[OPINION] Cape Town, a city drowning in incompetence | Daily Maverick

Gordon_R said:
a lengthy article by Helen Zille: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2018-01-22-from-the-inside-the-countdown-to-day-zero/
Click to expand...

Such dripping irony:
the SA Weather service told us bluntly: We cannot predict whether or when rain will come. Previous forecasting models have proved useless in the era of climate change
Click to expand...

Blaming your forecasting fail on climate change, which itself is ALSO based on a forecasting model concocted by your peers ... :erm:
 
Must be drowning in the ocean then...
The whole country is drowning in ANC Shyte. What do they think would happen to Limpopo if there the water ran out?

Easy to point fingers when your other hand is stuck in your AHOLE stopping the shyte from spewing out.
The water problem is a country wide issue. We are just lucky we get some rain. We have water restrictions again. How many people do you think will adhere?
IF it didn' t rain this summer in gauteng where do these finger pointers think we would have been? We do not have an ocean to desalinate water.

We are all sinking in the Shyte Pool the ANC created. The WC just ran out of water first.
 
Last edited:
Pitbull said:
You can't plan for drought in the short run. And no one expected it to be this dry so it's not anyone's fault. What's being done to prevent it running dry and what is being done to prevent it in future is where these people should be judged.

Do they have any plans for when it runs dry? Yes
Are they making plans to prevent this from happening again? I don't know (Maybe someone here does?) Are the deepening the current catchment dams to make it deeper and narrower?
Click to expand...

The assumption is water is going to cost more in the future because we will be relying on desalination. Climate change is assumed to be permanent.
 
zolly said:
The assumption is water is going to cost more in the future because we will be relying on desalination. Climate change is assumed to be permanent.
Click to expand...

Either way. Humans need to adapt to survive. If that means having to create drinking water from the ocean so be it. If it means we need to focus more on ground water as opposed to rain so be it. Climate change has brought rains to places that hasn't had it for a long time and those having lots of rains getting less. It balances itself out. We as humans just need to adapt to the changes ahead of time. Waiting for it to be at your door then going "O Fark!" doesn't serve you or anyone any good.
 
zolly said:
The assumption is water is going to cost more in the future because we will be relying on desalination. Climate change is assumed to be permanent.
Click to expand...

Whatever the sources of water in the future, the costs will be higher. Until recently the price of water was linked to the expense of storing and pumping it, with little reflection of its scarcity value. This false sense of abundance has ended, due to both increased demand and limited supply.

This framework has to change. In particular the upper-end consumers will pay significantly more (the first 6kl will still be free, or marginal cost). Those who can afford it will switch to alternative sources, such as boreholes (which should have been done years ago).
 
Gordon_R said:
Whatever the sources of water in the future, the costs will be higher. Until recently the price of water was linked to the expense of storing and pumping it, with little reflection of its scarcity value. This false sense of abundance has ended, due to both increased demand and limited supply.

This framework has to change. In particular the upper-end consumers will pay significantly more (the first 6kl will still be free, or marginal cost). Those who can afford it will switch to alternative sources, such as boreholes (which should have been done years ago).
Click to expand...

Fresh water is actually abundant, in fact it is the ultimate renewable resource. The issue is not abundance, it is that it is not necessarily distributed where humans need it to be. We should not need to live in some sort of permanent state of scarcity. We have the technology and the means to capture, store or desalinate as much as we want. The problems are due to politics, inadequate planning and rapid changes in size and location of population.
 
garp said:
Fresh water is actually abundant, in fact it is the ultimate renewable resource. The issue is not abundance, it is that it is not necessarily distributed where humans need it to be. We should not need to live in some sort of permanent state of scarcity. We have the technology and the means to capture, store or desalinate as much as we want. The problems are due to politics, inadequate planning and rapid changes in size and location of population.
Click to expand...

Silver Mine Reservoir in Muizenberg for example; one of dozens in the province.

img_1062.jpg
 
Gordon_R said:
Poor example IMO. Silvermine is a tiny reservoir. It is currently used for irrigating Westlake golf course. It does not produce potable water (too many dogs swim in it).
Click to expand...

A better example maybe? I didn't know that. Dogs huh? :crylaugh:

Edit: Although I can see the rich residents of Marina vloeking because someone is draining their water.

maxresdefault.jpg
 
Last edited:
garp said:
Fresh water is actually abundant, in fact it is the ultimate renewable resource. The issue is not abundance, it is that it is not necessarily distributed where humans need it to be. We should not need to live in some sort of permanent state of scarcity. We have the technology and the means to capture, store or desalinate as much as we want. The problems are due to politics, inadequate planning and rapid changes in size and location of population.
Click to expand...

This is true for most problems that confront humanity: the tech is there, the will is not.
 
So each person gets 25L per day, but what about businesses, what do they get?
 
And don't count on 25L pppd to last forever.

If the dams are dry and there's no rain all we have is aquifer and desal to supply Cape Town. We could go as low as 7L pppd.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter