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Water

Contract awarded for LHWP II’s Polihali diversion tunnels

By: Simone Liedtke 18th April 2019 The Lesotho Highlands Development Authority has awarded the contract for the construction of the Polihali diversion tunnels to the SCLC Polihali Diversion Tunnel joint venture, marking another significant step in the implementation of Phase 2 of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project. The contractor... →

Cape Town in good position even if winter rains are poor – deputy mayor

By: News24Wire 16th April 2019 Dam levels are 10% higher than the City of Cape Town's projections for the end of summer so the city is in a good position even if the coming winter rains turn out to be below average, says deputy mayor Ian Neilson. "And the water consumption by Cape Town is well under the target we set of... →

Near-miss ‘Day Zero’ should serve as lesson to water-scarce SA

By: Natasha Odendaal 12th April 2019 Cape Town’s severe drought experienced in 2017 and 2018 and the near miss of “Day Zero” should serve as a warning for other cities as to what climate impacts might look like in future, a new study warns. However, many other metropolitans, such as Gauteng, eThekwini and Nelson Mandela Bay, besides... →

R341m set aside to prevent pollution in the Vaal river – Water dept

By: News24Wire 8th April 2019 The Department of Water and Sanitation has set aside R341-million for the resuscitation of all wastewater treatment infrastructure in the Vaal Triangle. The aim of the project is to prevent further pollution in the Vaal River. →

Series of citizen science tools released to help combat water monitoring constraints

By: Natasha Odendaal 5th April 2019 The public mobilisation and democratisation of science, through citizen science processes supported by practical and accessible tools of science, can unlock an effective response to South Africa’s, and the world’s, water crisis. Citizen involvement in the monitoring of South Africa’s water... →

Imminent global water shortfall can be managed through partnerships

By: Natasha Odendaal 5th April 2019 The world has just over one decade to resolve the ever-diminishing supply of water or face a 40% shortfall and demand management is the fastest, cheapest strategy to get started on resolving the challenge. One year after the release of a World Bank study that showed that maintaining a... →

Series of citizen scientist tools released to help combat water monitoring restraints

4th April 2019 The Water Research Commission has published a new report showcasing a toolbox that can help individual citizens better respond to the challenges around water resources. →

Series of citizen scientist tools released to help combat water monitoring restraints

Mapisa-Nqakula to visit Emfuleni for an update on Vaal River contamination

By: African News Agency 4th April 2019 Defence minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula will on Friday revisit Emfuleni Local Municipality to give a joint report on the development and work done thus far at the Vaal River rehabilitation project. Last year, the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) deployed about 300 of its specialized engineers... →

North West premier commits to resolving impasse on Taung dam project

By: African News Agency 4th April 2019 North West province premier Job Mokgoro has committed to ensuring that issues raised by the Batlhaping Ba-Ga Phuduhucwane traditional council are addressed to resolve an impasse in the implementation of the Taung dam maintenance project by the department of water and sanitation. Mokgoro assured... →

Nkwinti announces changes to water dept’s procurement processes

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 2nd April 2019 Water and Sanitation Minister Gugile Nkwinti on Tuesday announced a revamp of the procurement and project management processes for infrastructure projects within the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), in an effort to tackle corruption within the department. During a media briefing, in... →

Water and Sanitation Minister Gugile Nkwinti

CSIR warns of destructive impact of invasive plants on dam catchment inflows

By: Marleny Arnoldi 1st April 2019 The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Water Research Commission have determined that up to 50% of the yearly inflows into the Western Cape’s Berg river dam catchment and Limpopo’s De Hoop dam catchment could be used up by alien plants, if uncleared, over the next 45... →

Transnet approves further desalination plant studies at Cape Town port

By: Marleny Arnoldi 1st April 2019 State-owned Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) has approved further studies to be done into a Sea Water Reverse Osmosis, or desalination, plant at the Port of Cape Town. TNPA Cape Town acting port manager Alex Miya said in a statement on Monday that the next step would be to appoint... →

South Africa needs specific laws to protect strategic water source areas

By: Creamer Media Reporter 29th March 2019 South Africa requires additional, specific laws to protect strategic water source areas or risk leaving the vast majority of the country’s water source areas highly vulnerable to inappropriate development, says University of Cape Town Institute of Marine and Environmental Law lecturer Amanda... →

Companies investigating steam system at paper mill

By: Jessica Oosthuizen 29th March 2019 Valve supplier Bilfinger Intervalve Africa (BIA), in conjunction with engineering, construction and maintenance services provider Steinmüller Africa, both of which are subsidiaries of Bilfinger Power Africa, is investigating the steam systems of a paper mill to allow for possible improvements to... →

PETER UNDERHILL Top performers in the paper and pulp industry are constantly striving to increase productivity and quality while minimising costs

Thesele enters water infrastructure industry through Talbot & Talbot acquisition

By: Simone Liedtke 28th March 2019 Black-owned investment holding company Thesele Group has, through a substantial equity transaction, acquired a 35% stake in South African water and wastewater solutions provider Talbot & Talbot. Concluded this month, the transaction is in support of Talbot & Talbot’s growth objectives and... →

Water levels remain stable

By: Natasha Odendaal 28th March 2019 The Department of Water and Sanitation’s (DWS’s) weekly dam level report, released on Thursday, shows stability in the national water reservoirs. The average water levels increased marginally from 65.9% last week to the current 66.2%; however, the water levels had declined from the levels of... →

New paper outlines transferable lessons from Cape Town drought

By: Natasha Odendaal 27th March 2019 A new study by the University of Cape Town’s (UCT’s) African Centre for Cities has unpacked lessons that other South African municipalities can learn from to adapt to climate change and deal with ongoing drought and water insecurity. The paper, ‘Unpacking the Cape Town Drought: Lessons Learnt’,... →

City of Johannesburg intent on using licence to buy power from independent producer – Mashaba

By: News24Wire 27th March 2019 Eskom has barred the City of Johannesburg from increasing its energy capacity despite having a licence to purchase power generation from other producers, mayor Herman Mashaba told journalists on Tuesday. Mashaba was speaking at a Democratic Alliance (DA) media briefing which party leader Mmusi... →

City of Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba

Imminent global water shortfall can be managed through partnerships

By: Natasha Odendaal 22nd March 2019 The world has just over one decade to resolve the ever-diminishing supply of water or face a 40% shortfall and demand management is the fastest, cheapest strategy to get started on resolving the challenge. One year after the release of a World Bank study that showed that maintaining a... →

SAB to expand water-saving collaborations to more municipalities

By: Nadine James 22nd March 2019 South African Breweries (SAB) hopes to expand its water-saving collaboration efforts with municipalities to more water-stressed communities across South Africa, after achieving significant successes in Cape Town and Tshwane. Working with local municipalities in Cape Town and Tshwane, SAB has... →

Guinea risks 'conflict and confusion' with mining eviction policy

By: Reuters 22nd March 2019 Civil society groups rejected Guinea's first policy seeking to protect people displaced by mines and dams on Thursday, saying it would worsen poverty and conflict in the mineral-rich nation. Seven human rights and development organisations asked the government not to adopt the proposed national... →

South African scientist wins Stockholm Water Prize

By: Marleny Arnoldi 20th March 2019 The Stockholm International Water Institute has announced South African scientist Dr Jacqueline King the winner of the Stockholm Water Prize, which many consider the “Nobel prize” for water. King will be the first African scientist to receive the award and she joins previous winners Professor... →

Africa is running out of water as cities' populations boom

By: Bloomberg 19th March 2019 As water supplies in Ghana’s capital grew increasingly erratic, Beatrice Kabuki stopped customers from using her grocery store’s bathrooms and installed a plastic storage tank at her home. “The taps flow once a week and usually at night, so we stay awake to fetch what we can store,” Kabuki, 35,... →

Public-Private Growth Initiative identifies 18 ‘priority projects’ to unlock growth

By: Terence Creamer 18th March 2019 The Public-Private Growth Initiative (PPGI), an evolving sector-based collaboration between government and business, has earmarked 18 projects across various sectors of the South African economy for priority implementation in the coming months. Minister in the Presidency Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma... →

Minister in The Presidency Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma speaks, while Dr Johan van Zyl, Mpumi Mpofu and Roelf Meyer listen

Western Cape water levels hold steady

By: Natasha Odendaal 18th March 2019 While the average water levels of the Western Cape's dams have remained steady over the past two weeks, the drought is far from over, the Western Cape government warns. The average water level for all dams in the Western Cape currently stands at 39.8%, up from the 19.5% reported in the... →

African desalination market set for growth – Frost & Sullivan

By: Marleny Arnoldi 15th March 2019 A study conducted by Frost & Sullivan has found that the desalination market in Africa has recovered from the global economic downturn between 2015 and 2017, which had resulted in low investment in desalination across the continent. The firm’s study revealed that the African desalination market... →

WRC, DWS launch new satellite earth observation project

By: Natasha Odendaal 15th March 2019 The Water Research Commission (WRC), the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) and the Department of Science and Technology on Friday released a report showing the potential of a new project to monitor cyanobacteria blooms and eutrophication in South Africa's fresh waterbodies. The... →

Company expects opportunities in water infrastructure

By: Jessica Oosthuizen 15th March 2019 Valve repair and engineering consulting company Brimis Engineering expects that aging and old infrastructure will result in several project opportunities focused on renewal. Brimis Engineering MD Andile Nqandela tells Engineering News that the company expects new projects from water boards such... →

Photo by Bloomberg
WATER MANAGEMENT Brimis Engineering aims to establish a fully functioning water management consultancy division

Journey of Water focuses on river catchment

By: Jessica Oosthuizen 15th March 2019 Freshwater scarcity in South Africa is a topical issue which is why nongovernmental organisation the World Wide Fund for Nature South Africa (WWF-SA) stages a Journey of Water every two years to highlight the importance of protecting the country’s strategic water source areas. WWF’s Journey of... →

WATER SOURCE AREA This year, Journey of Water took place in the Riversonderend catchment which falls into the Boland water source area

NCPC-SA to strengthen implementation of water project

By: Jessica Oosthuizen 15th March 2019 The National Cleaner Production Centre South Africa (NCPC-SA) aims to strengthen implementation of its Industrial Water Efficiency (IWE) project and move towards the adoption of best practices and water efficient technologies to improve performance, says NCPC-SA IWE project lead Kevin Cilliers.... →

KEVIN CILLIERS The implementation of identified measures remains a challenge, largely owing to the perception that water efficiency measures require significant investment

Journey of Water focuses on river catchment

By: Jessica Oosthuizen 15th March 2019 Freshwater scarcity in South Africa is a topical issue which is why nongovernmental organisation the World Wide Fund for Nature South Africa (WWF-SA) stages a Journey of Water every two years to highlight the importance of protecting the country’s strategic water source areas. WWF’s Journey of... →

Company offers technology to mitigate floods

By: Jessica Oosthuizen 15th March 2019 Construction design and engineering services provider Royal HaskoningDHV’s BlueLabel technology can be used to mitigate flooding in South Africa, says Royal HaskoningDHV business development water director Tjeerd Driessen. BlueLabel was developed by Royal HaskoningDHV in partnership with... →

FLOODING ISSUES There should be an emphasis on how urban areas are planned because if infrastructure is not adequately designed, flooding will present problems

Company rolls out second-generation water filtration system

By: Jessica Oosthuizen 15th March 2019 Specialist water repurpose and filtration company CrossAfrica Water Solutions is rolling out the second-generation SAFI Africa Point-of-Entry Microfiltration System, which filters water at the source of entry into an establishment. The prototype of the system was launched three years ago and the... →

Tech can be part of water management solution

By: Jessica Oosthuizen 15th March 2019 Technology, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), can be a part of the solution to better water management to ensure responsible water use and no waste, says access network infrastructure provider Ruckus Networks sub-Saharan Africa sales director Riaan Graham. IoT is readily available and can be... →

Variable climate presents challenges

By: Jessica Oosthuizen 15th March 2019 A more variable climate is creating the challenges of ensuring adequate water supply in dry areas and dealing with higher rainfall in wet areas. Consulting engineers and scientists SRK Consulting partner and principal hydrologist Peter Shepherd tells Engineering News that water variability in... →

RIVERBANK EROSION Severe erosion is taking place in South African rivers, with sheer walls and embankments a sure sign of material being washed downstream

'No tomorrow' for many unless consumption falls – UN

By: Reuters 13th March 2019 Global exploitation of natural resources – from water, sand and timber to oil, coal and gemstones – has more than tripled in 50 years, the United Nations (UN) said on Tuesday, warning of devastating environmental impacts unless demand is reduced. Surging consumption of natural resources –... →

Better planning needed to ensure jobs for skilled persons in water, energy sectors

By: Marleny Arnoldi 12th March 2019 About 300 000 graduates in the energy and water sectors in South Africa are seeking employment, some of whom even re-enter into learnerships to stay in the economically active loop, says Energy and Water Sector Education and Training Authority acting CEO Mpho Mookapele. Speaking at the Skills... →

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Unique Drinking Water Solutions Provide Mining Industry With Better Water Quality, Improved Bottom Line And Enhanced Environmental Performance

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