About 50% of South Africa’s biggest dams could be dangerous to those who swim in them.  South African dams have high levels of cyanobacteria, a type of algae that feeds of nutrients such as fertiliser and sewage run-off. 

The organisers of the African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit have announced the gold sponsorship of Utility Systems, an industry leader in the field of remote communicating electronic water control valves and STS prepayment devices. The opportunities and challenges in the South African property sector, from commercial to residential, will be in focus at the summit that returns to Sandton from 11-12 October. 

Die onlangse opvlam van belangstelling in masjiene wat water uit lug kan onttrek, klaarblyklik sonder perke, klink na presies die redding wat ‘n droogtegeteisterde Suid-Afrika vandag nodig het. 

Millions of small-scale farmers face significant challenges, including food and water insecurity, dependence on unpredictable rain, and increasing frequency of natural disasters.

Fresh water is the most important resource for human life on earth. People can survive far longer without food than without water, and virtually all of our food sources require fresh water to grow or create.

Prof. Ashok Chapagain has recently been appointed as senior professor in the department of agricultural economics in the faculty of natural and agricultural sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS).

This April the dam levels in the Western Cape slumped to a low of just 18% and South Africans were bracing themselves for Day Zero.

Water has ranked in the top five risks for seven consecutive years in the World Economic Forum’s Global Risk Report. And if you look at the headline threats to humanity  and the planet over the next decade, as pinpointed by 1,000 experts, all but one are linked to water.

Fresh water is the most important resource for human life on earth. People can survive far longer without food than without water, and virtually all of our food sources require fresh water to grow or create.

In the Langkloof most topfruit orchards have finished flowering and growers are in the process of fruit thinning. Their dams are full and yet the new season has brought an unwelcome irony: a year ago, Langkloof dams were 30% full and the nearby Kouga Dam 12.6% full (later dropping to a mere 6%), but there were no water restrictions on Langkloof fruit producers.

South Africa is often referred to as the 30th driest country in the world, a claim that's based on its average annual rainfall of 500mm compared to the world average of 860mm. National rainfall averages have a purpose.

A new study has found that outdated, colonial-era water permit systems across Africa are unintentionally criminalising millions of small farmers who can’t obtain permits. This undermines efforts to boost farming production and meet economic growth goals.

Notable success has been achieved in providing all South Africans with access to water and sanitation since the advent of the democratic dispensation in 1994. However, water availability remains a concern.

In rural Mecosta County, Mich., sits a near-windowless facility with a footprint about the size of Buckingham Palace. It’s just one of Nestlé’s roughly 100 bottled water factories in 34 countries around the world.

Planners and conservationists now have access to a new tool that uses dragonflies as indicators of the health of freshwater systems in Africa. ​

In 2015, El Niño ran the province close to a point where it would run out of its available water. A network of 14 dams averted that fate. Now, the population has grown, water use has increased and supply is still at the same level.

Besproeiing maak die verbouing van gewasse in droë streke moontlik deurdat opbrengsstabiliteit verhoog word.

Will we be able to feed everyone if the population of the planet rises from about 7 billion people today to 9-10 billion in 2050?

The authors discovered that these aluminium oxide nano-sheets were highly porous and went on to prove they were suitable for filtering both heavy metal ions and oil contamination at unprecedented, ultra-fast rates.

With less than 1.2 per cent of all water on Earth available for humans to use, the world faces a 40 per cent shortfall in available global water supply by 2030, according to latest United Nations data.