Young scientists ponder water crisis

THE YOUTH at the Cape Town Regional Eskom Expo for Young Scientists, last week, presented a remarkable array of solutions to the province’s dwindling water supply crisis.

Professor Susan Bourne of UCT’s department of chemistry said during the official opening of the expo: “It is fantastic to see young scientists paying attention to the things that society needs.”

“If you ask the learners, both from primary and high school, why they chose water conservation- related topics, you’re likely to be met with a puzzled look and an answer along the lines of, ‘ because we’re facing a water crisis’.

“For many pupils this topic is a no-brainer, because this is what these young scientists do best: they look at the problems their communities are facing, and they find solutions to them.”

Bourne said the solutions go far beyond the water saving tips that are so often heard and include detailed studies on the question: How well do water restrictions work?

And answer questions like: Is it possible to create a home desalination plant?

Can we be more water-wise by designing a mechanism that monitors and reduces water flow rate?

How can we prevent water evaporation from dams and swimming pools?

Can cover crops save water in agriculture? How can we use grey water systems to best effect in our homes and gardens?

Jordan Laubscher, a Grade 7 learner from CBC St Johns, described how much he enjoyed researching, building and testing his desalination system.

“The project was lots of fun. It’s also been great looking at the different projects and meeting new people.”

Hussein Semvua and Zainul Africa’s invention, The Green Tap, a grey water system that collects water as it drains from the basin and pumps it to the toilet cistern to flush the toilet, was one such solution.

“If we can use grey water in our homes, then we can help. We can make a difference,” said the Grade 11 boys from Harold Cressy High.

Equally impressive was Luke Smith’s Eco Shower, which not only saves water but electricity too, as it runs off solar panels.

“Water is filtered and cleaned beneath the shower so that it can be reused, so successfully, in fact, that the only water that is lost is the water left on your skin after the shower.”

Smith said the Eco Shower was portable so it could potentially be used for sanitation purposes if infrastructure is wiped out in cases of natural disasters.

He’s worked out that to manufacture a full-size version of the Eco Shower would cost a mere R3 500.

joseph.booysen@inl.co.za