News
Will Cape Town Run Out Of Water This Year?
Water scarcity and security is a global concern and something that consumers and businesses alike should be prioritising, particularly as climate change becomes an increasingly pressing issue.
And now it seems as though Cape Town, one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, could become the first city ever to run out of water, with up-to-date projections suggesting that the metropolis’s water could run out by as early as March, the BBC reports.
This is down to three years of very low rainfall, as well as increased consumption of water by the growing population. The government is already taking steps to tackle the problem by investing in water recycling schemes, groundwater collection and desalination plants that can be used to make seawater drinkable.
And luckily, these days, we’re quite spoiled when it comes to technology and this can certainly be leveraged to help tackle the problem of water scarcity around the world. WaterSeer, for example, is a company based in the US that is currently developing a device to collect water from the very air itself.
An internal fan draws the air into a collection chamber below ground where the vapour can condense in cooler temperatures. One of the company’s founding partners Nancy Curtis was quoted by the news source as saying: “Individuals and businesses will pave the way for innovative solutions, as they will be able to move and adopt a series of them quicker than large utilities that are sometimes mired in regulatory constraints and rigid decision-making cultures.”
There are lots of reasons why water scarcity has become such a problem, including overuse. Educating your members of staff about water security and what they can do is certainly a good idea if you want to reduce the impact your business has in this regard.
Recycling wastewater is a good way to protect this precious resource – and you could even save yourself some money in the long run if you go down this route. This involves using the water from daily activities like car washing, toilet flushing and irrigation in place of mains water, which could certainly help save your business some cash.
It would also be worth having an audit carried out at your place of business to see if there are any leaks that could be wasting water and costing you a pretty penny into the bargain. It can be particularly tricky to spot leaks because they happen far underground and you may not notice there’s an issue until you see a hike in your energy bills.
Get in touch with us today on telephone number 01924 387 873 or email us on info@h2obuildingservices.co.uk if you’d like to find out more about water audits and how they can benefit not just your company but the wider environment as well.
Our preliminary report will give you a better picture of where you can save cash on water bills, as well as identifying opportunities to reduce water use, cut costs and potentially secure a refund for any overcharging in the past.