South Africa’s major water and mining problems, including the threat to human health and agricultural production posed by acid mine drainage (AMD) in Gauteng, will remain as serious as ever, according to experts. “The enormity of the AMD problem has paralysed the government,” said activist Mariette Liefferink. “Not a cent of the R225 million allocated […]
Tag Archives | acid mine drainage
New South African Company Listed on JSE, Water Market
Aveng had formed a new company, called Aveng Water, said CEO Roger Jardine on Monday as he announced the company’s results for the six months ended December 31, in Johannesburg. The new company would house all of the JSE-listed entity’s aspirations for the water market, he noted, especially in the acid main drainage and desalination […]
South Africa plans urgent clean-up of toxic mine liquid
South Africa plans to set up a chain of pumping stations and treatment plants to prevent toxic liquids building up in defunct gold mines beneath Johannesburg from reaching dangerous levels. Immediate action is needed because acidic mine water is expected to reach environmentally critical levels under Johannesburg by June 2012, government officials and scientists told […]
The World’s Oldest Water?
New evidence bolsters the notion that deep saline groundwaters in South Africa’s Witwatersrand Basin may have remained isolated for many thousands, perhaps even millions, of years. The study, recently accepted for publication in Chemical Geology, found the noble gas neon dissolved in water in three-kilometre deep crevices. The unusual neon profile, along with the high […]
Government Must Respond to Acid Mine Water
Acid mine water is causing huge damage to plants, animals and the health of humans, otherwise legal steps will be taken to protect the people’s constitutional rights. A letter to this effect was addressed to ministers Susan Shabangu (Mineral Affairs) and Edna Molewa (Water and Environmental Affairs) in their capacity as co-chairs of the Inter […]
Pollution reaches Cradle of Mankind
Johannesburg – Acidic mine water that has been bubbling out of an old ventilation shaft on the West Rand for the past year has now reached the Cradle of Mankind, and is believed to have caused the deaths of over 60 carp in a dam. This is the opinion of Dr Francois Durand of the […]
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Study: Overpumping Draws Down the World’s Groundwater Reserves
Much of the global groundwater pumped out of aquifers for household use and irrigation ends up in the world’s oceans, depleting the aquifers faster than they can be replenished, a new study published in Geophysical Research Letters shows. The study by hydrologists from Utrecht University and the Dutch research institute Deltares noted that the rate […]
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Water Quality & Water Quality Management in SA
What is Water Quality? Water quality is a term used to describe the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water, usually in respect to its suitability for an intended purpose. These characteristics are controlled or influenced by substances, which are either dissolved or suspended in water.
Special task team to investigate acid water drainage in SA
Water Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica has been mandated to urgently convene a special task team to investigate acid water drainage in some provinces. Briefing the media on Thursday following Cabinet’s regular Wednesday meeting, government spokesman Themba Maseko said the task team would develop a clear and co-ordinated strategy to deal with the matter. Cabinet was […]
