Green Drought

With water being a major topic of conversation currently here are a few ideas for water security in the home and more particularly in offices and factories/warehouses.

South Africa is in the grips of what is called a Green Drought. Even in the Greytown area which is a major water capture zone for the Hazelmere dam the surrounding areas are a rich lush green colour raising the question “What drought?”. Just enough rain falls to nourish the hardiest of plants but the most important plants for the livestock and more importantly water that will reach Hazelmere dam is non existent. This problem is predicted to be around for a few more years due to the el Nino Effect. Hazelmere dam is sitting at 34% of capacity of which 15% is silt and unusable.

So what can you do to have water security? (A simple guide: 1mm of rain failing on 1sqm of roof is equal to 1 litre of water)

Rain water harvesting: Installing JoJo tanks to catch rainwater off your roof. This water can be used for non potable uses (not for drinking) in and around house and places of work for general water use. 

Municipal Backup: A JoJo tank fitted with a pump is fitted in line from the municipal feed to the main feed of the property. In the event of a water shut off there is then a reserve supply of water in the tank to see the property through a limited period of no water.

Rainwater/municipal combination. Together with a filtration system fitted the two above systems can be combined to reduce dependency on municipal feeds and to give security in the event there is a water supply interruption.

Grey water recycling: All water from baths, showers, washing machines can be captured and recycled back into non potable uses e.g. toilets, gardens etc.

Offgrid solution: An off grid solution combines all of the above (except grey water recycling) but adds in a borehole thereby completely taking the property off dependency on municipal supplied water. Water clarity and purity (filtration) is brought in house and gives further security against falling municipal water standards. Some systems see the capital investment paid off in as little as 18 months  and thereafter other than sundry maintenance costs there is a major water saving. This is particularly attractive to retail, commercial and industrial properties where landlords can increase their returns by in turn becoming the water service provider and billing for delivery.

Another consideration is the quality of water being supplied. South Africa also has a major issue with capital expenditure on maintenance and development of water purification works. As water demand increases and capital investment decreases there is a significant decrease in the quality of water. Exacerbating this is the blue green algae bloom in up to 70% of our water ways from excess untreated sewerage entering the water ways. This is toxic to humans. The only way to deal with this is with the installation of water filters in your home or place of work.

For more information contact the writer