Grocott's Mail
  • NEWS
    • Courts & Crime
    • Features
    • Politics
    • People
    • Health & Well-being
  • SPORT
    • News
    • Results
    • Sports Diary
    • Club Contacts
    • Columns
    • Sport Galleries
    • Sport Videos
  • OPINION
    • Election Connection
    • Makana Voices
    • Deur ‘n Gekleurde Bril
    • Newtown… Old Eyes
    • Incisive View
    • Your Say
  • ARTSLIFE
    • Cue
    • Makana Sharp!
    • Visual Art
    • Literature
    • Food & Fun
    • Festivals
    • Community Arts
    • Going Places
  • OUR TOWN
    • What’s on
    • Spiritual
    • Emergency & Well-being
    • Safety
    • Civic
    • Municipality
    • Weather
    • Properties
      • Grahamstown Properties
    • Your Town, Our Town
  • OUTSIDE
    • Enviro News
    • Gardening
    • Farming
    • Science
    • Conservation
    • Motoring
    • Pets/Animals
  • ECONOMIX
    • Business News
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Personal Finance
  • EDUCATION
    • Education NEWS
    • Education OUR TOWN
    • Education INFO
  • Covid-19
  • EDITORIAL
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending
  • Chess tournament leaves participants feeling grandiose
  • GM Direct publishing break
  • “Makhanda is in shambles,” says Ward Four resident
  • GADRA and Mobile Science Lab launch new science project
  • Ward Two residents buy own floodlights to combat cable theft
  • A town without a playground: where do the children play?
  • Women, Politics, Power, Patriachy: A feminist lens
  • Makhanda’s Links Royal House Gaokx’aob (Chief) has died
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Grocott's Mail
  • NEWS
    • Courts & Crime
    • Features
    • Politics
    • People
    • Health & Well-being
  • SPORT
    • News
    • Results
    • Sports Diary
    • Club Contacts
    • Columns
    • Sport Galleries
    • Sport Videos
  • OPINION
    • Election Connection
    • Makana Voices
    • Deur ‘n Gekleurde Bril
    • Newtown… Old Eyes
    • Incisive View
    • Your Say
  • ARTSLIFE
    • Cue
    • Makana Sharp!
    • Visual Art
    • Literature
    • Food & Fun
    • Festivals
    • Community Arts
    • Going Places
  • OUR TOWN
    • What’s on
    • Spiritual
    • Emergency & Well-being
    • Safety
    • Civic
    • Municipality
    • Weather
    • Properties
      • Grahamstown Properties
    • Your Town, Our Town
  • OUTSIDE
    • Enviro News
    • Gardening
    • Farming
    • Science
    • Conservation
    • Motoring
    • Pets/Animals
  • ECONOMIX
    • Business News
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Personal Finance
  • EDUCATION
    • Education NEWS
    • Education OUR TOWN
    • Education INFO
  • Covid-19
  • EDITORIAL
Grocott's Mail
You are at:Home»Uncategorized»Partnering up for sustainable water use
Uncategorized

Partnering up for sustainable water use

Busisiwe HohoBy Busisiwe HohoSeptember 16, 20101 Comment3 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

The municipality has called on people to assist in finding possible solutions for the current water crisis in Makana. The Grahamstown community, Rhodes University, municipal officials and councillors, and  neighbouring municipalities, as well as representatives from the Amatola Water Board, met this week for a water indaba.

The municipality has called on people to assist in finding possible solutions for the current water crisis in Makana. The Grahamstown community, Rhodes University, municipal officials and councillors, and  neighbouring municipalities, as well as representatives from the Amatola Water Board, met this week for a water indaba.


Executive Makana Mayor Vumile Lwana shared a brief background of the water situation to put everyone in the picture.

He said the municipality is faced with the challenges of inaccessibility and unavailability of water. “The current situation can be attributed to two factors, mainly drought and  infrastructure. The task at hand is for this generation to find a lasting solution to the crisis we are  experiencing before it becomes catastrophic,” he said.

Lwana said the purpose of the indaba was to “collate stakeholder inputs and concerns, which will form part of the inputs towards the development of a final proposal and drawing up a business plan for sourcing funding and other resources necessary for implementation”.

Technical and Infrastructural Services director Dabula Njilo echoed Lwana’s statement on the dwindling water resources.

He said that Grahamstown now only depends on one source Glen Mellville Dam which is regulated by the Department of Water Affairs.

The water is channelled down a canal through to the Fish River and feeds the James Kleynhans Treatment Works.

The second source of water, the water treatment works at Waainek, is no longer operational. It is fed by Howison’s Poort and Milner dams that both have extreme low water levels at present.

Another dam, Settlers Dam which also feeds Waainek Treatment Works, is virtually empty. He mentioned that there is a water master plan in place at a cost of R150-million, but a lack of adequate funding is a problem.

The plan outlines proposed water and waste water projects such as the construction of a four mega litre reservoir at Botha's Hill; the upgrading of the Alicedale Water Treatment Plant, conversion from ventilation improved pit toilets to waterborne sanitation at Extension 6 and lower Makana; upgrading the Belmont Valley waste water works and the construction of bulk water supply at James Kleyhans.

One of the presentations featured engineers and environmental consultants from SSI consultancy who recommended that more water be sourced from surface water, ground water, desalination and indirect water recycling strategies.

Dave Render from the Institute for Environmental Biotechnology at Rhodes proposed the reuse of waste water through the Integrated Algal Ponding System and the director of the Rhodes University Institute for Water Research, Denis Hughes proposed a water services information system as a communication tool between the municipality and the public that can be accessed on the internet.

Njilo said an overall action plan on water and waste water infrastructure, water demand and conservation management and financial and technical support would be sent to the participants of the indaba.

Makana Municipal Manager Ntombi  Baart concluded that a forum would be established to monitor and evaluate the identified possible solutions and regularly report on the achievements and challenges.

Previous ArticleBlack consciousness is still alive
Next Article Public debate: Is the media under siege? [AUDIO]
Busisiwe Hoho

Comments are closed.

Tweets by Grocotts
Newsletter



Listen

The Rhodes University Community Engagement Division has launched Engagement in Action, a new podcast which aims to bring to life some of the many ways in which the University interacts with communities around it. Check it out below.

Humans of Makhanda

Humans of Makhanda

Weather    |     About     |     Advertise     |     Subscribe     |     Contact     |     Support Grocott’s Mail

© 2023 Maintained by School of Journalism & Media Studies.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.