sector will      Technology Centre; Alexandria University; Tel:    Young Researchers Conference will be
  be held at the Ridgeway Hotel, Randburg.        (+203) 591 1152/0096; Fax: (+203) 591             held at Nanyang International University,
  Enquiries: Steve Matkhutle; Tel: (011) 803-     4340/0720; E-mail: adst@frcu.eun.eg               in Singapore. The conference aims to
  0009; E-mail: workshops@tci-sa.co.za;                                                             provide an international forum at which
  Web: www.tci-sa.co.za                           WATER RESOURCES                                   postgraduate researchers and young
                                                  MANAGEMENT                                        professionals working in the water sec-
  DESALINATION                                    MAY 23-25                                         tor can present their research work and
  MAY 18-21                                       The conference on Integrated Water Resourc-       network with their peers. Enquiries: Tom
  An international conference on desalination     es Management & Challenges of Sustainable         Williams; Tel: +44 (0)20 7654 5500;
  and desalination plant rehabilitation will be   Development, to be held in Marrakech,             Fax: +44 (0)20 7654 5555; E-mail:
  held in Sharm-El-Sheikh, in Egypt. Topics       Morocco, is being organised by the Interna-       YRC2006@iwahq.org.uk;
  to be discussed include thermal desalina-       tional Association of Hydrogeologists.            Web: www.yrc2006.iwa-conferences.org
  tion processes, brackish water desalination,    E-mail: gire3d@ucam.ac.ma

 The Water Wheel May/June 2006
With climate change - Water Research Commission
UPFRONT 7

                          Diarrhoea killing children in Khayalitsha

D   iarrhoea and gastro-enteritis have overtaken HIV/Aids as the biggest killer of children under
    five years in Khayalitsha, outside Cape Town.
    According to news agency Health-e, the child-related deaths related to these diseases have
doubled over the last four years. This is mainly due to the critical lack of sanitation.
Authorities have been battling to serve residents of this burgeoning settlement, with an esti-
mated 48 000 new arrivals every year.
    At least 55% of people in Khayalitsha live below the poverty line, with half of all adults
reported to be unemployed. About one in three people have no access to on-site water.
Health-e reports that there is an average of 105 people per toilet in Sites B and C in Khayelitsha.
In 2004, 280 of 7805 children born died at birth, with 60 children under five dying of diarrhoea
in 2004.

                             Irrigation symposium calls for papers

T   he South African National Committee on
    Irrigation & Drainage (SANCID) has called
for papers for its symposium, ‘the Changing
                                                   to water is being regulated through new water
                                                   allocation methods; urban development and
                                                   economic growth is putting additional strain
                                                                                                      technologies and innovation; irrigation
                                                                                                      management; the institutional environment;
                                                                                                      human resource development; and natural
Face of Irrigation in Southern Africa’, to take    on regional water resources, thereby increas-      resources and environmental impacts.
place from 15 to 17 November, at the               ing competition for water and demanding            • Abstracts for papers for the symposium
Aventura Swadini Resort in Mpumalanga.             water efficiency; and access to international         need to be submitted to programme co-
      The irrigated agriculture industry is one    markets requires strict control measures to be        ordinator Litha Magingxa at E-mail: mag-
where continuous change is a reality. Water        adhered to, to name but a few.                        ingxal.sci@mail.uovs.ac.za by 16 June,
users and their support services have in the            In light of these developments, the              2006. For more information, contact Isobel
last decade had to deal with new challenges        SANCID symposium will be used to eva-                 van der Stoep at Tel: (012) 420-2174 or
due to changes both in the policy and the          luate the changes that have taken place.              E-mail: Isobel.vanderstoep@up.ac.za or
natural environment they operate in. Access        Sub-themes include, inter alia, design,               visit: www.sancid.org.za

 SLUDGE MANAGEMENT                                SOIL SCIENCE                                        Jupiters Conference Centre, in Queensland,
 MAY 29-31                                        JULY 9-15                                           Australia. Visit: www.wceam.org
 The IWA Specialised Conference on Sus-           The 18th World Congress of Soil Science will
 tainable Sludge Management: State of the         be held in Philadelphia, US. Enquiries: Soil        EVAPORATION
 Art; Challenges and Perspectives, will be        Science Society of America; Tel: +1 (608)           JULY-17-21
 held in Moscow, Russia.                          273-8095; Fax: +1 (608) 273-2021; Web:              A Water Research Commission project work-
 Enquiries: Tel/Fax: +7 095 101 4621;             www.18wcss                                          shop on Evaporation Estimation will be held at
 E-mail: IWAconference@sibico.com;                                                                    the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritz-
 Visit: http://IWAsludge.sibico.com               WATER TREATMENT                                     burg. There is a workshop aimed at students
                                                  JULY 10-12                                          and one aimed at practitioners. Enquiries:
 AQUATIC RESOURCES                                An international conference on ‘Decentralised       Bennie Hoosen; Tel: (033) 260-5510; E-mail:
 JUNE 19-23                                       Water Systems’ will be held in Australia. The       hoosenb@ukzn.ac.za; Web: http://fred.csir.
 The Southern African Society of Aquatic          conference, being organised by Murdoch              co.za/extra/project/evapmon
 Scientists together with the Phycological        University, will focus on design, operation,
 Society of Southern Africa are hosting a joint   maintenance and management of small treat-          ENVIRONMENTAL WATER
 conference with the theme ‘From Source to        ment units and the uptake of decentralised          QUALITY
 Sea’. The conference, to be held in Maputo,      systems. Enquiries: Dr Kuruvilla Mathew;            AUGUST 14-18
 Mozambique, will focus on aspects related to     E-mail: K.Mathew@murdoch.edu.au;                    The Institute for Water Research at Rhodes
 shared water resources and includes themes       Web:” www.etc.murdoch.edu/au/confer-                University will be hosting a course on the
 on research, conservation and management of      ences/decent.html                                   introduction to managing environmental water
 aquatic resources in southern Africa. Enquir-                                                        quality. The registration deadline is 24 July.
 ies: Dr Richard Greenfield; Tel: (011) 489-      ASSET MANAGEMENT                                    Enquiries: Dr Heather Davies-Coleman or
 2444; Fax: (011) 489-2286; E-mail: rgr@na.       JULY 11-14                                          Juanita McLean, Tel: (046) 622-2428; Fax:
 rau.ac.za                                        The First World Congress in Engineering As-         (046) 603-8532; E-mail: course@iwr.ru.ac.
                                                  set Management will take place at the Conrad        za; Web: www.ru.ac.za/institutes/iwr/ucewq

                                                                                                           The Water Wheel May/June 2006
With climate change - Water Research Commission
8 UPFRONT

                                     WRC project sows success in FS

 M     inister of Water Affairs & Forestry
       Buyelwa Sonjica has praised the Water
 Research Commission’s (WRC’s) rainwater
                                                                                                      and adding it to another part where it can be
                                                                                                      used beneficially. The rainwater harvesting
                                                                                                      technique developed through WRC-funded
 harvesting initiatives which are helping to                                                          research combines the advantages of water
 feed thousands of villagers in Thaba Nchu, in                                                        harvesting, no-till, basin tillage and mulching
 the Free State.                                                                                      on high drought-risk clay soils. The practice
      Speaking at Water Week Celebrations                                                             reduces total runoff to zero and evaporation
 in the area earlier this year she said that                                                          from the soil surface considerably, thus
 innovative technologies, such as rainwater                                                           increasing crop production in the semi-arid
 harvesting, had the potential to contribute                                                          areas with low potential clay soils.
 to substantially reducing food insecurity,                                                                Research has shown that, on average,
 poverty and unemployment. “We need to                                                                in-field rainwater harvesting technology
 use innovation, science and technology to                                                            increased crop yields by about a third when
 open new horizons for better water use.” She                                                         compared to the use of conventional tillage
 also argued for an increase in research into                                                         techniques. Crops such as maize, beans
 groundwater harvesting methods.                                                                      spinach and fruit have been grown success-
      Water harvesting is based on the princi-                                                        fully in Thaba Nchu. The technique is now
 ple of depriving part of the land of its share of                                                    being taught to farmers in the Eastern Cape
 rain (which is usually not used productively)                                                        and KwaZulu-Natal.

                                      Maintenance crucial, says DBSA

 G    rowth and development depend not so
      much on the rapid rollout of infrastructure
 itself, but rather on the sustainable delivery of
                                                   sectors – including water and sanitation. Part
                                                   II, on the other hand, examines the infrastruc-
                                                   ture requirements of municipalities in general
                                                                                                      size. In 1996, a household consisted of 4,47
                                                                                                      persons, and in 2001, it was only 3,8 per-
                                                                                                      sons. This finding is critical for planning and
 the services which that infrastructure makes      and marginal communities in particular, and        for rollout of municipal infrastructure.
 possible.                                         introduces a financial model which assesses             Among the other issues addressed in
      This is the main message from the new        the financial sustainability of reducing the       the report include the question of the present
 report published by the Development Bank          country’s municipal infrastructure backlogs.       realities governing decision making; a series
 of Southern Africa (DBSA) on the state of               Interestingly, the financial modelling       of complex strategies challenges, the mainte-
 infrastructure and service delivery in South      of the rollout of municipal infrastructure (to     nance of South Africa’s ageing infrastructure
 Africa. The Infrastruc-                                               meet national coverage         stock and dysfunctional institutional arrange-
 ture Barometer 2006                                                   targets) indicates that, in    ments.
 was published in                  In 1996, a house-                   addition to the estimated      • To access the report, go to www.dbsa.org
 March. Commenting                                                     R140-billion in capital
 on the publication,               hold consisted of                   expenditure, municipalities
 outgoing DBSA CEO                 4,47 persons, and                   will also need to increase
 Mandla Gantsho said:                                                  income by 50% over the
 “The importance of              in 2001, it was only same period to cover opera-
 appropriate and sustain-              3,8 persons.                    tion and maintenance of the
 able infrastructure as a                                              new infrastructure. This
 foundation for socio-                                                 suggests that the present
 economic development,                                                 trend towards high levels of
 and particularly in improving the quality         service will lead to even more serious finan-
 of people’s lives, is no longer a matter for      cial difficulties for many municipalities when
 debate. The focus is on meeting the many          operational costs far outstrip revenues.
 challenges of delivery facing South Africa and          The report also shows that between 1996
 other countries on the continent.”                and 2001 households increased by 5,33%
      Part I of the report focuses on the con-     against the 2,09% increase in the population.
 tribution of infrastructure to growth, through    The reason for this increase in the number
 an examination of national level infrastructure   of households was the change in household

 The Water Wheel May/June 2006
With climate change - Water Research Commission
UPFRONT GLOBAL 9

    Boost for water                                                                                    boundaries, drainage directions and ancillary
                                                                                                       data such as flow accumulations, distances
   and sanitation in                                                                                   and river topography information.
        Africa                                                                                              Data for many international river basins
                                                                                                       are patchy, and remote areas are often poorly
                                                                                                       mapped. For some regions of the world, such
E   fforts to provide Africa’s poor with safe
    water and sanitation has received a boost
following the signing of a Memorandum of
                                                                                                       as the Congo Basin in Africa and part of the
                                                                                                       Amazon Basin in South America, Hydro-
                                                                                                       SHEDS will provide the first high-resolution
Understanding between UN-Habitat and the
                                                                                                       digital river maps produced for these large
African Development Bank (AfDB).
                                                                                                       areas.
     The two parties will provide grants to the
                                                    • The ability to deal with climate variations           Data is freely available for non-
value of about US$217-million over the next
                                                      and natural disasters;                           commercial use and can be accessed at
five years. It is expected that this will lead to
                                                    • Reducing the negative effects of human           www.worldwildlife.org/hydrosheds or
additional opportunities for follow-up
                                                      activity on water resources;                     http://hydrosheds.cr.usgs.gov
fast track loans from the bank of about
                                                    • Increasing agricultural areas; and
US$362-million to speed up efforts to reach
                                                    • Developing security in production of
the Millennium Development Goals on water
                                                      energy.
and sanitation.
     Under the terms of the memorandum, the
                                                                                                                   Snippets
AfDB and UN-Habitat will collaborate in                Maths helping to                                • CSIRO, in Australia, has launched an
several areas, including raising political
ownership, and advocacy in specific areas
                                                       save biodiversity                                 online Water Quality Calculator
                                                                                                         to help manage irrigation water quality
such as resource mobilisation in urban and

                                                    M     athematical formulae normally used             to sustain crop production. Visit www.
peri-urban pro-poor activities in water and
                                                          by economists and engineers are now            cotton.crc.au/CottonLOGIC/WQC/
sanitation schemes; security, gender and
                                                    being applied in determining which of the          • Achim Steiner has been named the new
environmental activities.
                                                    world’s biodiversity hotspots to save first.         head of the United Nations Envi-
                                                    ABC Science Online reports that ecologist            ronment Programme. Steiner, who
  US$20-bn a year                                   and mathematician Prof Hugh Possingham               hails from Germany, was DG of the World
                                                                                                         Conservation Union.
  needed for Africa                                 and team at the University of Queensland
                                                    have applied mathematical tools to save            • Climate change could become a
   to reach MDGs                                    as many species as possible. They have               major source of global conflict over the
                                                    developed a method of prioritising hotspots          next 30 years, with countries battling

A    frica needs US$20-billion a year to attain     to take into account a range of features apart       for control over water supplies, British
     the United Nations Millennium Develop-         from how many species an area has. High              Defense Secretary John Reid has warned.
ment Goals of halving poverty by 2015.              priority is given to areas where habitat is fast     He said military planners have already
This was revealed at the Fourth World Water         disappearing, little of the area has already         begun considering the consequences of
Forum held in Mexico in March.                      disappeared, and where the cost of conserv-          climate change for British forces over the
      To date, Africa has developed only 3,8%       ing habitat is low.                                  coming three decades.
of its water resources for supply, irrigation                                                          • Botswana is still struggling to control a
                                                                                                         diarrhoea epidemic that has report-
and electrical power. This situation implies
the need for hefty investment in various areas.
                                                        World’s rivers                                   edly claimed the lives of more than 470
This investment must go hand-in-hand with             captured in detail                                 children. Contaminated water, unhy-
changes in regional and national policy and                                                              gienic practices, poor sanitation, infant

                                                    T
capability that will pave the way for govern-           he World Wildlife Fund has developed             feeding-bottle contamination and ongo-
ance and the appropriate implementation of              data and created maps of the world’s             ing person-to-person transmission has
policies, such as integrated water resources        rivers to provide researchers with information       apparently all contributed to spreading
management.                                         about where streams and watersheds                   the disease.
      In a report prepared for discussion,          occur on the earth’s landscape and how water       • Researchers at the University of Ha-
the main challenges for the continent with          drains the land surface.                             waii have reportedly developed a new,
regards to water resources development are               HydroSHEDS provides hydrographic in-            inexpensive filtration system that
said to be:                                         formation in a consistent and comprehensive          removes not only bacteria but also heavy
• The need to obtain financing to expand            format for regional and global-scale applica-        metals from water. The new product,
   access to water, sanitation, food security       tions. It offers a suit of geo-referenced data       dubbed MicroNose, comprises granules
   and the production of energy;                    sets, including stream networks, watershed           made of clay, iron and other materials.

                                                                                                            The Water Wheel May/June 2006
With climate change - Water Research Commission
10 COMPANY NEWS

     Millions of litres                               6 000 m3 equalisation tank to remove con-
                                                      tamination spikes; two moving bed biological        Company shorts
     saved through                                    reactors (MBBRs) and ancillaries; and opera-
                                                                                                        • Mzimkulu Msiwa, previously general
      Cape project                                    tion of the existing retention basin on empty
                                                      to provide 2 000 m3 additional surge control.       manager: operations, has taken over as
                                                            The MBBR bioreactors are the core             acting CEO of Umgeni Water after

 T    he City of Cape Town is saving about
      5,7 million litres of water a day (the
 average daily water consumption of 38 000
                                                      components of the upgrade. The mechanism
                                                      used in the MBBRs is an accelerated biodeg-
                                                                                                          the unexpected resignation of Gugu
                                                                                                          Moloi. Moloi, who took over the reigns
                                                      radation process involving specially designed       from Cromet Molepo in 2002, has
 people) following the commissioning of a                                                                 sighted personal reasons for her surprise
                                                      carrier media kept in suspension by blowing
 R30-million water recycling plant at Chevron                                                             departure, one year ahead of her contract.
                                                      air through the reactor. The carrier media
 (previously Caltex).                                                                                   • South Africa’s largest steel plant Mit-
                                                      provide a large surface area on to which the
       The plant, a joint-venture project be-                                                             tal Steel’s Vanderbijlpark mill has
                                                      biological microorganisms can attach, and
 tween the oil refinery and water company                                                                 launched its new R222-million zero-
                                                      affect the acceleration breakdown of hydro-
 Improchem, draws treated effluent from the                                                               effluent discharge main treatment plant.
                                                      carbons.
 nearby Potsdam Wastewater Treatment Works                                                                The plant ensures that no process water
                                                            The MBBRs will overflow to two clarifier/
 in Milnerton for reuse in the oil refining           thickeners to remove solids from the effluent.      is released beyond the boundaries of
 process. The water is purified to near drinking      The resultant filter cake will contain about        the mill.
 water quality using clarification, ultrafiltration   40% dry solids and be produced in quantities      • CSIR has launched its new corporate
 and reverse osmosis after which it is supplied       of about 5,2 m3/day to be stored in removable       identity. With a positioning statement
 to the refinery as steam and cooling water.          skips. The remaining treated effluent will be       that reads, “our future through science”,
 Not only is this saving the city water, but it       pumped to sea via the existing sea outfall.         the organisation hopes to develop a
 also reduces the amount of treated effluent                                                              distinctive brand to support its recent
 discharged from the Potsdam works to sea via                                                             reconfiguration with a renewed focus on
 the ecologically sensitive Milnerton lagoon.                Dam reaches                                  science and research.
 It is reported that this project, initiated a few           halfway mark                               • Construction on the Vaal River Sub-sys-
 years ago, has inspired Chevron to launch                                                                tem Augmentation Project (VRESAP)
                                                                                                          is well underway following the sod turn-
                                                      C
 a new R110-million upgrade for its own                    onstruction on the concrete-faced rockfill
 wastewater treatment plant within the next                Berg River Dam project is more than 50%        ing ceremony in March. The R2,5-billion
 few months, pending approval from environ-           complete, reports the Berg River Dam Project        emergency project, which will supply
 mental authorities. Through this upgrade, the        Joint Venture.                                      water mainly to Eskom and Sasol, will be
 company hopes to bring the refinery in line               The dam will be the highest concrete-          completed by July 2007.
 with international best practice for wastewater      faced rockfill dam in South Africa. Construc-     • The ERWAT Laboratory has once
 treatment, while reducing public concerns            tion started on the dam last year after the         again been awarded the Department of
 with regards to odour and visual impact of the       Berg River was successfully diverted through        Water Affairs & Forestry tender for the
 Chevron effluent at sea.                             a temporary intake structure and conduit.           supply of laboratory analysis services for
       At this stage it is envisioned that the        At the time of writing, the contractors were        Gauteng. The contract is reportedly worth
 upgrade will include the construction of a           preparing for the first face slab construction.     some R2,365-million a year.

                                                       Water on the Web
  www.iclei-europe.org/logowater                      desalination technology worldwide. Apart          www.yearofplanetearth.org
  This is the website of the LoGo Water               from IDA news, the website offers features        The United Nations General Assembly
  project, an European Union funded project           information on several desalination plants        has proclaimed the year 2008 to be
  that brings together African and European           around the world.                                 the United Nations International Year of
  researchers along with local governments                                                              Planet Earth. This is aimed at, among
  from southern Africa, to jointly contribute to      www.onefish.org                                   others, reducing risks for society caused
  support local governments to improve water          The oneFish Community Directory is an             by natural and human-induced hazards;
  resources management in the region.                 Internet portal providing access to informa-      discovering new natural resources and
                                                      tion on fisheries and aquatic research and        making them available in a sustainable
  www.idadesal.org                                    development. An open-access environment           manner; determining the non-human
  This is the official website of the Internation-    is provided whereby individual researchers,       factor in climate change; and detecting
  al Desalination Association, which commits          as well as research institutions and organi-      deep and poorly accessible groundwater
  itself to the development and promotion             sations, can publish their research output        resources.
  of the appropriate use of desalination and          directly on the Web.

 The Water Wheel May/June 2006
With climate change - Water Research Commission
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