WATER POLLUTION IN BUSHBUCKRIDGE

Transcription

1 WATER POLLUTION IN BUSHBUCKRIDGE Student Number: Module Code: CEC3701 Assignment Number: 03 Unique Assignment Number: Assignment due date: 7 October 2016 Total number of words: I declare that the contents of this assignment is my own work, not plagiarised from any source, spell-checked in MSWord, and all relevant parties and sources fully references and that no copyright have been infringed. I further declare that I have not allowed any other student to copy from my work. 1

2 INTRODUCTION Water pollution refers to the contamination of water bodies e.g. rivers, oceans and groundwater. It occurs when pollutants are discharge directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds. Water pollution affects plants and organism s living in these bodies of water. In almost all cases the effect is damaging not only to individual species and populations, but also to the natural biological communities. Water pollution is a major global problem which requires ongoing evaluation and revision of water resource policy at all levels. It has been suggested that it is the leading worldwide cause of deaths and disease and that it accounts for the deaths of more than people daily across the world. In addition to the acute problems of water pollution in developing countries, developed countries continue to struggle with pollution problems as well. Water pollution has different sources, like point source water pollution which refers to contamination that enter a waterway from a single, identifiable source such as a pipe,like a discharge pipe from a sewage treatment plant. Water pollution has a harmful effect on any living thing that drinks or uses or lives in it. When humans drink polluted water it often has a serious effects on their health it can cause diseases like cholera. 2

3 Areas Where Direct Water Pollution Takes Place The Bushbuckridge Local Municipality has a population of approximately a million of people, most of whom live in deep rural villages, approximately two hundred thousand households which is highest in Mpumalanga province. The area s altitude decreases from m to 450 in just 80 km and this is considered an overwhelming biophysical characteristic, for this is linked to the sharp changes in rainfall, stream-flows, soils and vegetation. Water supply is a dominant problem, especially in rural areas. About 60% of the household do not have access to potable water, 16% rely on tap-water, while 10.7% relies on boreholes and 3% on natural water. The water supply to settlements and townships is still not reliable, on certain days taps are dry in townships. The water and sanitation supply and services in majority of rural areas in the Bushbuckridge is below RDP standards. About 80% households in the area use pit latrines which poses a potential pollution threat to the surface and ground water. A report was written about the cases which confirmed deaths in the Bushbuckridge villages. High numbers of cholera cases were reported in Nsikazi, next to Mkhuhlu hospital where they lost about 30 lives of people. The Bushbuckridge Water Board operates 10 of the schemes in and around Bushbuckridge. The other rudimentary and none rudimentary schemes including the sewage works are operated by Bushbuckridge Local Municipality. The following sewage works were found to be non-compliant to the sewage discharging to the rivers (Table 1 and 2). Table 1 MBOMBELA LOCAL MUNICIPALITY SEWAGE WORKS NAME OF SEWAGE WORKS: RIVER DISCHARGING INTO: TEST RESULTS: Hazyview Sabie High E. coli and coliforms Kabokweni Crocodile High E. coli and coliforms White River White High E. coli and coliforms 3

4 Table 2 BUSHBUCKRIDGE LOCAL MUNICIPALITY SEWAGE WORKS NAME OF SEWAGE WORKS: RIVER DISCHARGING INTO: TEST RESULTS: Mkhuhlu Sabie (Bejani) E. coli and coliforms Magwaza Biodisc Sabie E. coli and coliforms Hoxani Sabie E. coli and coliforms Tintswalo Sigugula E. coli and coliforms Thulamahashe Tshunelani E. coli and coliforms Dwarsloop Siphiphiri to Endinburgh Dam E. coli and coliforms The Inyaka Dam lies between Marite and Bushbuckridge. A 50mg/l purification plant was constructed by DWAF to supply bulk water to the entire Bushbuckridge after the completion of the purification plant. A pipeline was constructed by the Bohlabela District Municipality through DWAF construction as the implementing agent. The project faced a number of financial constraints and the original steel pipeline was only used from the Inyaka Dam to Shatale. Fibre-glass pipes were used to complete the remaining 24km pipeline. Drinking water quality supplied by Bushbuckridge Water is suitable for human consumption and as a result it does not pose any unacceptable health risk to the consumers. WATER QUALITY RESULTS (Rivers) Mpumalanga SAMPLE DESCRIPTION E. coli COLIFORM VIBRIO CHOLERA Ngwaritjane River Yes Positive Crocodile River Yes Not tested Komati River Yes Not tested Lebombo Border Nil Not tested Hoxane Weir Yes Positive Bega River(Mkhuhlu) Yes Positive Sabie River Yes Positive Marite Well Yes Negative Noordkop River Yes Negative 4

5 WATER QUALITY RESULTS DRINKING WATER QUALITY SAMPLE DESCRIPTION E. coli COLIFORM Tsakane Borehole 0 50 Calcuta 70 >201 Lopoeng Borehole 0 >201 Rolle Clinic Tap 0 >201 Hluvukani Borehole 1 10 Shatale Borehole 34 >201 Mahushu Well 33 >201 Jerusalem 165 >201 Sand River DISCUSSION The above results are mainly for the failures that were detected, the analysis of these results point to contamination of the sewage works. Regarding the water quality results, most rivers were affected by the vibrio cholera due to the rivers being polluted. In some areas people still have to use water from rivers, unprotected springs, and wells dug in the riverbeds, or a dependent upon sales from private vendors. Inyaka Dam scheme and water supply A study undertaken by DWAF revealed that basic water requirements for the Bushbuckridge region will not be met unless water suppliers were augmented. This motivated the construction of Inyaka dam as a storage dam in the Marite River, a major tributary of the Sabie River, forming part of the Sabie River catchment, situated adjacent Bushbuckridge. The dam falls within the jurisdiction of the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality. The dam supplies bulk raw water for domestic use to the rural and semi urban population consisting of more than a million people. The dam also has an environmental impact on the catchment of the Sabie River due to the fact that access runoff is released in a controlled manner to ensure supply in the natural riverine environment and in the adjoining nature reserves. Inyaka Dam has a capacity of 123 million m 3 Whilst the dam was constructed, Inyaka Water Works was also under construction for 5

6 processing the water to the required drinking standards. The water treatment works was constructed in phases hence Bushbuckridge Water started operating the first phase of 5Ml/d in Today Inyaka Water Treatment Works produces almost 50Ml/day reaching areas of Hluvukani in the midland of Bushbuckridge. As from March last year another bulk pipeline supplies Marite area. These improvements in water supply allow most communities in Bushbuckridge access to potable drinking water, although huge gaps are still completely replaced. CONCLUSION Water pollution damage the world we live in, in rural areas like Bushbuckridge it poses a major problem due to the region being undeveloped, with many villages and poor management. Water pollution is caused by human activities, like human waste which has been dumped into the rivers or leaked sewage. This waste can be toxic to plants, animals and human who use the contaminated water. In Bushbuckridge area, a high rate of deaths due to cholera was reported; many villages in Bushbuckridge survive on water from the river. Water qualities of the different rivers through the villages were tested in order to find out rivers which were affected by diseases. When the results came out most rivers were affected. The Inyaka Dam scheme and water supply supplied bulk raw water for domestic use to the rural area consisting of more than a million of people. The water treatment works was constructed in phase which showed improvements from the first phase in 2002 to date. REFERENCES Bushbuckridge Water-NEWS LETTER. CHOLERA REPORT Bushbuckridge. 6