KZN harvests alternatives

06 August 2015 - 02:21 By RDM News Wire

The use of rainwater-harvesting tanks and boreholes "in areas in which no alternative water resources exist" is being considered by the KwaZulu-Natal water department as drought parches the province. Department spokesman Sputnik Ratau said the drought had had a "devastating effect, with dams at an all-time low".The department had sent tankers to "communities whose water sources have dried up".Ratau said drought disaster-relief committees made up of representatives of municipalities, water boards and irrigators, were monitoring compliance with water restrictions and the effectivesness of help measures.Though the department is building additional dams, last season's rainfall had failed to increase dam levels significantly, he said.Rainwater-harvesting tanks, Ratau said, addressed "one of our biggest problems, namely that rainwater is often immediately absorbed or evaporates due to the hot and unsaturated soil".Groundwater was being considered as an "attractive alternative as this resource is fairly drought-resistant". ..

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