South Africa is on the brink of a catastrophe. We are at the point of no return. If we do not work with government to drastically reduce our water usage in the next two weeks, it will have a massive, “never-seen-before” impact on how we live our lives, or don’t, in South Africa in the future.
This will see hospitals and schools shutting their doors, central water collection points for all whether you live in Bryanston or Diepsloot; no planting season for farmers and industry brought to its knees.
This frightening scenario was painted by Ray de Vries, CEO of Water from Air, a company that harvests water from thin air, who believes they have the only immediate answer.
“Until now we have been at the mercy of the government to manage our precious water resources and ensure that we have access to drinking water,” De Vries says. “That was until now – making water from the air in our homes, offices schools, hospitals, in fact anywhere that we need pure drinking water, is the only answer that we have left.”
It was announced last week by the Minister of Water Affairs and Sanitation that Gauteng’s water supply is on the brink of the point of no return. She explained that once the Vaal dam water level drops to 25% supply of water to the municipalities has to be cut off completely. The Vaal is sitting at less than 30% and dropping by almost 1% per week.
The supply of water in South Africa has, until now, been from rain-filled dams and rivers. The alarming situation is that there is very little rain falling, very little water left in dams and rivers and in some parts of the country there is already no water at all.
Water made from thin air is a game changer according to De Vries.
“There is nine times more water in the air in all the oceans of the world and is much less polluted than water stored in our dams and rivers,” he says. “We have machines that harvest pure water from the air, whether it is for home and office use or to take your home, office or building off the water grid completely.”
The machines draw in air, cool it and then sanitise the water from condensation through ultra violet light before passing it through a filtration process – all in one machine. The water produced is absolutely pure, alkaline and remineralised.
The company manufactures units and modules in South Africa that can make as much water as is required.
“Our smallest machine makes up to 32 litres per 24 hours. It is a phenomenal purification plant that looks similar to a water dispenser found in offices throughout SA. Corporates around the country are already replacing the outdated plastic bottle water dispenser with our machines.
The company also delivers the smaller unit door to door anywhere in the country within 72 hours.
“The key to our exploding business is accessibility and back up service as water is crucial to each and everyone of us every day. We are a pure water solutions company – not merely sellers of machines. This is absolutely vital as we are dealing with the most important need in our lives” he said.
South Africa is suffering from the worst drought in generations and the future looks very worrying indeed. In KZN, and other parts of SA, there is already water shedding. The little water we have left is largely polluted and predictions are that we are in a four year drought cycle.
South Africa has only weeks to go before the crisis situation becomes a catastrophe, according to De Vries, and the facts speak for themselves; some supply dams are less than 25% full and emptying by 0.2% per day. Just how much of the dams are full of silt is unknown. A bigger unknown is what happens to the ailing infrastructure when the water is switched on again?