The City has, since 2007, installed 41000 flow-restricting water meters – supplied by three different companies – outside residents’ homes.  They are programmed to dispense a pre-agreed amount of water a day. The amount can be set to only the free 6kl (200l a day) or higher.

Tenders worth over R50-million were awarded to the three companies and other firms responsible for installing them.  The meters form part of a broader 10-year water-saving and management strategy costing about R750-million.

The audit follows a letter by the SA Municipal Workers’ Union to former mayor Helen Zille, now premier of the Western Cape, in April 2009.  The union alleged that administrative malpractices may have been involved in the awarding of contracts.  Mashoko said the city ultimately wanted the devices installed in all households. “The main reasons for this are the dire need to reduce water losses and support the poor who cannot afford to pay for services.

“Because the initial focus is on the ‘pro-poor’ initiative of the city, all indigent households – with a property value of under R88000 – are being addressed, while, in a parallel process, all new households and developments, as well as meter replacements, (will see) these devices installed,” he said.

by Shanaaz Eggington

Photo by Steve Crane

If everything goes according to plan, the two cooling towers at the old Athlone power station will be demolished on Sunday 30 May 2010.  Stabilising rings around one of the towers fell to the ground on Sunday 14 Feb. 2010 and engineers have recommended that the towers be demolished as soon as possible.

The event is planned in such a way to give residents the opportunity to view the demolition from a safe distance.  Surrounding roads are likely to be closed with Metro Police, South African Police Services, Traffic and Emergency services on hand to ensure everyone’s safety.

Alderman Justus, Mayoral Committee Member, explained that the tower site houses electricity transformers and also a water reticulation system to cool down the transformers. The City would have to take care in the demolition process not to affect this cooling system or the operation of the transformers to ensure a constant supply of electricity to consumers.

Electricity generation on the site was stopped in 2002 and there was no plans for any future generation on site. A decision to decommission the site was taken in 2006.

A range of preliminary scenarios for the redevelopment of the entire Athlone power station site were submitted to Council’s Utilities Portfolio Committee in October 2009. Various options have been offered including educational, commercial and residential facilities on site.

By demolishing the towers, an additional eight hectares of land would be made available for the redevelopment.

Releasing the 2010 Host Cities Drinking Water Quality Management Audit Report on Wednesday, Sonjica said the world can rest assured that tap water in all host cities is safe to drink.

The audit used the Blue Drop Certification System, an incentive-based regulation system which the department introduced in September 2008 to rate municipalities across the country.

All of the host cities scored 95 percent under the certification system and were awarded Blue Drop Status.

Johannesburg (98.39 percent) and Cape Town (98.18 percent) got the highest scores, while Rustenburg (95.1 percent), Port Elizabeth (95.08 percent) and Bloemfontein (95.05 percent) ranked the lowest.

Over the last six months the country’s overall South African drinking water quality was measured as 96 percent, an improvement over the 2009 Blue Drop Report when the country’s towns and municipalities scored on average 93.3 percent.

Relative to other countries South Africa have safe tape water.
“You go to other countries and at the hotels there’s a tag there – don’t drink from the taps. We’ve never had that,” said Sonjica

“We have worked on this in the past few weeks,” U.N. Environment Programme chief Achim Steiner told a news conference on the sidelines of the Copenhagen climate conference on Monday.

“We hope we will have a 100 percent record.”

Travel by teams and fans will account for more than 80 percent of the 2010 World Cup’s greenhouse gas emissions, UNEP and independent organisation Global Environment Facility said.

“We are a long-haul destination. More than 90 percent of travellers to South Africa will have to use aircraft,” Dorah Nteo of South Africa’s environment department said.

The carbon footprint from teams’ and fan’s travels will amount to 1.62 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent and cost $32.5 million to offset, according to preliminary UNEP estimates. The teams will account for an estimated 13,000 tonnes.

Serbia, Uruguay and South Korea have agreed to offset their teams’ travel while Argentina, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, Ivory Coast, England, Greece, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, the United States, South Africa, Australia and Mexico said they supported the idea and were looking at how to implement it, UNEP said.

Contributing to environment development projects would be one way to do the offsetting, UNEP said.

Steiner said he hoped spectators would also offset their carbon footprint. “My appeal to the fans that will travel to South Africa is: make yourselves part of the solution — then you won’t be part of the problem.”

The U.N. says greenhouse gas emissions from industry and deforestation will lead to desertification, mudslides, more powerful cyclones, rising sea levels and species extinctions.

What will you do to reduce your carbon footprint?

2010 World Cup Match Ball

Courtesy of Adidas “The Jabulani” has only eight thermally bonded panels, which makes the ball a perfect sphere and ensures accuracy. The ball was unveiled before the World Cup draw in Cape Town.
Adidas has turned up the dial to 11 with its new match ball for the 2010 World Cup — the Jabulani, which means to celebrate in the Bantu language isiZulu.

The newly designed orb, with some new technology, was unveiled Friday before the tournament’s draw in Cape Town
There are 11 different colors on the ball, which represent the 11 players on the field for each team. It is the 11th official Adidas World Cup match ball. There are 11 official languages in South Africa among the country’s 11 tribes.

“It is all about innovation,” said Antonio Zea, a New Jersey native who is the director of Adidas Soccer North America. “The ball is the icon of the World Cup, the most visible symbol of the event. We try to include it in everything we do. And with some new technology — thermal bonding — we believe we’ve moved into a different realm. We’ve reduced the seams, using innovative ideas and materials from aerospace to determine the flight of the balls. We’re striving for it to have the same weight and shape in the first minute and the 90th minute. It’s about enabling the players to perform at the highest level.”
Adidas said that its new Grip’n’Groove technology enabled a more stable flight and the goosebumps on the ball’s surface provided players with a perfect grip under all conditions. With only eight thermally bonded panels, which are spherically molded, the ball is perfectly round and more accurate.

“We wanted to move away from a stitched ball and get a uniform product all the time,” Zea said about the Jabulani, which is manufactured in Asia. “The first ball is the same as the millionth ball. Uniformity gives it perfect balance in flight and reduces water uptake. With 32 panels, there are always intersecting seams and it effects shots and passes. This ball creates a uniform kicking surface and eliminates hot spots. We believe we’ve increased the kicking surface by 70 percent that enables players to transfer all their power into the ball.”

Zea said that the Jabulani would be put immediately into play by Bayern Munich, Hamburg and Schalke in the German Bundesliga; in the Argentine and Portuguese leagues; and would be customized with a different color scheme for use in Major League Soccer in time for its 2010 season.

By Jack Bell

Representatives of the host cities signed the pledge, which states that they will support initiatives which address waste minimisation, emission reduction, energy efficiency and water conservation.

The “greening” initiatives will be implemented in all the 10 host cities’ stadiums, including Soccer City and Coca-Cola Park in and Green Point in Cape Town.

Rejoice Mabudafhasi, deputy minister of environmental affairs, said that it is important to use the 2010 FIFA World Cup platform to encourage people to go greener.

Take action

• Learn more about climate change
• Pledge your support against climate change
• Are you taking part? Join the discussion

These initiatives will have a long-term benefit, rather than simply lasting for the duration of the World Cup.

Local government MEC Anton Bredell told journalists in Cape Town on Wednesday that the province has recommended the district be declared a disaster area.

“We are facing a big disaster,” Bredell said. “I think it will be the first full-scale disaster that will hit the Western Cape if circumstances keep on deteriorating as we expect. The prediction is that it will get warmer rather than wetter.

“We as a Cabinet decided to recommend to the National Disaster Management Team that we declare the region a disaster area.  We have to prevent George, Knysna and Mossel Bay from running out of water. We are especially concerned about George.”

The province has received R53m from the government to fight the drought in the region.  “This is so big that we as a provincial government can’t tackle this alone,” Bredell said.  “National government has stepped in and the department of water affairs has stepped in to help. We are very grateful.”

Bredell has written to mayors of the municipalities in the region, requesting them to cut water consumption by 30%.