Watch how you use that water

The amazing downpours across Gauteng over the weekend brought huge volumes of much-needed rain to the region. And while we can be joyous and thankful, we can’t relax.

The Vaal Dam, as we detail today, won’t fill up overnight. It’s an enormous body of water, for a start. Then, it’s almost like a leaky bucket – as fast as you try to fill it, its contents leak out. In the case of the Vaal Dam, that’s because daily usage in the most industrialised and populous province takes away 5 000 megalitres in consumption every 24 hours.

And, so the experts say, at least 40% of that is lost to bad infrastructure leaks. On top of that, more precious water is lost to evaporation every day over the dam’s huge surface area. This year, the medium and long term rainfall predictions are encouraging: a “La Nina” system currently developing in the Pacific Ocean promises us in southern Africa above average rainfall this season.

But we still need to conserve our most valuable natural resource. Don’t waste water, check your fittings for leaks, recycle “grey water” into the garden. Something to do while we wait for the sluice gates at the Vaal to open once again.

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