Water Rhapsody’s Neuhoff cracks SA Man of the Week

Main Stories, rainwater harvesting No Responses »

Nov 122010

Seen in the magazine, SA Men, Werner Neuhoff takes role of SA Man of the Week with the following article attached

As the world confronts the growing scarcity of the most indispensable resource, fresh water, a global body of female thought leaders will convene in Canada in October to explore and better understand what’s at stake.

South African “ecopreneur”, Werner Neuhoff, from Water Rhapsody; will present to the International Women’s Forum (IWF), comprising leaders from 70 nations in Montréal, Québec. The global leadership conference will draw women heads of state, corporations and enterprise, as well as members of the diplomatic community, women policy-makers, decision-takers and opinion-leaders on five continents.

According to Neuhoff, global leaders have recognised the importance of addressing future threats to water shortage. The conference will highlight the importance of water for everyday life and ensuring its availability in years to come. “I’ll be talking about the current water situation in South Africa, the importance of water conservation and provide long-term sustainable solutions like rainwater harvesting from roofs and grey-water re-use,” says Neuhoff.

Unfortunately South Africa’s water sources are not in a better situation that the rest or the world. It is estimated that fresh water demand in South Africa will outstrip supply by 2025. The more frightening indications are that Gauteng will have water outages by 2016 and Cape Town will have serious water shortages by 2013. As early as 1995, Professor Bryan Davies, then-head of the Fresh Water research unit at UCT, predicted that Cape Town would be dry by 2013.

“We have always been able to augment further supply by building an additional dam, but not so anymore. There is not another single place or any more river water that can possibly be found anywhere in the Western Cape for augmenting supply. The Western Cape is simply damned out of water,” Neuhoff explains.

An anticipated 800 – 1000 leading experts, advocates and catalysts for change will take part in this global dialogue that will focus on Water, Wealth & Power for the Eco-Century. Their global membership will be challenged to test the boundaries of possibility for a new era of improved access to and utilisation of water resources. Neuhoff will be presenting to this global audience for the Plenary Program – Ecopreneurs: The Blue Gold Rush.

“It’s a huge privilege for me to know that I’m representing ecopreneurs and South Africa at such a prestigious event. It’s certainly one of the highlights in my career and I sincerely hope that our solutions will be implemented, not only in the world, but most importantly here in South Africa,” Neuhoff says.

The conference is designed to stimulate new thinking on domestic and foreign policies regarding water. “As South Africa, we represent the African continent. The water industry will become far greater than any other industry, including gold, minerals or oil,” Neuhoff explains.

The IWF is a global organization of pre-eminent women of significant and diverse achievement. It is a one-of-a-kind organisation of singular standing in the world today that furthers dynamic leadership, leverages global access, and maximises opportunities for women to exert their influence.

“If South Africa’s decision makers do not react to the solutions that we’ll be delivering to the world leaders, we could very well find ourselves in a situation that will be impossible to recover from. The time to save water is when there is water to save. Once the water has run out, it will be too late,” Neuhoff concludes

The Monster in your Garden

Greywater Harvesting, rainwater harvesting, water harvesting No Responses »

Nov 102010

We all have one! He lurks under a bush somewhere, only to be looked at once a month (if he is lucky). That dreaded money gobbler that just sits there waiting for you to open a tap or flush a toilet. And the little devil has a new trick – measures the water you use and charges extra on your bill for the amount you put down the drain. Who said monsters are not clever?

But now you have the ideal weapon against that horrible gadget …. WATER RHAPSODY.

Water Rhapsody has so many systems and devices for you to use in retaliation that you will almost love the little fellow.

Garden Rhapsody – Harvest your usable waste water (grey water) and use it to water your garden or even flush your toilets.
Multi-Flush – Install in place of your existing toilet flushing mechanisms and save a huge amount on your water usage.
Poolside Tank – Don’t put that pool backwash water down the drain. Collect it, treat it and return it to your pool. At 500l a time (four backwashes per month is 2000l) and the chemicals you save, it makes sense.
Grand Opus – The “Big Daddy” of all. Harvest your rainwater and use it in your house instead of municipal water. Now that is one for the books.

There are many households in South Africa who have used Water Rhapsody products and systems and each and every one saves on their water bill (and now the sewage levy as well) to a lesser or greater degree. Some have water bills of ZERO Rand.

Now who says monsters are clever? Tame yours and make it your friend.

Original post by http://waterharvest.co.za/2010/11/10/the-monster-in-your-garden/

Water crisis in South Africa 2010

Water matters, water harvesting 1 Response »

Oct 202010

All low fruit of water has been harvested and exhausted. There is not a single river that can possibly be damned in the country to augment supply. There are no more augmentation schemes like we know to provide any more water. Simply put 2010 sees South Africa on its last dregs of supply management as we know it. The future is not rosy.

The future:

Worst hit will be the Reef. Ground water will soon be polluted with Acid Mine Water which will enter the water table and erode buildings. Rivers are being polluted with sewerage AMW, and it is not just the acid water that is so toxic to the rivers, but Cyanide, and radioactive substances including isotopes of Radon, Iridium and Uranium. The cocktail of these will make it impossible to use this water for anything whatsoever. Worse still, is that this water will reach the drinking water of the Vaal system and make this water unusable too, soon, within 18 months!

There is not one single sewerage treatment works in the whole country that is able to process all of the sewerage effluent arriving in the pipelines to their works. This means that raw, untreated effluent is flowing into every river around the country, and all over the country people are dying from drinking toxic water, in a septic state for us to drink!

Water outages have become the norm in many municipalities unable to cope with increasing demand. Outages will come to Gauteng by 2013 and Cape Town perhaps sooner.

Cape Town is going into a drought cycle, from which they will only emerge in 3 years time, and will be out of water by 2012. Though the city is way ahead in educational exposure of water matters, the city ignores rainwater harvesting and the water saving aspect of demand management as a tool to provide extra water for the City.

Places like Hartebeest Poort: this is simply an extension of a sewerage treatment works. The water is toxic and even the municipality drawing on this water admit that they are unable to treat this water for potable purposes.

Worse is to follow.

The AMW has reached this body of water. Rand Water is contracting to provide the diminishing water from the Vaal Dam at a staggering 200 million Rand to the area for drinking quality water.

The good news:

Enter Water Rhapsody from the wings:

Water Rhapsody will reduce demand for most if not all buildings by at least 50% and in some instances by 90%. Water Rhapsody too will provide water safe to use in the house by harvesting water from roofs, and pumping under normal pressure to the whole household. Furthermore Water Rhapsody with its proven conservation systems is able to reduce water demand to as low as 80 litres per person per day. Country wide the current demand is 240 litres per person per day. Water Rhapsody does this without getting the user to change his or her lifestyle in any way. The resultant effluent from a user of the Water Rhapsody Systems of Conservation is a fall in sewerage flow of 90%. This reduction over a whole suburb would mean that any sewerage treatment works would be able to cope with the effluent volume, allowing water safe to drink running into our rivers.

Clearly Municipalities as well as Government must take notice that we have a disaster that is currently happening. It is not if, or when this might happen, IT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW!!!

The track record and technology for the Water Rhapsody Systems is proven without a single failure ever. The systems have been built into the biggest companies and institutions including Old Mutual in Pinelands and UCT in Cape Town.

The Government and municipalities treat water as a commodity because they sell water for profit but we must never lose sight of the fact that water is a precious resource.

Lastly, though coastal regions are in a better position that inland cities, none of these cities have enough water. The buzz words of using ground water and desalination of sea water are not sustainable. The water for instance in the TMG (Table Mountain Group) aquifer is fossil water from millions of years ago, and be warned – there is a finite amount of water in the aquifer, and the recharge is perhaps thousands of years. As for desalination of sea water – the energy cost of 4 kilowatt hours to desalinate sea water to make one kilolitre of potable water is simply not a cost effective way of providing water. Take the smallest of the large dams supplying Cape Town –Steenbras Lower Dam contains 30 million kilolitres of water which Cape Town would use up in less than 15 days. It would cost Cape Town 120 million Kilowatt hours of power generation to provide the equivalent amount of water as this dam though the desalination process of Reverse Osmosis (RO). Clearly this should not be considered as an option. Cape Town is stressed enough for power supply, and there would not be enough power generation for this option.

Water Rhapsody encourages the public to make use of their natural resources, not taking away of using more energy to try to create something out of existing resources. People must realize the effect of what we’re implementing now, on our future and those of the one’s we leave behind.

Source – www.watersafe.co.za

Use a Water Tank for your Garden

Water tanks 2 Responses »

Oct 132010

Using rainwater tanks is the perfect way for you to create the garden of your dreams and keep it green all year round. One of the biggest drains of a city’s water supply can come from people using their water for gardening. Most people enjoy the look of beautiful lawns and lush gardens, however this is using precious water that is needed for bathing, cooking or drinking. Gardens account for most of the water used in the home and is therefore the biggest domestic contributer to the water shortage. No matter what type of water problems you are experiencing and whether you stay in Western/Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Natal or anywhere else in the world for that matter, there is a way to have lush gardens without using up your city’s water supply.

To build a system that is suitable for your garden, you need to calculate a) how much water you need and b) how much water you get. Local rainfall tables are available from Weather SA. By using slimline tanks you can keep your tanks out of the way so they don’t take up valuable space in your garden. If you can’t afford a big tank, use a modulate tank so you can start with one and join on another one next year. Slimline tanks are typically round or elliptical, and some tanks are rectangular and flat, so that fit together and look like a normal wall or fence.

Using rainwater for your garden is also a great idea because you don’t have to do anything to the water before you use it for your plants and vegatables. In fact, some research shows the water even healthier than watering them out of your own water supply, depending on where your local water comes from. Water from the tap is treated with chemicals to make sure there is no harmful bacteria, strange colours or smells. Pipes that deliver the mains water can be over 50 years old and full of rust, dirt, tree roots and other nasty pollutants. Compare that to rainwater which falls directly from the sky!

Getting the water from the tank(s) to your garden, you have a few options to consider. This can be as simple as a watering can or hose for small blocks, although this might result in some serious back injuries after a while! Or an integrated set up with pumps and controllers which is better for larger gardens. If you are concerned with small particles gettingf caught in the sprinklers or you also intend on using the water in your home, then you might consider installing the Water Rhapsody Rain Runners onto your downpipes which sieves out any dirt or particals larger than 1mm. Spiders, Mosquitoes, frogs and other creepy crawlies love water tanks so make sure all openings are covered or closed tightly.

Rainwater tanks will make big difference to your garden and water use and will cost you a lot less than you think. Rain is free so we might as well use it! So call us for delivering or installing your rainwater tanks. In the Western Cape we are about to enter the time of the year when heavy rainshowers are to be expected. Be prepared and get water tanks now!

South African Ecopreneur talks to World Leaders.

Water matters 6 Responses »

Sep 282010

international womens forum Werner Neuhoff, Ecopreneur from Water Rhapsody- South Africa, has been invited to join leaders from 70 nations in Montréal, Québec during 13-15 October for a World Leadership Conference that will draw women heads of state, corporations and enterprise, as well as members of the diplomatic community, women policy-makers, decision-takers and opinion-leaders on five continents.

An anticipated 800 – 1,000 leaders for this global dialogue that will focus on Water, Wealth & Power for the Eco-Century.

As we confront a growing scarcity of the world’s most indispensable resource, the International Women’s Forum (IWF) will convene in Canada (13-15 October 2010) to explore and better understand what’s at stake — drawing together from our global membership, leaders of influence from outside the traditional realm of the “water community”.

Hearing from the world’s leading experts, advocates and catalysts for change who will address the World Conference, their global membership will be challenged to test the boundaries of possibility for a new era of improved access to and utilization of water resources. Werner Neuhoff, a South African born entrepreneur, would be presenting to this global audience on October 15, 2010 at 8:35 am in Montréal for the Plenary Program – Ecopreneurs: The Blue Gold Rush.

The conference is designed to invite a serious rethinking of how domestic and foreign policies must be shaped for strong global leadership on this most pressing and urgent issue. Aiming at the heart of what our global leaders understand best, the program will underscore how enterprise, economies, societies and nations will be built in an eco-century that is reshaping wealth and power for more equitable social, economical and political realities.

The International Women’s Forum (IWF) is a global organization of preeminent women of significant and diverse achievement. It is a one-of-a-kind organization of singular standing in the world today that furthers dynamic leadership, leverages global access, and maximizes opportunities for women to exert their influence. www.iwforum.org

Posted on www.water-recycle.co.za

Rainwater Harvesting - Some Facts

Greywater Harvesting, Water tanks, rainwater harvesting 8 Responses »

Sep 232010

Rainwater harvesting can (a) assure an independent water supply during water restrictions, that is though somewhat dependent on end use and maintenance, (b)usually of acceptable quality for household needs and (c) renewable at acceptable volumes despite forecast climate change (CSIRO, 2003). It produces beneficial externalities by reducing peak stormwater run off and processing costs. RH systems are simple to install and operate. Running costs are negligible, and they provide water at the point of consumption.

Rainwater harvesting can be adopted in cities to supplement the city’s other water supplies, to increase soil moisture levels for urban greenery, to raise the water table through artificial recharge, to mitigate urban flooding and to improve the quality of groundwater. In urban areas of the developed world, at a household level, non-potable uses of harvested rainwater include bathroom (i.e. shower/bath/basin), flushing toilets and washing laundry. Indeed in hard water areas it is superior to municipal water for laundry because of its compatibility with detergents and soaps. Rainwater may require treatment prior to use for drinking, depending on anthropogenic (e.g. vehicle exhaust) and natural (e.g. Coal.) contaminants.

In New Zealand, many houses away from the larger towns and cities routinely rely on rainwater collected from roofs as the only source of water for all household activities. This is almost inevitably the case for many holiday homes.

Rainwater harvesting is particularly relevant in areas such as the Garden Route where relatively good rainfall is experienced during summer and winter but due to the towns growing at a rapid rate the dams cannot cope. Water shortages have become more frequent in many towns and cities around South Africa.

South Africa's solution to the drought.

Garden Route water, Greywater Harvesting, rainwater harvesting, water harvesting 5 Responses »

Sep 212010

A typical Rainwater Harvesting system, installed by Water Rhapsody.

Rainwater Harvesting is fast becoming a necessity to survival in some parts of South Africa. It’s the best way of going green and being kind to the environment. The Garden Route is currently going through the worst drought in 153 years, with heavy water restrictions imposed in Mosselbay.

Today it was confirmed that Beaufort West is experiencing its worst drought in over 100 years. Water levels of the Gamka dam reached an all-time low of minus nine percent last week. The town now rely on borehole water.

South Africa’s dams can no longer supply the volume of water required by ever growing population. There is not a single river left in the Western Cape that can be dammed anymore. We simply have no other options.

Water Conservation including Rainwater Harvesting and Greywater re-use, is the only long term sustainable solution to South Africa’s water crises. Continue reading »

Eco-friendly Laundry

Greywater Harvesting 6 Responses »

Sep 152010

Fresh Laundry In the process of going green, people need to be informed properly; about available products and which product will suit there needs best. Before making use of your water tank and greywater for irrigation purposes, how do you go about making sure that the water being used in the garden will not be harmful to any plants or your lawn? Many atimes, when installing our Garden Rhapsody System, the questions are being raised about what laundry cleaning detergent to use and where it is distributed? Even if laundry water is not uses onto your garden, shouldn’t it be our responsibility to switch to the greener option for a healthier lifestyle and making a difference to the environment…..?

Why not use conventional laundry detergents? Continue reading »

Saving water, ten top tips for South Africa (drop by drop!)

Green Tips, rainwater harvesting, water harvesting 3 Responses »

Sep 072010

Do your part towards sustainable living by following ten easy tips on saving water.

Water is becoming a scarce commodity and is just as important as recycling waste or saving energy. Save water by:

1. Fixing any leaks that may occur in your home. Ensure that all your taps are leak free or get leaking taps fixed immediately.

2. Do not pour water down the drain if it can be used for other purposes like cleaning or gardening. Best of all install our grew water system so any water going down the drain feeds into a tank for watering the garden.

3. Check for toilet tank leaks – pour food colouring in the tank and you’ll be able to spot them.

4. Avoid flushing your toilet unnecessarily – dispose of all tissues and sanitary towels by other means. The more you flush the more water is wasted. Install our multi-system to minimise water waste.

5. When washing dishes use a bowl of water rather than letting the water run.

6. When showering, don’t take long showers. Keep them short and sweet.

7. To save water you can also switch your shower head to an aerating fixture which mixes air into the flow to keep the pressure high.

8. Do not defrost meat or other food packages under running water. Defrost it overnight or use the defrost setting on your microwave.

9. Don’t leave the water running when washing your face or brushing your teeth. Use a glass to rinse or gargle.

10. Last but by no means least – install our Water Rhapsody Grand Opus and Grey Water system for the best possible solution.

Answers still not on tap over RDP rainwater tanks project

rainwater harvesting 1 Response »

Aug 192010

MORE than two months since being submitted by a councillor, the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality still cannot answer questions on the planned purchase of rainwater tanks for low-income houses without roof guttering.

Acting municipal manager Elias Ntoba told the council last Thursday he had still not received answers to questions put by DA councillor Gustav Rautenbach.

Speaker Helen Sauls-August said the replies must be sent to him in writing within seven days.

An angry Rautenbach said the questions were submitted more than two months ago and it was “unacceptable” that they were still unanswered.

The Herald revealed earlier this year the city planned to buy 1000 rainwater tanks for RDP houses without guttering, saying the water would be collected for domestic use. It was also revealed the city planned to fork out R7500 as part of a “rainwater harvesting” initiative for the 5000-litre tanks, which can be bought online for as little as R2700 and probably less in bulk.

In a memo to executive directors at the time, strategic planning and integration sub-directorate head Sithembele Vatala said the city intended “to implement the piloting of the 1000 units for the RDP houses with immediate effect”.

It had the “institution’s support” and Ntoba was “awaiting a report”.

In the memo, Vatala said the water crisis “calls for desperate measures”. The project would “revisit the old practice of rainwater harvesting in South Africa against the backdrop that the country is water- scarce, with a history of huge inequities in the distribution of both land and water resources, coupled with the fact that the country is fast reaching the limits of what is achievable from a conventional water supply-oriented approach to meeting ever growing demand”.

In addition to being cheap, it could “contribute to improved health”.

Patrick Cull – The Weekend Post Online

For more information regarding rainwater harvesting, grey water systems and the installation of water saving devices in your home or office, please contact me either by phone or email. In addition, my Water Rhapsody products will also improve your wallet’s health compared to the prices the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality are looking to pay!!

Water Rhapsody’s Neuhoff cracks SA Man of the Week

The Monster in your Garden

Water crisis in South Africa 2010

Use a Water Tank for your Garden

South African Ecopreneur talks to World Leaders.

Rainwater Harvesting - Some Facts

South Africa's solution to the drought.

Eco-friendly Laundry

Saving water, ten top tips for South Africa (drop by drop!)

Do your part towards sustainable living by following ten easy tips on saving water.

Answers still not on tap over RDP rainwater tanks project

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Do your part towards sustainable living by following ten easy tips on saving water.

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