 Water Rhapsody are winners of the WWF GREEN TRUST award 2010-09-01 19:15 – Johannesburg – The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) on Wednesday urged the public to dust off their vuvuzelas and participate in “Make a noise for rhino” day on September 22. It was part of a campaign to support the country’s “rhino warriors”, the men and women who risked their lives daily against gangs who ran the illegal rhino trade, said WWF spokesperson Joseph Okori. This year, 188 rhino had been poached in South Africa. The campaign to raise awareness about saving rhinos would start on September 22, which will also be the first day of rhino month. – SAPA
We encourage all South Africans to get involved with this great initiative!
As winners of a WWF GREENTRUST award Water Rhapsody Conservation Systems support WWF’s brilliant conservation campaigns.
Our innovative rainwater harvesting, grey water reuse, toilet multiflush and swimming pool backwash recycling systems save significant amounts of precious water. Our systems are so effective you can reduce your municipal water bill by up to 90%. It is clear why we won this prestigious award.
We also through YES SOLAR enable our clients to make the best of sunny South Africa by using solar power to reduce electricity bills by up to 40% just by installing a solar geyser.
There are so many ways that every person can make a difference, improving the quality of their own lives as well as that of our wildlife and environment for present and future generations.
 2010-08-31 22:42 – Marietie Louw-Carstens, Beeld
Johannesburg – A helicopter with a covered registration reportedly dropped off four suspected rhino poachers in the Roedtan area in Limpopo on Tuesday. André Snyman of the crime fighting initiative eBlockwatch said the red-and-white helicopter circled over various game farms in the area. It was seen over the Morgenson farm in particular. According to Snyman, the helicopter landed at some stage and dropped off four suspects. A rhino cow was shot dead and her horns sawn off in the area about two weeks ago. The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) met with farmers in the Roedtan area on Friday to establish a network to catch rhino poachers.
Farmers and trackers fine-combed the area on Tuesday.
During the EWT meeting, farmers and owners of game farms said they have a huge problem with helicopters flying over their farms in search of rhinos. Such helicopters have also been spotted in the Thabazimbi area.
Riaan de Jager of Limpopo’s department of environmental affairs said they are working closely with the Civil Aviation Authority to catch the guilty parties.
Faan Coetzee of the EWT said the poaching syndicates use GPS devices to determine where on the farms the rhinos are. Five suspected poachers were arrested in the Lephalale (Ellisras) area at the weekend. They were caught after a large-scale search operation by farmers, police and trackers. The four men and a woman will appear in the Lephalale magistrate’s court again on Monday.
These poacher carrying unidentified helicopters should quite simply be shot down. This may seem extreme but flying into reserves to cruelly and illegally kill rhinos and savagely saw off their horns is even more extreme in my opinion.
We specialise in water conservation systems as well as solar water heating systems but are passionate about wildlife and the environment. The truth is that everything is intrinsically linked. This is why apart from helping South Africans through water Rhapsody to save significant amounts of precious water with our rainwater harvesting and grey water reuse systems as well as save electricity through our YES SOLAR division solar geysers, we fully support all conservation efforts on both land and sea.
We only have one world.
 Rhasody rainrunner - used in our rainwater harvesting system 2010-08-25 21:14 – Cape Town – Trade union federation Fedusa on Wednesday warned South Africa was sitting on a water crisis “time bomb”. Citing “inadequate management and monitoring” by water service authorities, Fedusa said it had filed notice with the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) of possible protest action. “Fedusa… decided that the best way to make South Africans as well as its government aware of the true state of water was by filing a section 77 in respect of possible protest action,” the federation said in a statement. Section 77 of the Labour Relations Act gives workers the right to take part in protest action to promote or defend their socio-economic interests. “We are sitting on a time bomb which will affect each and every person in the country,” Fedusa said. The National Water Act stated that no person could unlawfully and intentionally or negligently commit any act or omission which polluted or was likely to pollute a water resource. “However, little action if any is taken against transgressing municipalities. “(Further), 104 mines in South Africa are operating without a valid water licence, of which the majority are in Limpopo province.” Eutrophication Fedusa said the state of drinking and waste water in South Africa had not improved at all over the past five years. Among other things, there was poor sanitation and water service delivery; very high levels of pollution and eutrophication (excessive nutrients) in dams and rivers; poor quality drinking water; and, failing waste water treatment infrastructure. Fedusa said it was demanding all drinking water and waste water treatment plants be placed under the control of a national project manager. Such a manager, it said, should be tasked with drawing up a national programme of work, together with a budget, to restore the necessary infrastructure. Further, the national government should “cut the red tape” and urgently approve such a budget. The handing over of such restored waterworks and treatment plants to municipalities should only be done on “condition that (the) correct staff have been appointed and trained”. Fedusa is also calling for a “fast-tracked sustainable solution” to the acid mine drainage, which is threatening parts of the country. In terms of the Labour Relations Act, Nedlac must bring the parties to a section 77 notice together, to attempt to resolve the reasons for the contemplated protest action. – SAPA
Water Rhapsody Conservation Systems not only save significant amounts of precious water but and hugely reduce municipal water bills but they also take immense pressure off ageing infrastructure and limited mismanaged resources. As well as our rainwater harvesting, grey water reuse and other water saving systems we also offer our client a way to reduce their electricity bill as well by up to 40% by installing a solar water heating system/solar geyser.
Contact us for more information on how we can help you to get off the grid and be kinder to our planet.
 A clear view of a part of our rainwater system showing a water tank, manifold override and pressure vessel 2010-08-25 07:08 – Cape Town – The department of water affairs said it is confident a new pump station will be in place in time to stop acid mine water rising up below Johannesburg and causing an environmental disaster. But it is going to be a close-run thing. “If nothing is done, water will start decanting (from the so-called central basin, under the city) and contaminating groundwater in 17 months,” senior water affairs official Marius Keet told members of Parliament’s land and environmental affairs select committee on Tuesday. To prevent this, a new pumping station and upgrades to an existing high-density sludge treatment works were urgently required. “According to the information available, 13-months lead time is required for this. So if government… decides now to do something, in 13 months you can have a pump station,” Keet said. This means, starting immediately, government has a four-month window in which to take action. Asked after the briefing if her department would meet this deadline, acting director general Nobubele Ngele assured Sapa it would. “The way we’ve paced our timeline, we’ll accommodate the four-month period… We’re pushing for this… In three months time, Cabinet will have made a decision”, she said. Acid mine drainage Water Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica recently announced the setting up of a high-level technical task team to tackle the acid mine drainage problem, particularly in the Witwatersrand area. Keet told Sapa the cost of building the pump station and refurbishing the existing treatment works would total R180m. The department was also looking at running a pipeline through to the treatment works from the region’s western basin, where acid mine water started decanting – from mainly owner less mines – in 2002. The cost of this pipeline would be R40m. Earlier, he told members the water level on August 13 in the basin below Johannesburg was 558 metres below the surface. “The current rate of rise is 0.35 metres a day, but it can go up to 0.9 metres a day in summer.” Keet said the recommended “environmental critical level” for the rising acid mine water – which he defined as “a water level determined to protect water and environmental resources” – was 150 metres below surface. Earth tremors Asked later what the environmental implications would be, should acid mine water rise substantially above this 150 metre level, Keet said there could be “seismic effects”, including earth tremors, and the possible formation of sink-holes. The problem of acid mine drainage, referred to as AMD, is not confined to the Witwatersrand region. Other affected areas include the Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal coalfields, and around the copper mines near O’Kiep in the Northern Cape. AMD is associated with low pH, high sulphate levels, elevated levels of heavy metals, and, in some areas, radioactivity. It has been described as “the biggest-ever environmental challenge” SA has faced. – SAPA
A race with time is what we have on our hands. Hopefully this “biggest-ever environmental challenge” SA has faced will be won for the sake of all people and the environment of SA.
We focus on both water and energy conservation. Through Water Rhapsody we enable South Africans to augment their own water supply during summer using our rainwater harvesting system. This brilliant system is designed to re-pressurise and pump your harvested water from your rain water tank back into your home so you can be almost entirely independent of municipal supply during the rainy months. You can also save significant amounts of water using our grey water reuse, toilet multiflush and swimming pool backwash recycling systems.
Our YES SOLAR division offers our clients a range of top class Eskom accredited (including rebates) solar geysers. Using solar water heating systems can save you up to 40% on your electricity bill.
Re thinking water and energy with Water Rhapsody and YES SOLAR is rewarding for you and our planet.
 Blesbok spruit and wetland outside Grootvlei mine Springs 2010-08-20 22:26 – Cape Town – The water and environmental affairs department is poised to take further legal action against the Grootvlei gold mine near Springs, pending the outcome of a police investigation. Grootvlei is allegedly discharging inadequately-treated acid mine water into a Ramsar-listed wetland.
“The matter is with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), and the SA Police Service (SAPS) investigating officer has taken more samples from the partially-treated water being pumped and discharged by the Grootvlei mine,” Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said in written reply to a parliamentary question on Friday. “My department will be advised as soon as the investigations have been concluded,” she said. The question was posed by Democratic Alliance MP Gareth Morgan, who, among other things, asked Sonjica whether the mine owners would be “compelled to remediate the affected Ramsar wetland”. Grootvlei is owned by Aurora Empowerment Systems.
The minister said the owners could be held liable for damage to the wetland.
“Yes, according to… the National Water Act… and depending on the outcome, the NPA may decide that the mine could be held liable for the remediation of the affected Ramsar wetland. “However, correct procedures would have to be followed to investigate the matter and all the relevant stakeholders need to agree on the remediation process,” Sonjica said. There had been no improvement in the quality of the water being discharged by the mine. “Due to the mine’s financial position, there is insufficient treatment of the effluent, thus resulting in non-compliance with the discharge standards stipulated in the water-use license issued to the Grootvlei mine.
“My department continues to monitor the situation at the mine as well as in the Blesbok Spruit downstream to the Ramsar Wetland. “The findings of the SAPS investigations and the NPA decision will guide my department on the way forward,” Sonjica said. – SAPA
There is a lot of talk lately around acid mine drainage; probes, emergency plans, legal action and more. At this point it just seems like talk. This is not going to solve the pending disastrous crisis. Urgent action is needed.
Water conservation and solar water heating systems is our speciality. Through Water Rhapsody you can reduce your municipal water bill by up to 90% by using our rainwater harvesting and grey water reuse systems among others. Click on our product demonstration link to see just how our brilliant systems work.
And, through YES SOLAR we can provide you with a range of top quality Eskom accredited solar geysers so you can also save up to 40% on your electricity bill.
Going green is made simple and is most rewarding with our unique and innovative water systems and top notch solar water heating systems. Contact us for more information and become less reliant on increasingly pressured resources and municipal services.
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Against a global rainfall average of 870mm per year, South Africa receives a pitiful 450mm, making it the worlds 30th driest country. Water Rhapsody, with 15 years experience in water conservation, is number 1 in South Africa in Grey water recycling systems and Rainwater harvesting systems.
 WWF Green Trust Award
Water Rhapsody a WWF Green Trust award winner can save us up to 90% of our municipal water bills.”
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