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Water

DWS commits to monitor its entities to ensure optimum service delivery

By: Creamer Media Reporter 23rd July 2021 The Department of Water and Sanitation has reinforced its commitment to monitor work being carried out by its entities in affected communities. While the audit outcomes of most water entities have significantly improved over the last three years, DWS acting director-general Deborah Mochotlhi... →

Water and sanitation sector need proactive action to avert crisis

By: Creamer Media Reporter 22nd July 2021 South Africa needs to urgently and proactively address its looming water crisis, and while some movement is being seen around infrastructure projects, SEW-Eurodrive MD Raymond Obermeyer questions why it has taken government so long to act more proactively. He said that the deteriorating state of... →

South Africa’s dam levels are declining, DWS warns

By: Creamer Media Reporter 22nd July 2021 A weekly report on the state of reservoirs in South Africa shows that overall water levels at dams across different provinces are continuing to decline week-on-week during the dry winter season, the Department of Water and Sanitation said. The volume of water stored in the country’s reservoirs... →

Bucket eradication programme gets underway in the Free State

By: Natasha Odendaal 21st July 2021 The bucket eradication programme is set to be completed by March 2022 in the Free State. This followed the appointment of the Housing Development Agency (HDA) to source capacity for the Free State Bucket Eradication Programme by Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu. →

Ethiopia says second filling of giant dam on Blue Nile complete

By: Reuters 20th July 2021 Ethiopia has completed filling the reservoir of its huge dam on the Blue Nile river for a second year and the plant may start generating power in the next few months, a minister said on Monday, a move that has already angered Egypt and Sudan. Addis Ababa says the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam... →

Holistic strategy needed to tackle growing marine plastic crisis

By: Donna Slater 16th July 2021 As the marine ecosystem plays an critical role in mitigating climate change, through absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2), cooling the environment and sustaining delicate marine wildlife, it is becoming increasingly important to mitigate a mounting problem – the leakage of plastic waste into Oceans and... →

Image of Engineering News and Mining Weekly 16 July 2021 cover.

Lusaka Sanitation Programme gets funding boost

By: Natasha Odendaal 15th July 2021 The European Investment Bank (EIB) and German development bank KfW are providing funds of €102.5-million and €33-million respectively to the Lusaka Sanitation Programme, marking another step in the another important and timely step in the realisation of the initiative to expand access to safe... →

Portfolio Committee welcomes improved water board governance

By: Natasha Odendaal 14th July 2021 The Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation has acknowledged a general improvement in governance at water boards following positive audit outcomes for Umgeni Water, Magalies Water and Rand Water. Magalies Water received a clean audit during the 2019/20 financial year, and... →

Giant dam is messing up water in Africa even before it is filled

By: Bloomberg 9th July 2021 As Ethiopia begins diverting 13.5-billion cubic meters of water from the Blue Nile river to its controversial new megadam, residents of Sudan to the south fear a repetition of last year’s devastating drought. The second stage of filling the $4.5-billion reservoir is ratcheting up tensions between... →

DWS brings back Blue and Green Drop programmes

By: Natasha Odendaal 8th July 2021 The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) is relaunching the Blue and Green Drop Certification Programmes to strengthen South Africa’s water quality monitoring system. A full Green Drop audit and a partial Blue Drop assessment will be undertaken in 2021, while a full Blue Drop audit and a... →

UN urges Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan to recommit to dam talks

By: Reuters 7th July 2021 The United Nations called on Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt on Tuesday to recommit to talks on the operation of a giant hydropower dam, urging them to avoid any unilateral action, a day after Ethiopia began filling the dam's reservoir. The UN Security Council will likely discuss the Grand Ethiopian... →

Repairs after Rand Water pump station explosion expected to be complete by Thursday

By: News24Wire 7th July 2021 Damaged infrastructure caused by an explosion at a Rand Water pump station is expected to be repaired by Thursday. Rand Water said that on Sunday, three medium-voltage motors used to run the pumps exploded. This caused the pumps at Rand Water's Palmiet booster pumping station to become inoperable... →

Solidarity files court papers opposing water dept’s appointment of Cuban engineers

By: Donna Slater 6th July 2021 Trade union Solidarity, on July 6, issued its court documents in its case against the Department of Water and Sanitation, challenging the legality of the controversial decision to appoint Cuban engineers. The 24 foreign engineers were welcomed into South Africa by the department in April to... →

Parts of Gauteng without water after explosion at Rand Water pump station

By: News24Wire 6th July 2021 An explosion at a Rand Water pump station has caused water interruptions in parts of Gauteng. Rand Water said three medium voltage motors used to run the pumps exploded on Sunday. This has resulted in the pumps at Rand Water's Palmiet booster pumping station becoming inoperable. →

Egypt notified that Ethiopia has resumed filling of giant dam

By: Reuters 6th July 2021 Egypt's irrigation minister said on Monday he had received official notice from Ethiopia that it had begun filling the reservoir behind its giant hydropower dam, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), for a second year. Egypt has informed Ethiopia of its categorical rejection of the measure,... →

US Security Council likely to meet next week on Ethiopia dam

By: Reuters 2nd July 2021 The United Nations Security Council will likely meet next week to discuss a dispute between Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt over a giant dam built by Ethiopia on the Blue Nile, French UN Ambassador Nicolas de Riviere said on Thursday. Arab states earlier this month called on the 15-member council to... →

Infrastructure development requires funding and skills

By: Nadine Ramdass 2nd July 2021 The state of South Africa’s water infrastructure varies across the country, with a range of institutions responsible for its management, says South African Institution of Civil Engineering (Saice) Water Engineering Division chairperson Abri Vermeulen. Most is still in a fair condition but it is... →

ABRI VERMEULEN All institutions and individuals have a role in proper water management

Climate uncertainty threatens water security

By: Nadine Ramdass 2nd July 2021 Apart from water infrastructure related challenges, the reliability of South African water supplies is threatened by increasing climate uncertainty. “For a country such as ours, water supply infrastructure developed organically over time, in step with population growth, reliable (if variable)... →

GISELA KAISER Root problems need to be fixed

PPPs can resuscitate infrastructure

By: Nadine Ramdass 2nd July 2021 Private-public partnerships (PPPs) can help improve South Africa’s water infrastructure and create opportunities for the introduction of technological advancements in the sector, says water solutions company Veolia South Africa GM Chris Braybrooke. The South African water infrastructure is in a... →

DURBAN WATER RECYCLING PROJECT DWR is a success model for PPPs

Technology can improve infrastructure

By: Nadine Ramdass 2nd July 2021 Embracing and implementing technological solutions can improve South Africa’s water infrastructure and systems, which are currently in a “state of disarray”, says water treatment solutions company Watericon process engineer Pako Khutsoane. The infrastructure is in “complete disorder”, owing to... →

TREATMENT IN THABAZIMBI Smaller plants can help improve water infrastructure

Rand Water reports successful R1.7bn bonds auction

By: Natasha Odendaal 1st July 2021 Rand Water and Rand Merchant Bank Debt Capital Markets have successfully arranged the auction of just over R1.7-billion in senior and sustainability-linked notes, attracting more than R4.5-billion in capital markets bids. Rand Water, which issued two sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs), is the... →

Company adds new pipe range

By: Darren Parker 25th June 2021 Pipe manufacturer Inkulu Plastic Pipes has added a new high-density polyethylene (HDPE) structured wall pipe product range to its offering. Inkulu Plastic Pipes sales and marketing manager Faize Gafoor tells Engineering News that the company can now manufacture and supply HDPE structured wall... →

BIG BOY Inkulu Plastic Pipes is the first in the country to manufacture pipes at a diameter of 1 200 mm

Joburg Water tariff increase also meant to encourage water savings

By: Schalk Burger 24th June 2021 The 6.8% increase in water and sewer charges coming into effect on July 1 are also meant to highlight that water is a scarce resource and that City of Johannesburg (CoJ) need to use water resources wisely, water utility Johannesburg Water senior manager Thokozani Tshabalala said on June 24. The... →

Desalination could bolster South Africa’s water supply

By: Natasha Odendaal 22nd June 2021 As South Africa faces a deepening water crisis, desalination should be considered as part of the solution towards water security. The 2 800 km coastline, stretching from Mozambique to Namibia, positions South Africa well to use sea water to help combat water scarcity, said ABB Energy Industries... →

Civil war hardens Ethiopian Nile-dam stance, Sudan Minister says

By: Bloomberg 22nd June 2021 The carnage of Ethiopia’s civil war is making its rulers less willing to compromise with Sudan and Egypt in a dispute over the imminent filling of its giant Nile dam, a Sudan official said, as his government urges the United Nations to prevent any unilateral move. With Ethiopia embroiled in an... →

GreenCape’s 2021 market intelligence reports highlight Western Cape investment opportunities

By: Simone Liedtke 17th June 2021 GreenCape’s 2021 market intelligence reports (MIRs), produced in partnership with the Western Cape Government’s Department of Economic Development and Tourism, are now available for download. The reports highlight the investment opportunities in key sectors of the green economy in the province,... →

Water department extends comment period for unconventional gas regulations

By: Donna Slater 14th June 2021 The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has extended the period available for the public and key sector stakeholders to comment on the unconventional gas regulations, as published in government notice 406 in Government Gazette 44545 in May, by 60 days. This follows after stakeholders... →

Sudan says it is open to conditional interim deal on Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

By: Reuters 14th June 2021 Sudan is open to a partial interim agreement on Ethiopia's multibillion-dollar Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile, on specific conditions, Irrigation Minister Yasir Abbas told a news conference on Monday. The conditions include the signing-off of everything that has already been agreed on in... →

University spinoff company develops energy, water efficiency solution for schools

By: Donna Slater 11th June 2021 Stellenbosch University (SU) spinoff company GreenX Engineering’s initiatives to help equip Cloetesville Primary School, in Stellenbosch, with energy-saving technology ensured that it became the first school in South Africa to receive an electrical performance certificate (EPC). The school... →

Cloetesville Primary School principal Rodger Cupido (pictured centre) receives the energy performance certificate, and is joined by Western Cape Education Department education planning DDG Salie Abrahams and SU COO professor Stan du Plessis.

Track S Africa’s economic recovery on Operation Vulindlela dashboard

By: Sashnee Moodley 10th June 2021 South Africans can now track government’s progress in economic and employment growth with up-to-date information on the new Operation Vulindlela dashboard, launched this week. The new dashboard presents an overview of the milestones in 19 focus areas identified by government as priority reforms,... →

Egypt and Sudan urge Ethiopia to negotiate seriously over giant dam

By: Reuters 10th June 2021 Sudan and Egypt agreed on Wednesday to coordinate efforts to push Ethiopia to negotiate "seriously" on an agreement on filling and operating a giant dam it is building on the Blue Nile, a joint statement said. The two countries, which are downstream from the dam, issued the statement after... →

Hurst Hill reservoir remains low

By: Natasha Odendaal 9th June 2021 The Hurst Hill reservoir is still running low after the two-hour shut down of Rand Water’s Eikenhof Pumping Station on June 5 to enable City Power to fix an electrical fault on the power line. This setback had negatively impacted recovery, as the water supply system recovers slowly during the day... →

DWS opens bursaries for youth in water sector

By: Natasha Odendaal 8th June 2021 The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) is inviting Grade 12 learners or those accepted to mainstream South African Institutions of Higher Learning for water-related qualifications to apply for available bursaries. Applications, which opened on June 1, will close on October 31, and will be... →

Steenhuisen slams water department as dams supplying Nelson Mandela Bay drop to 11%

By: News24Wire 8th June 2021 Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen has ripped into the department of water and sanitation, demanding answers on how it plans to keep the taps running in the Eastern Cape amid declining dam levels. In a whirlwind oversight visit to Kouga Dam in the Kouga Local municipality on Monday,... →

Photo by Creamer Media
DA leader John Steenhuisen

Rand Water to lay criminal charges against customers over profane emails

By: Marleny Arnoldi 4th June 2021 Gauteng-based water utility Rand Water intends on laying criminal charges against members of the public for using abusive language to its employees during water shortages. This follows a series of email correspondences received by Rand Water’s customer service centre, in which members of the... →

TCTA, DBSA close R5.5bn deal for Vaal River System’s Lesotho Highlands Water Project Phase II

By: Creamer Media Reporter 4th June 2021 The Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority (TCTA) and the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) have concluded two loan facility agreements, totalling R5.5-billion and spanning 20 years, for the implementation of Phase II of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP), which forms part of South... →

Zutari appointed to develop feeder roads plan for LHWP Phase II

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 2nd June 2021 The Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) has awarded Zutari Lesotho the professional services contract for the development of the master plan for feeder roads and bridges related to the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) Phase II. Work on the contract is valued at about M13-million... →

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