Recycling water through wetlands

South Africa has been in hot water lately as the worst drought since 1992 struck the country.

One Johannesburg resident has made it his mission to save water as much as he can.

Mr Alosha Lynov is passionate about saving water. He is currently recycling 200 litres daily at his three bedroom home.

Diverting bathroom pipes to a mini-wetland, he makes smelly grey-water hygienic enough for watering his 100 square metre vegetable garden.

The drought has resulted in reservoirs being close to empty and some stores even ran out of bottled water recently.

Joburg’s mayor, Clr Parks Tau, has asked residents to cut back on water consumption by recycling.

“Recycling water is not difficult. I started six years ago by bucketing out our bath water onto flowers and trees. When my back had enough of this, I created my first mini-wetland using specific water plants, such as bullrushes and lilies, to clean the grey water before spraying our vegetables. One of the tricks to maximising water retention in your garden is mulch. All my garden beds are covered with a thin layer of glass clippings, leaves or bark. Without this, you will triple your water usage,” said Mr Lynov.

Known as the water wizard, Mr Lynov learnt about wetland construction at the Okavanga Delta, Africa’s largest wetland, under the guidance of Mr John Todd, who is an ecological design expert.

He studied indoor wetland creation from Mr Mike Reynolds at Earthships in New Mexico. Last year, he received certification for permaculture design from globally acclaimed permaculture teacher Mr Geoff Lawton. Over the past six years, Mr Lynov has constructed seven wetlands of various sizes across South Africa.