Does South Africa have a water crisis or simply a water problem?

[wingnut771]

Wait until el-nino.

 

[Solarion]

The country has over 3000km of coastline. Someone needs to pull finger and set up more desalination plants.

Desalination generates a kak load of salt as a by product. Knowing this government they will simply dump the stuff into landfills or dump it into rivers.

Pollution Situation And Water Desalination In Saudi Arabia Essay Sample, words: 2168

Saudi Arabia is a petrostate and one of the world’s most arid countries. It has a growing population of about 34 million and an estimated total land area... read more

writingbros.com

The desalination of seawater is, however, creating huge volumes of brine and chemical-laced effluents that are polluting the marine environment and contaminating food chains thereby imperiling not only human health but also the wellbeing of other organisms.

According to Tirone, Saudi Arabia emits about 31.5 million cubic meters of brine and contaminated effluents every day. For every liter of clean (potable) water produced, Tirone estimates that close to 1.5 liters of liquid polluted with chlorine (Cl) and copper (Cu) are generated. When released back into the ocean, the effluent depletes dissolved oxygen (DO) amounts and impacts marine organisms along the entire food chain.

 

[The Voice]

Desalination generates a kak load of salt as a by product. Knowing this government they will simply dump the stuff into landfills or dump it into rivers.

Pollution Situation And Water Desalination In Saudi Arabia Essay Sample, words: 2168

Saudi Arabia is a petrostate and one of the world’s most arid countries. It has a growing population of about 34 million and an estimated total land area... read more

writingbros.com

Ok, everyone can just die of thirst then. Or starve because crops aren’t growing. Whichever comes first.

 

[Speedster]

Ok, everyone can just die of thirst then. Or starve because crops aren’t growing. Whichever comes first.

Tantrum much?

 

[The Voice]

Tantrum much?

Zero ****s given actually. I live in a country that has sufficient water and power, so this doesn’t affect me in the slightest, but I’m still inclined to think of solutions instead of compounding issues by sitting on my hands waiting for someone else to bail me out like most in South Africa seem to do.

 

[bwana]

Zero ****s given actually. I live in a country that has sufficient water and power, so this doesn’t affect me in the slightest, but I’m still inclined to think of solutions instead of compounding issues by sitting on my hands waiting for someone else to bail me out like most in South Africa seem to do.

The UK is currently in the midst of a drought.

 

[Magnum]

I find it cheaper and easier to store water than electricity? I mean the stuff literally falls from the sky.

View attachment 1448263

1. Not very healthy. Distilled water causes serious health issues with prolonged use. That is why RO water has a ceramic filter to add metals back into the water.
2. Not all containers are safe for storing water. Plastic breaks down in water and bacteria also thrives in stored water.

 

[Magnum]

Zero ****s given actually. I live in a country that has sufficient water and power, so this doesn’t affect me in the slightest, but I’m still inclined to think of solutions instead of compounding issues by sitting on my hands waiting for someone else to bail me out like most in South Africa seem to do.

We are not waiting for someone to bail us out. I am personally here to watch everything burn to the ground.

 

[bwana]

1. Not very healthy. Distilled water causes serious health issues with prolonged use. That is why RO water has a ceramic filter to add metals back into the water.
2. Not all containers are safe for storing water. Plastic breaks down in water and bacteria also thrives in stored water.

Perfectly healthy - the water and the containers it's stored in.

I get all the additional minerals I need from beer.

 

[konfab]

The ANC nationalised water in 1998. We now have shortages.

 

[wingnut771]

Desalination generates a kak load of salt as a by product. Knowing this government they will simply dump the stuff into landfills or dump it into rivers.

Pollution Situation And Water Desalination In Saudi Arabia Essay Sample, words: 2168

Saudi Arabia is a petrostate and one of the world’s most arid countries. It has a growing population of about 34 million and an estimated total land area... read more

writingbros.com

The solution to that they have discovered is to not extract all the water but only a small percentage then the discharge is a lot less salty and not harmful to the environment.

 

[Speedster]

The solution to that they have discovered is to not extract all the water but only a small percentage then the discharge is a lot less salty and not harmful to the environment.

Is desalination easier/cheaper than processing water from a dam?

 

[Paul_S]

Is desalination easier/cheaper than processing water from a dam?

No, but it's getting cheap enough to start making sense. Currently it costs less than $1 to desalinize 1kL of seawater which would be about R17/kL. There are still costs for storage and distribution but even if that adds another R10/kL it still compares favourably to what I pay in Tshwane.

I think the problems faced will be similar to our self-made electricity crisis. Greedy government and incumbent municipal stakeholders don't want to let go of their cash cows by opening it up to private companies.

 

[bwana]

No, but it's getting cheap enough to start making sense. Currently it costs less than $1 to desalinize 1kL of seawater which would be about R17/kL. There are still costs for storage and distribution but even if that adds another R10/kL it still compares favourably to what I pay in Tshwane.

We pay R20Kl (vat incl) here in PE under drought tariffs so its not particularly favourable. That cost includes the 300km+ trip the water takes from the Gariep.

 

[wingnut771]

Is desalination easier/cheaper than processing water from a dam?

What dam?

 

[Speedster]

What dam?

Let's start with the Vaal dam? Or Gariep? Maybe Theewaterskloof?

 

[Vorastra]

I find it cheaper and easier to store water than electricity? I mean the stuff literally falls from the sky.

View attachment 1448263

So does electricity. It's just that the bucket needs to be a lot more high-tech.

 

[bwana]

So does electricity. It's just that the bucket needs to be a lot more high-tech.

So it's more expensive and more complicated to store than rain water?

 

[Speedster]

So it's more expensive and more complicated to store than rain water?

Water, especially rain water, is obviously easy to store. The challenge is in keeping it potable.

 

[bwana]

Water, especially rain water, is obviously easy to store. The challenge is in keeping it potable.

Think how much water you use on a daily basis then work out how much of that really needs to be potable. It's really not much of a challenge.