Do more to save water, SA told

Monday, March 15, 2010

Pretoria - As the country marks the start of National Water Week on Monday, South Africans have been called to do more to save water.

Celebrated from 15 to 21 March 2010, this year's Water Week theme is "Working Together We Can Save More Water."

The theme focuses on the important aspect of water conservation and demand management.

During his State of the Nation address in February, President Jacob Zuma reminded South Africans that the country is not a water rich country.

He called on all South Africans to change attitudes and behaviour towards the way water is used in households, industries and in agriculture.

The Department of Water Affairs has warned that while it is engaged in a series of initiatives that seek to ensure that South Africa does not run out of water in the future, these efforts will not be enough if citizens do not make water conservation part of their daily lives.

"South Africa is among the 30 driest countries in the world and as such water is a scarce commodity that is finite in nature.

"Currently the water sector is faced with many challenges; among these is the ageing infrastructure, drought conditions in some parts of the country, water losses, illegal water use and pollution," the department said.

During the Week, Sonjica will lead a number of events across the country, including the Water Week launch in Umthatha, where a river clean-up campaign will be launched on Monday.

During the launch, members of the community will be brought on board as part of the Working for Water Programme to work on the clean-up project for a period of two years.

On Wednesday, Sonjica will release the 2010 host cities drinking water quality management audit report.

The report was conducted by the department on the drinking water quality management practices of all 2010 FIFA host cities.

On Thursday, the minister will conduct an inspection at an Acid Mine Drainage treatment site along the western basin to unveil interventions towards mitigation of the Acid Mine Drainage problem