Nottingham Road resident and student at Shea O’Connor Combined School, Tafadzwa Bero, is concerned about our water. “The question I always ask is ‘What would life be like with no water?’ Well, there wouldn’t be life on Earth. It is a major concern that this resource is at risk if we don’t conserve it.”

Agriculture defines the area around Nottingham Road and Rosetta, which led Tafadzwa to wonder if the use of agricultural fertilizers would affect the water quality in the recently built Spring Grove Dam.

He created a project to determine whether the Spring Grove Dam to Midmar Dam water transfer scheme was a good idea or could be a possible environmental risk. He took water samples and used the Brown Ring Test, to determine the concentration of nitrates in the water – results showed that fertilizer run off is finding its way into the Spring Grove Dam. In August, he entered the Eskom Expo for Young Scientists in Durban and was awarded gold medal for his presentation.

The judges were impressed with his sound knowledge of the subject and his use of maps and visual representation of the river.
Tafadzwa has been invited to attend the National Competition in Johannesburg from October 6 to 9. “After earning bronze for the past two years, I really pushed myself to achieve gold and I am very excited that my project was selected for the Nationals. It is a great opportunity to interact with people from different parts of the country and learn.”

Can you help fund the trip for this young scientist to attend the Competition in October? Contact his Life Science teacher Antonia Mkhabela on 083 949 6751 or Tafadzwa 083 856 9321 tafabero@gmail.com

Your contribution could help conserve our water resources. Tafadzwa concludes: “We humans can all take a stand in conserving and using our water wisely because when you conserve water you conserve life!”