Contaminated by acid mine water
September 24, 2010
THE Gauteng department of agriculture and rural development is set to launch a campaign to teach residents in the province about the perils of acid water.
contaminated acidic dam
The province has been hard hit by the spillage of acid water from old mines, which is collected in dams and the surrounding environment.
Studies have shown that a disaster is waiting to happen if the problem is not sorted out in the next 18 months.
MEC Nandi Mayathula Khoza told Sowetan: “We will start the campaign in the rural areas because people there tend to be the last to get information.”
Mayathula-Khoza said the department was working with national departments in a bid to find a solution to the problem and inform Gauteng residents of where the affected areas are.
“I am part of the inter-ministerial committee that includes Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs Buyelwa Sonjica, Minister of Science and Technology Naledi Pandor, National Planning Minister Trevor Manuel and Mining Minister Susan Shabangu,” she said.
“Gauteng’s drinking water is safe. People should stop making alarming statements that scare our the public.”
The ministerial committee had appointed a team of scientists to handle the acid problem, she said.
“The government is concerned and committed to finding a long-lasting solution to the problem.”
She said she had recently visited some of the affected areas on the West Rand.
“I appeal to our people not to swim in areas affected by the spillage.
“At the Robinson Lake in Mogale City I saw dead fish floating and I appeal to people not to swim there.”
Mayathula-Khoza suggested that every state department should contribute to solving the acid water problem.
Why should we desalinate sea water?
September 16, 2010
Why should we desalinate sea water? Your guess would be just as good as mine.
Supposed authorities have latched on the the term and has started colloquialising the word. Desalination should not have the association of “mankind embracing new technology.” Nor should it be seen as an environmentally sound practice.
Desalination conjurers up thoughts of fertile farm fields and readily available water from the tap. We are struck by feelings of abundance as one in unable to conceive the thought of depleting the oceans. This would be our one resource we think we have too much of of earth.
The truth is desalination only becomes viable as a last resort, once all our other options have been successfully implemented or exhausted. Desalination is not as harmless as it might seem especially if used to produce large quantities of fresh water.
What is the department of water affairs thinking?
The department of water affairs is considering desalinating sea water in efforts to combat a dire water shortage in the Northern Cape.
This is according to Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs Buyelwa Sonjica, speaking at the Northern Cape Water Indaba on Thursday, who said desalination could provide a lifeline for the province.
The Northern Cape is the country’s driest province, despite being home to long stretches of the two biggest rivers in the country.
“Of course, when one discusses water resources, you cannot talk about water quantity without talking about water quality,” she said.
The department is worried about water quality in the Vaal River system, as much of it emanates from the Gauteng region.
“The Northern Cape should also look to keep its own house in order with respect to aspects such as pollution from industry, mining, agriculture and also operation of municipal wastewater treatment works,” she said.
As water is a scarce resource, the province has had to face many obstacles in trying to overcome its predicament. The province is also anticipated to be one of the worst affected by climate change.
Put rain water to work
There has been much emphasis internationally on mitigation strategies, but when it comes to the water sector the focus will be more on adaptation.
“In terms of adaptation strategies for the sector, increased emphasis on water conservation and demand management is virtually non-negotiable,” said Sonjica.
Another good technology she recommended was rainwater harvesting, particularly for domestic and garden use. It is already in use in a local municipality.
In recent years, the department was instrumental in establishing a new grant for bulk water services infrastructure and a number of projects have already been implemented in the province.
A number of major feasibility studies have been completed and more are under way.
The anticipated national budget for Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant is R164m for the 2012 financial year and R146m for the following financial year.
Source: Fin24
Top 19 Solutions to the Global Freshwater Crisis
September 6, 2010
Virtually every industry in the world anticipates sweeping systemic transformation over the next decade in their strategic planning, production practices, and business models, according to the Sustainability Survey Poll on Water.
1. Educate to change consumption and lifestyles
In the end, changing the face of this crisis involves education to motivate new behaviors. Coping with the coming era of water scarcity will require major overhaul of all forms of consumption, from individual use to corporates. Some regions led by India, Australia and the Southwest U.S., are already facing the freshwater crisis. The most critical task is making sure the problem is much better understood worldwide.
2. Invent new water conservation technologies
In areas where aquifers are drying up and rainwater is increasingly unpredictable, innovation is needed. But as we attempt to cope with freshwater scarcity and develop conservation technologies, energy consumption is an important consideration.
3. Recycle wastewater (Greywater recycling)
In March, World Water Day panelists urged a new mindset for wastewater treatment. Some countries, like Singapore, are trying to recycle to cut water imports and become more self-sufficient. The rich East Asian republic is a leader in developing advanced technology that cleanses wastewater for other uses, including drinking.
4. Improve irrigation and agricultural practices
Some 70 percent of the world’s freshwater is used for agriculture. Improving irrigation can help close supply and demand gaps. In certain cases profligate irrigation practices meant for an earlier era has weakened the ability of farmers to provide food and fiber to a growing world.
5. Appropriately price water
Water pricing and rights go hand in hand, with consumers questioning the benefit of higher prices. According to experts from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an international economic forum of 31 of the world’s richest countries, raising prices will help lower waste and pollution.
To date, desalination has been an energy-intensive solution to water scarcity. Typically the Middle East has capitalized on its large energy reserves to build desalination plants. But Saudi Arabia could be fostering a new kind of desalination with its recent announcement to use solar-powered plants.Britain has taken a different approach with small-scale facilities for agriculture. But these innovations bring to light another needed resource—the capital for technological experimentation.
7. Improve water catchment and harvesting
Water catchment systems are essential for areas with no other reliable water sources. Pakistan and India—two countries that contend with some of the worst effects of climate change—are overhauling rainwater harvesting systems. These efforts provide independent control of water resources.
8. Look to community-based governance and partnerships
Community organizations elevate the experiences of those whose voices merit more influence. In April, for instance, indigenous groups met at the alternative climate change conference in Bolivia, a gathering meant to foster international partnerships among underrepresented groups. Ensuring more effective governance at the grassroots-level gives communities stature, and can lead to effective policy changes on a national scale.
9. Develop and enact better policies and regulations
As water scarcity complicates food security and pollution, governments need to redefine their role. The U.S. government is considering expanding the Clean Water Act to ensure more protections. In Russia, meanwhile, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has approved waste discharges in Lake Baikal, one of the world’s largest bodies of freshwater. Regardless of what path elected leaders take–the Circle of Blue/GlobeScan WaterViews survey indicates they are considering multiple approaches–the survey also found that most people say it is up to the government to ensure communities have access to clean water.
Simply put, holistic management applies to a practical, common-sense approach to overseeing natural resources that takes into account economic, cultural, and ecological goals. In essence, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and each facet is related to and influences the others. Good examples of holistic management are communities that operate sewage treatment plants while pursuing partnerships with clean energy producers to use wastewater to fertilize algae and other biofuel crops. The crops, in turn, soak up nutrients and purify wastewater, significantly reducing pumping and treatment costs.
Poor infrastructure is devastating to health and the economy. It wastes resources, adds costs, diminishes the quality of life, and allows preventable water-borne diseases to spread among vulnerable populations, especially children. The problem is not confined to the developing world. Pipes burst on a regular basis in the U.S., prompting boil alerts. Sewage treatment systems regularly overflow and malfunction, causing beach closures.
Industrial water use accounts for approximately 22 percent of global consumption. The corporate footprint includes water that is directly and indirectly consumed when goods are produced. As sustainable manufacturing becomes more important, given the increasing severity of water scarcity, Peter Gleick and other experts question the costs of one industry sector in particular: bottled water.
Binding international accords for natural resource issues are hard to achieve. The 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen is evidence of that point. And that’s not just because the freshwater crisis, arguably the most visible and dire of the climate change risks, was ignored. Regional agreements regarding transboundary or shared water bodies such as the Great Lakes Compact in the U.S., and Nile River basin agreement in Africa are just as difficult to ratify. But policymakers and advocates need to keep trying. Humanitarian-oriented treaties, such as the U.N.’s drinking water Millennium Development Goals, indicate that comprehensive global strategies are possible.
Measuring and monitoring water quality is essential to human health and biodiversity. This monumental issue rears its head in many forms and can be addressed in just as many ways, whether it’s David de Rothschild’s eco-adventure in a plastic ship or Joe Berlinger’s documentary on oil contaminating the Ecuadorian Amazon. While securing the quality of drinking water and at the local level, it’s essential to build international bridges to solutions.
One of the key United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is ensuring access to drinking water. While the steps to achieve this goal are debated, the thesis that water is a basic right comes into play. As countries such as Chile attempt to reform water rights, U.S. politicians are considering how access rights translate into federal protection of Lake Michigan, one of the world’s largest reserves of freshwater.
Access to water in a water-scarce world will become a much higher priority in business decisions. Communities are likely to pursue public-private partnerships that draw on the innovative capacities of companies. One example— cities that operate sewage treatment plants are likely to pursue partnerships with clean energy producers to fertilize algae and other biofuel crops with wastewater.
Climate change and water scarcity are producing the most dramatic consequences in developing regions, such as northwest India and Sub-Saharan Africa. One proposed solution is to transfer water conservation technologies to these dry areas. Doing so is tricky because economies are weak and there are gaps in skills that often compel government and business authorities to impose these changes on local citizens.
Climate change and water scarcity go hand-in-hand to cause some of the biggest contemporary challenges to the human race. These issues have a reciprocal relationship, identified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in which, “water management policies and measures can have an influence on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.” As renewable energy options are pursued, the water consumption of these mitigation tactics must be considered in producing alternatives ranging from bio-energy crops to hydropower and solar power plants.
Because of the accelerating growth in global population, parts of the world could see a supply-demand gap of up to 65 percent in water resources by 2030. Currently, more than one billion people don’t have access to clean water. And with 70 percent of the world’s freshwater used for agriculture, water’s critical role in food production must be considered as climate and resource conditions change.
[Water Crisis] "We don't have a long-term plan" ~ Department of Mining
September 2, 2010
The Department of mining might not be the only government body that does not have a plan to ensure clean drinking water to all South Africans. The attitude of the department of mining is possibly the truth but is would be due to negligence and short sightedness.
Acid mine drainage is a global phenomena and is in not way unique to the Johannesburg area. Both department, mining and water affairs have been aware of the potential issues for many years but have chosen to do as little as possible about the situation, just enough to keep it away from public attention.
This is a public water crisis.
The following extract form the Sowentan
THE Department of Mining has no plan to stop acid mine water in the country’s 5901 abandoned mines from causing a national disaster.
Director-general Sandile Nogxina told Parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) yesterday: “We don’t have a long-term plan on how we are going to do that. The plan we have covers this financial year.”
Nogxina came in for a bashing from all political parties, who accused him of ignoring the “crisis”.
ANC MP Roy Ainslie said: “You do not appreciate the extent of the environmental crisis we face with regard to these abandoned mines. If you have rehabilitated only five mines over the past three years, that is 1,5 mines a year. At this rate, it would take about 3000 years to rehabilitate all these mines.”
Scopa chairperson Themba Godi said if the mines were not rehabilitated, everything else the government did would be “pointless”.
“Building RDP houses, building hospitals and schools for communities will be wasted expenditure if those areas are going to become difficult to live in. It is a life and death problem,” Godi said.
The water in abandoned mines is said to be rising every day. The water mixes with the minerals and rock that have been exposed by mining and pollutes the water table. As more rain falls, the acid water overflows on to the streets.
Sowetan reported in July that the acid mine drainage problem in Johannesburg was so huge that the city would have to spend R220million on new pump stations. These will pump the acid mine water away and prevent it from flooding the city.
Democratic Alliance MP Mark Steele demanded that Nogxina be held accountable for not coming up with a plan.
SA's biggest environmental disaster ~ 3 months away
August 25, 2010
It is coming up to six months that the Department of Water Affair has been avoiding facing up to a challenge that could be South Africa’s biggest environmental disaster ever. An environmental disaster that could cripple the economic hub of Africa, not to mention the millions that inhabit Johannesburg.
It has not only been 6 months that the Department of Water Affairs has been aware of the potential hazards of the Acid Mine Drainage but it has also allowed many mines to operate without water licenses. This has undoubtedly added to the water crisis.
The following extracts from TimesLive:
SA's biggest environmental disaster
“If nothing is done, water will start decanting [from the so-called central basin, under the city] and contaminating groundwater in 17 months,” senior water affairs official Marius Keet told members of Parliament’s land and environmental affairs select committee on Tuesday.
“According to the information available, 13-months lead time is required for this. So if government… decides now to do something, in 13 months you can have a pump station,” Keet said.
This means, starting immediately, government has a four-month window in which to take action.
Earlier, he told members the water level on August 13 in the basin below Johannesburg was 558 metres below the surface.
“The current rate of rise is 0.35 metres a day, but it can go up to 0.9 metres a day in summer.” (Rainfall months)
SA running dry – economy threatened
August 13, 2010
If urgent steps are not taken, South Africa will run out of water for future economic growth within the next five years.
This is among several alarming expert opinions contained in the second edition of “The Environmental Handbook: A Guide to Green Business in South Africa”, launched in Cape Town this week.
In a guest foreword to the publication, WWF SA chief executive Morne du Plessis warns that water availability is one of the “decisive factors” that will affect the country’s economic development.
“At current consumption rates, our demand will outstrip supply by 2015,” he says.
The handbook notes the effects of climate change and increasing water stress are now being felt in South Africa.
“We’re already at crux point with water, with only two percent of our supply in reserve — and, unlike the energy situation, there is no alternative to the resource we’re using,” it says.
“Many of our water resources are being polluted by industrial effluents, domestic and commercial sewage, acid mine drainage, agricultural run-off and litter.
“At current population growth and economic development rates, it is unlikely that the projected demand on water resources in South Africa will be sustainable into the future.”
Source: Times live
Of the many cities around South Africa, Cape Town will be one of the earliest victims of water scarcity. Cape Town water consumption is said to out strip its supply by as 2012, and with the area entering into its historical drought season many will be left unprepared.
Water Affairs supports Phosphate free detergents
July 7, 2010
Phosphate, a basic element that is readily used in cleaning detergents to soften water to allow a foamy wash might get the boot. This is after Water and Environmental Affairs Minister, Buyelwa Sonjica gave her support to go phosphate free (zero-P)
There is a misconception that the addition of phosphate to washing power aids in drawing out the dirt and stains in dirty cloths however this is not the case. Phosphate’s sole purpose in washing detergents is to soften hard water. The majority of South African cities have high enough quality water to not need phosphates what so ever. However the top three laundry detergent brands (Omo, Surf and Skip) contain large amounts of phosphates. Phosphates that are unnecessary ingredients in your scoop of detergent but they also have a detrimental effect on the environment.
Phosphates were one of the key ingredient in the algae blooms that devastated Rietvlei and Wildevloe Vlei in Cape Town several years ago. The continued use of phosphates in detergents are sure to cause more havoc with South Africa’s fresh water supply and natural environment it the years to come.
This extract from All Africa
Johannesburg — The government is poised to demand that makers of washing powder reduce or eliminate phosphates in their products in a move to protect water resources from pollution. At issue is what is known as eutrophication, which is having water rich in mineral and organic nutrients that promote excessive growth of algae and other plant life. This reduces drastically the oxygen levels in dams and ponds, causing the extinction of other organisms.
Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said yesterday, in reply to a parliamentary question from Democratic Alliance MP Gareth Morgan, that based on findings that the “elimination of phosphorus (a basic element of all phosphates) from detergents is both beneficial and desirable, it is thus recommended that the replacement of phosphate-containing detergents with zero-P (zero-phosphate) alternatives should be carried out as soon as is feasible”.
Phosphates in detergents are banned in a number of countries , particularly in the European Union. There are also bans in some US states.
'Dead Zone' in the Gulf
June 30, 2010
There has been much talk of the dirty oil polluting the seas and beaches close to the Deep Water Horizon, BP’s oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. The latest studies are proving that the oil floating on top of the water, the visual shame, is not the worst of the disaster.
Wave of oil heading towards the beach
What is unseen to the eye is the dissolved methane in the water surrounding the environmental catastrophe. The methane in the water has replaced significant levels of dissolve oxygen and the nutrient rich sea water makes it an ideal breading ground for an algae bloom. This could starve the underwater area of all the oxygen needed to sustain aquatic life.
Algae blooms have caused havoc to the environment even here in Cape Town. A few years ago Rietvlei and Wildevoel vlei suffered tragic blue green algae blooms killing the majority of plant life and birds and all the aquatic life that rely on the vlei for survival.
An Algae boom in the Mexican golf could see the area experience an unprecedented “red-tide” that has the power to create a Dead Zone for many year to come.
The extract form Financial Times
High concentrations of methane gas – in some cases approaching 1m times the normal level – have been found around the BP oil spill, raising fears it could create an oxygen-depleted “dead zone” where marine life cannot survive.
Dead zones are areas in the water where algae blooms as it feeds on nutrients in high concentrations of foreign matter, such as methane, in this case, or, more typically, the components of farmland fertiliser runoff into water. The algae gorge, reproduce quickly and then, in turn, are eaten by bacteria in a process that depletes the immediate area of oxygen. Fish and other sea life cannot survive in these zones.
That the spill could cause a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico would be yet another negative for the environment, already suffering from destruction of marine nurseries and bird nesting grounds in the wetlands and projections of negative impacts on sea life along the Gulf Coast. The knock-on effect would be a pocket of the Gulf where fishermen would find no fish to harvest.
Cape Water Solutions 