|
Preserving our Scarcest Natural Resource |
|
|
|
 South Africa is a country rich in natural resources, but water is not one of them. The country is often plagued by droughts in certain areas and this leads to uneven water distribution, in space and time. The sustainability of our water resources is threatened both in terms of quantity and quality. The industrial sector is projected to have the greatest growth in water demand and much of the industrial development will occur in major urban centres that have limited water resources, such as Cape Town and Gauteng. With the country’s growth, increasing demands for water and its decreasing quality due to pollution calls for careful water management and responsible attitudes from all citizens.
The country’s average rainfall is less than 500 mm a year, with the driest part of the country receiving less than 200 mm per year and the wettest receiving more than 2 500 mm per year. Areas like Gauteng, with a high demand for water resources, receive much less water than is needed. Hot, dry conditions in the country also result in a high evaporation rate, leaving the water resources even scarcer.
South Africa depends on rivers, dams and underground water for its water supply. About half of South Africa's annual rainfall is stored in dams. But South Africa is not very well suited for building dams as our landscape constitutes few valleys and gorges. Therefore our dams are quite shallow and wide leading to great evaporation rates. And abstraction and damming has resulted in a reduction in river flow, for example, those flowing through the Kruger National Park - South Africa’s rivers are lacking in water. This situation makes it clear that we need to preserve our scarce water resources. Pollution is placing extra unnecessary strains on the demand for water.
The major pollution contributors in the country are:
• Industrial affluents
Water is discharged from after having been used in production processes. This waste water may contain acids, alkalis, salts, poisons, oils and in some cases harmful bacteria.
• Mining and Agricultural Wastes
Mines, especially gold and coal mines, are responsible for large quantities of acid water. Agricultural pesticides, fertilisers and herbicides may wash into rivers and stagnant water bodies.
• Sewage Disposal and Domestic Wastes
Sewage as well as domestic and farm wastes are often allowed to pollute rivers and dams.
Some large industries, such as SASOL and ESKOM, are recycling water for use in their plants. Regional water suppliers also recycle limited amounts of water, for example, the Rand Water Board supplies water which contains less than 2% recycled water. This is likely to increase as demand increases. Further, every South African should take the responsibility to do their own bit in contributing to the reduction of pollution, be it by recycling or by promoting environmentally friendly practices, both in the home and the work environment.
• Do not litter.
• Reduce your use of pesticides and fertilizers and look for safer alterna¬tives to control weeds and bugs.
• Take part in local river clean-up campaigns.
• Always throw unwanted fishing line in a trash can, not in the water.
• Do not use toilets to dispose of trash of any kind.
• Notify the authorities if you see someone dumping trash in a river or stream.
Water is part of a deeply interconnected system. What we pour on the ground and what we spew into the sky ends up in our water. By polluting rivers, lakes and wetlands, we are destroying ecosystems. These ecosystems are essential for filtering and ensuring we have freshwater resources.
Sources:
http://www.botany.uwc.ac.za/sci_ed/grade10/ecology/conservation/poll.htm
http://www.deltaenviro.org.za/resources/envirofacts/water.html
http://www.info.gov.za/greenpapers/1996/conservation.htm
http://www.info.gov.za/otherdocs/1999/watermanfr.pdf
http://www.wrc.org.za/downloads/education/Water%20pollution.pdf
|
