Despite the flooding, our stormwater systems had a primary flush. Henceforth, the water will keep cleaning dirt and grime, after many months of messy surface flows of raw sewage in our urban areas.
It could have been so different. If only we had started implementing water smart urban design (WSUD) sooner. It is a system that originated in Australia (even more water-stressed than South Africa).
Australia’s planning and implementation started back in the 1960s and subsequently spread to the rapidly developing southeast Asian megacities of Hong Kong, Seoul, Taipei and Tokyo. The basic idea is to innovatively catch up and store stormwater for human consumption, after the season’s first rainfall has flushed the systems of dirt and grime.
For example, if all of Johannesburg were to be equipped with WSUD infrastructure, the city’s annual water supply could be caught up in storage facilities within a matter of weeks.
Moreover, by effectively separating stormwater from toxic chemical and sewage wastewater, environmentally friendly water features and garden landscapes can beautify highly populated urban areas – from our informal settlements to the well-heeled residential areas.
By using scientifically hardy and proven garden plants, creative parklands, with vertical gardens and water features, literally constantly eating up toxic substances in dirty water, cleaner water starts circulating in the surface and groundwater systems of a city.
WSUD requires that scientists, technologists, environmentalists and landscape designers work with nature by simply focusing on how to develop the local urban water cycle in a system that favours water re-use and storage. There are many environmentally friendly benefits to the system. South Africa’s Water Research Council (WRC) has funded numerous sophisticated WSUD research projects, mostly in the Western Cape and some of the other provinces. WRC reports are freely available online for open access by all. They contain valuable information on very smart urban water designs and offer sound examples of how residents, for example, of informal settlements, have benefitted from these systems.
What is keeping us from moving in a more proactive direction of WSUD? After all, our municipal water and wastewater infrastructure systems are in need of serious maintenance and especially upgrades.
Last week the 6th Annual Water Steward Partnership event, co-hosted by the National Business Initiative, the Strategic Water Partnership Network, the Royal Danish Embassy and Germany’s GiZ, Prof. Mike Muller a former Director General (DG) of the Department of Water and Sanitation (1997-2004), as well as the current acting DG, Trevor Balzer, made contributions. Muller singled out incompetence, the lack of skilled human resources, corruption and negligence in the water sector at all levels of governance, for anticipated water shortages in the coming decade. Balzer, confirmed some, but also spoke about the department’s current National Water Plan, and how it would address many issues in the months and years to come.
The Global Water Partnership (GWP) is an influential private sector group. Members promote the effective development of water resources infrastructure in the interest of trade, commerce and industry, but also society at large. They have an outstanding record of intellectual and material support to water sector infrastructure development in many parts of the world. It is a vitally important friendship tie for South Africa.
At the meeting Tobias Elling Rehfeld, the Danish Ambassador to South Africa, addressed the issue of the current Covid-19 pandemic. He stressed that more green alternatives should be sought to address disease threats and water problems. Denmark has actively supported South Africa’s water sector since 1994.
Wouldn’t it not be great if Emfuleni and other local authorities using the Vaal River Barrage catchment, could include water smart urban development plans when work starts on our local and regional infrastructure maintenance and development?
* The author is an extraordinary professor at North-West University’s Vanderbijlpark campus.
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