New water restriction tariffs hit Cape Town: what you need to know

[BTTB]

Scientist Predicts That Cape Towns Water Supply Will End Up In ‘a total system crash in March 2018’!

The third question is on what technical basis has the sustainable yield of the Table Mountain Aquifer and other local groundwater resources been estimated? One of the four pillars of the strategy recently announced by Mayor de Lille, is groundwater. But, as demand grows and more water is abstracted, while at the same time rainfall trends show a distinct declining trend, then recharge is going to decrease and with that sustainable yield severely impacted. (I will post a seperate link on recharge to show how the Australian government approaches these matters). Are these politicians merely ignorant and clutching at straws by the allure of the Cinderella resource beneath their feet? What is their understanding of the Ghyben-Herzberg Principle that tells us with a high level of confidence that when you abstract fresh water from a coastal aquifer, then salt water intrusion is a logical outcome. Are business interests dependent on drilling maybe influencing this agenda? Has anyone in power even asked the question about aquifer recharge?

The only truly coastal aquifer in question is the Cape Flats Aquifer, which is a sand aquifer.

The Table Mountain Group Aquifer is just that, a mountain aquifer. Perhaps the name Table Mountain is confusing being right next to the sea as the Aquifer in question where Professor Hartnady and Company will be drilling is the 1000km Aquifer stretching from Vanrynsdorp to Port Elizabeth and several hundred or thousand meters above sea level embedded in granite rock, in some cases the water is 10kms deep as stated by the Professor in the Carte Blanche video from Jan/Feb this year. Unfortunately the link to that video is down or moved but it was a glimpse into what happened between 2001 and 2011 when they did all the tests in question and then in 2011 the Overstrand Municipality sunk their borehole while the City of Cape Town shelved their project.

Professor Hartnady went on the state how lucky we were to have such a gem and only one other place in South America had such a aquifer embedded in the fissures and cracks of the rocks below the mountains.

So while the Ghyben-Herzberg Principle will be part of the planning and ongoing testing of the water usage as is the case with the Overstrand Muncipality and part of the legal criteria of checking salinity of the water regularly there, my personal view is that the dynamics in play for drilling at Theewaters or Steenbras or any other area far above sea level and many kilometres away from the actual sea as in the case of Theewaters will not allow for saline intrusions, unless sea water can defy gravity and penetrate upwards into the fissures and cracks in the mountains that make up the Table Mountain Group Aquifer.

The Cape Flats Aquifer could theoretically become more saline near the sea but once again gravity is pushing water under the mountains towards the Cape Flats and from what we have been told by an expert the Cape Flats Aquifer never drops as it is held up by the sea level, topped up by the surrounding mountain ranges and annual rainfall. Added to this, currently they are not drilling into the Cape Flats Aquifer in any event so it isn't in question.
The current usage on The Cape Flats is from the farmers in the Philippi Horticultural Area and the few gardeners who suck up some of the surface water using well points. The main body of clean fresh water is in the second layer of the Cape Flats Aquifer, not the top layer.

I will stress my point again as stated across all the topics under discussion about potable water ... The Cape is a water rich area contrary to the constant drone of media attention it receives. While those dams 60km away from Cape Town may well run dry next year or the next, there is so much other water that could have been tapped into. Unfortunately all these projects take time and lots of money. Potable water will be scarce for the foreseeable future.
What annoys me is the disinformation about our underground resources. Using the Ghyben-Herzberg Principle as your basis of discussion is disingenuous and hyped and plays into the hands of the City who would still like to sell you water once this crisis is over as after all they are still a business.

 

[yebocan]

Scientist Predicts That Cape Towns Water Supply Will End Up In ‘a total system crash in March 2018’!


The only truly coastal aquifer in question is the Cape Flats Aquifer, which is a sand aquifer.

The Table Mountain Group Aquifer is just that, a mountain aquifer. Perhaps the name Table Mountain is confusing being right next to the sea as the Aquifer in question where Professor Hartnady and Company will be drilling is the 1000km Aquifer stretching from Vanrynsdorp to Port Elizabeth and several hundred or thousand meters above sea level embedded in granite rock, in some cases the water is 10kms deep as stated by the Professor in the Carte Blanche video from Jan/Feb this year. Unfortunately the link to that video is down or moved but it was a glimpse into what happened between 2001 and 2011 when they did all the tests in question and then in 2011 the Overstrand Municipality sunk their borehole while the City of Cape Town shelved their project.

Professor Hartnady went on the state how lucky we were to have such a gem and only one other place in South America had such a aquifer embedded in the fissures and cracks of the rocks below the mountains.

So while the Ghyben-Herzberg Principle will be part of the planning and ongoing testing of the water usage as is the case with the Overstrand Muncipality and part of the legal criteria of checking salinity of the water regularly there, my personal view is that the dynamics in play for drilling at Theewaters or Steenbras or any other area far above sea level and many kilometres away from the actual sea as in the case of Theewaters will not allow for saline intrusions, unless sea water can defy gravity and penetrate upwards into the fissures and cracks in the mountains that make up the Table Mountain Group Aquifer.

The Cape Flats Aquifer could theoretically become more saline near the sea but once again gravity is pushing water under the mountains towards the Cape Flats and from what we have been told by an expert the Cape Flats Aquifer never drops as it is held up by the sea level, topped up by the surrounding mountain ranges and annual rainfall. Added to this, currently they are not drilling into the Cape Flats Aquifer in any event so it isn't in question.
The current usage on The Cape Flats is from the farmers in the Philippi Horticultural Area and the few gardeners who suck up some of the surface water using well points. The main body of clean fresh water is in the second layer of the Cape Flats Aquifer, not the top layer.

I will stress my point again as stated across all the topics under discussion about potable water ... The Cape is a water rich area contrary to the constant drone of media attention it receives. While those dams 60km away from Cape Town may well run dry next year or the next, there is so much other water that could have been tapped into. Unfortunately all these projects take time and lots of money. Potable water will be scarce for the foreseeable future.
What annoys me is the disinformation about our underground resources. Using the Ghyben-Herzberg Principle as your basis of discussion is disingenuous and hyped and plays into the hands of the City who would still like to sell you water once this crisis is over as after all they are still a business.

Thank you , for the insight

 

[daveza]

·***Do not use your toilet as a dustbin

This is a thing ?

 

[Zoomzoom]

This is a thing ?

People dispose of the most astonishing stuff in toilets.

 

[2023]

Don't you mean that too many people have moved to Cape Town?

Or Capetownians are a horny bunch.

 

[BTTB]

My staff toilet is using well point water.
I aim to connect the whole property to the well point water before or when we reach day zero and buy bottled water or bring back water in drums from our property in the Overstrand area where there are no water restrictions, in actual fact the dam there is full to capacity.

 

[The_Assimilator]

Scientist Predicts That Cape Towns Water Supply Will End Up In ‘a total system crash in March 2018’!


The only truly coastal aquifer in question is the Cape Flats Aquifer, which is a sand aquifer.

The Table Mountain Group Aquifer is just that, a mountain aquifer. Perhaps the name Table Mountain is confusing being right next to the sea as the Aquifer in question where Professor Hartnady and Company will be drilling is the 1000km Aquifer stretching from Vanrynsdorp to Port Elizabeth and several hundred or thousand meters above sea level embedded in granite rock, in some cases the water is 10kms deep as stated by the Professor in the Carte Blanche video from Jan/Feb this year. Unfortunately the link to that video is down or moved but it was a glimpse into what happened between 2001 and 2011 when they did all the tests in question and then in 2011 the Overstrand Municipality sunk their borehole while the City of Cape Town shelved their project.

Professor Hartnady went on the state how lucky we were to have such a gem and only one other place in South America had such a aquifer embedded in the fissures and cracks of the rocks below the mountains.

So while the Ghyben-Herzberg Principle will be part of the planning and ongoing testing of the water usage as is the case with the Overstrand Muncipality and part of the legal criteria of checking salinity of the water regularly there, my personal view is that the dynamics in play for drilling at Theewaters or Steenbras or any other area far above sea level and many kilometres away from the actual sea as in the case of Theewaters will not allow for saline intrusions, unless sea water can defy gravity and penetrate upwards into the fissures and cracks in the mountains that make up the Table Mountain Group Aquifer.

The Cape Flats Aquifer could theoretically become more saline near the sea but once again gravity is pushing water under the mountains towards the Cape Flats and from what we have been told by an expert the Cape Flats Aquifer never drops as it is held up by the sea level, topped up by the surrounding mountain ranges and annual rainfall. Added to this, currently they are not drilling into the Cape Flats Aquifer in any event so it isn't in question.
The current usage on The Cape Flats is from the farmers in the Philippi Horticultural Area and the few gardeners who suck up some of the surface water using well points. The main body of clean fresh water is in the second layer of the Cape Flats Aquifer, not the top layer.

I will stress my point again as stated across all the topics under discussion about potable water ... The Cape is a water rich area contrary to the constant drone of media attention it receives. While those dams 60km away from Cape Town may well run dry next year or the next, there is so much other water that could have been tapped into. Unfortunately all these projects take time and lots of money. Potable water will be scarce for the foreseeable future.
What annoys me is the disinformation about our underground resources. Using the Ghyben-Herzberg Principle as your basis of discussion is disingenuous and hyped and plays into the hands of the City who would still like to sell you water once this crisis is over as after all they are still a business.

None of which changes the fact that tapping into aquifers, without bothering to replenish them, is not a solution; it's merely kicking the can down the road.

 

[BTTB]

None of which changes the fact that tapping into aquifers, without bothering to replenish them, is not a solution; it's merely kicking the can down the road.

You like many others have been taken in by the Ghyben-Herzberg Principle and current media hype, I rest my case.

 

[Rickster]

Borehole water: do not use for drinking



Spring water: not for drinking purposes

Huh?

 

[Geoff.D]

You like many others have been taken in by the Ghyben-Herzberg Principle and current media hype, I rest my case.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between genuine Science and pseudo Science these days.

The principals laid out in the article by Anthony Turton is genuine hype free Science. But then it does not fit in with the current political nonsense going on so obviously it has to be wrong.

Upsetting the balances between all of these forces is a huge issue and note should be taken of what the genuine scientists are saying.
We should be using our locally developed desalination technologies better.

 

[Geoff.D]

Borehole water: do not use for drinking



Spring water: not for drinking purposes

Huh?

What they are saying is because waste water is not treated properly, you cannot rely on water running in rivers as being safe and cannot always rely on spring water without knowing where it originates.

 

[Gordon_R]

People dispose of the most astonishing stuff in toilets.

On this particular issue we are in agreement! I am the caretaker in a complex of 36 flats, and my worst job is overflowing drains outside kitchens (vegetables and cooking fat mostly). This morning I had to call the council to unblock the main sewer line outside our gate. It will only get worse with reduced water use and toilet flushing...

 

[BTTB]

It is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between genuine Science and pseudo Science these days.

The principals laid out in the article by Anthony Turton is genuine hype free Science. But then it does not fit in with the current political nonsense going on so obviously it has to be wrong.

Upsetting the balances between all of these forces is a huge issue and note should be taken of what the genuine scientists are saying.
We should be using our locally developed desalination technologies better.

When we eventually get to land based Desalination Plants its going to years hence and costly and it appears the technology is there and available locally too. The wheel grinds very slowly with Government, I would not like to be a Director at Grahamtek trying to deal with the bureaucracy of it all, the mind boggles.

 

[The_Assimilator]

You like many others have been taken in by the Ghyben-Herzberg Principle and current media hype, I rest my case.

This has nothing to do with the salinity of the water in the aquifer, and everything to do with the fact that said water is a finite resource. If Cape town's water crisis is "solved" by tapping into the aquifer, how long do you think it will last at 500 megalitres/day?

TANSTAAFL - if you take out, you must put back in. That's the only way to prevent a crisis like this from ever happening again.

Note that I am not against using the aquifers without topping them up in the short term to alleviate the current crisis, but it must absolutely only be until the additional capacity comes online, and it must only be allowed if the city can provide legally binding assurance that the aquifer will be replenished with as much water as has been extracted from it once the crisis has passed.

 

[Nerfherder]

You like many others have been taken in by the Ghyben-Herzberg Principle and current media hype, I rest my case.

There is a lot of hysteria in the media... most of these "releases" have some sort of water purification advert at the end... so should explain why this is happening.

 

[Slootvreter]

There is a lot of hysteria in the media... most of these "releases" have some sort of water purification advert at the end... so should explain why this is happening.

Can you post one? /serious comment

 

[greg_SA]

This has nothing to do with the salinity of the water in the aquifer, and everything to do with the fact that said water is a finite resource. If Cape town's water crisis is "solved" by tapping into the aquifer, how long do you think it will last at 500 megalitres/day?

TANSTAAFL - if you take out, you must put back in. That's the only way to prevent a crisis like this from ever happening again.

Note that I am not against using the aquifers without topping them up in the short term to alleviate the current crisis, but it must absolutely only be until the additional capacity comes online, and it must only be allowed if the city can provide legally binding assurance that the aquifer will be replenished with as much water as has been extracted from it once the crisis has passed.

Don't the aquifers get filled by the rains and any excess ends up in the sea. If if we don't use the aquifers, and they are full, then the rains just go to the sea? So at the moment, the unused aquifers are like full dams? Just asking - maybe BTTB knows?

 

[MidnightWizard]

Fascinating

Don't the aquifers get filled by the rains and any excess ends up in the sea. If if we don't use the aquifers, and they are full, then the rains just go to the sea? So at the moment, the unused aquifers are like full dams? Just asking - maybe BTTB knows?

Yes please this stuff fascinates me
One wonders if they won't be pumping up some interesting creatures from these underground oceans

Maybe BTTB went to this conference

South African geohydrologists at IAH Congress – 2017 – Dubrovnik Croatia (with the IAH president – Antonio Chambel – in jacket and tie)

http://iah.org.za/iah-sa-newsletter-october-2017/



These are the people that are going to save your sorry Cape arses ( PERHAPS ? )

or

This one

We look forward to the 15th Biennial Groundwater Conference to held at Spier, Stellenbosch happening from the 14th – 18th October. The timing and location is perfect and hopefully will be well attended by authorities and regulators to become aware and get a sense and direction of the large scientific resources we have for addressing all aspects of groundwater supply.

http://www.gwd2017.com/

WHAT do these academics and scientists do ?
Apart from attending conferences ?

 

[Geoff.D]

Don't the aquifers get filled by the rains and any excess ends up in the sea. If if we don't use the aquifers, and they are full, then the rains just go to the sea? So at the moment, the unused aquifers are like full dams? Just asking - maybe BTTB knows?

Have you read the article referred to in a previous post?

The only natural source of water flow into an aquifer is rainfall that filters down into the ground. If the amount withdrawn from the aquifer exceeds the amount filtering through from rainfall the aquifer recedes. Really easy to understand. As Climate change reduces the amount of rainfall in an area, the water table in that are will fall IF water is being extracted from it.

The only know alternative is Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) where plants are setup to purify waste water and then to pump it back into the ground.

Yes sure, the idea is to build dams to catch excessive run-off and store it in dams, BUT this is supposed to be a controlled process where ALL flow into a river is not supposed to be cut off completely.

 

[mercurial]

Here's a radical idea - build more fkn dams.