The article outlines the water crisis South Africa experiences and the possible drought that may occur in years to come if no strategies are put in place to mitigate the problem. It helps in understanding how chemical engineering science can assist in the development of infrastructures that can provide water when there is less supply. In this aspect, the authors believe that understanding human behavior and their judgment is essential. In this case, the data will help in addressing social environment challenges and find a possible solution. The chemical engineers believe that deploying their system thinking skills can help in providing a solution for social- economic and technical-economic problems. Besides, putting individuals at the center of the conversation helps in decision making that directly affects them. South Africa is currently under crises, and fears are that they may go through 1/200 years of drought if the government does put up strategies. Firstly, South Africa is a dry country, which means that they cannot rely on rain for water supply. Secondly, South Africa records a high rate of rural to urban migration, which has caused overreliance on public amenities. With a high population, the public infrastructures are unable to sustain the vast number. Lastly, the country also faces high unemployment rates, education crises, and an economy that is under threat. However, the blame is on the government for failing to address the market needs, technology development, and innovation, which has been the root cause of all these problems.
The article, however, focuses more on the water crisis, which has been a significant challenge for South Africans. Climate change has affected the country's agricultural growth, which highly depends on the reservoir for the supply of water. For instance, Cape town relies on surface reservoirs that draw water from a single river line system that is supported by the collection of dams and inter-basins transfers. In this case, the city dwellers use 65% of water resources, and the other small towns are left to scramble for the remaining. The industries have also been affected by these because they do not get enough water to run their activities. Due to this shortage of water, the government implemented ways to distribute the supply, which has resulted in public uproar. Some of these strategies put in place by the government include fines and penalties for households that consume more than 10.5kl of water. The move primarily seeks to restrict individuals to use 90L a day. Ideally, that supply of water cannot cater for daily use for any household. In 2018, only 30% of the houses were able to meet the set target. Water wars in South African are prone to rise in the future because their more reduction measures in place to ensure that there is equitability in supply. In this view, the climatic change suggests that the southwest of the country will continue to get dry. Water catchment areas also predict that sooner there will be zero availability of water unless it rains.
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The focus is on the government to ensure that it invests in a new bulk supply of water in the next few months. As a way to curb the water crisis in the country, Cape town has now invested in a project that will supply 500ML/ day. According to the article, water will be obstructed from groundwater, wastewater treatment, and large scale desalination. In this view, their risk attached to the project that may result in societal acceptance of the project implementation. Again, there is fear because the country has never experienced obstruction before, and people know little about aquifers recharge. Another uncertainty in this project is the ingress of saltwater. With all these uncertainties, the project is still underway, and strategies are in place to prevent the risks. The article also focuses on the question that may raise such acceptance by the public and support from financiers. The journal concludes by calling for assistance from the chemical engineering members who have the technical skills and understand the interconnectedness of these projects. It also focuses on chemical engineers to contribute to the innovation projects, which will pave the opportunity for complex infrastructure systems.
