As a young girl, environmental issues, including water conservation, were never on top of my priority list. In fact, my entire generation was so self absorbed! I remember learning about the ozone depletion, and the thought, that I could make a difference, never crossed my mind.
As a mother, I now realise the importance of taking care of our environment. Can you imagine leaving devastation behind for your grand kids, or even great grandchildren. I am pretty sure that our need to protect our future generations far out weigh our self centred behaviours.
If we do not take a stand, life as we know it will change. History has shown us that Mother Earth has a way of creating balance.
Fun Facts about water
Did you know :
- Water is essential for human survival. Without clean, fresh water the human population will perish. In fact, all life will.
- We can, live without food. We will only survive a week without water.
- Almost 97% of the Earth’s water is salty, which means that we can not consume it.
- The water on Earth regulates its temperature.
- Most of the fresh water is trapped in ice bergs and glaciers.
- Most of our water pollution is caused by leaking sewage.
- Millions of children under five years of age die every year from diseases that are caused by drinking contaminated water.
- Our aquatic ecosystems are being destroyed as a result of water pollution.
For more interesting facts about water pollution
The list of why we need to start looking at water conservation is exhaustive. The veracity is simple, it all begins at grass roots. As individuals we can make a small difference. But as a collective, we can create change. For this reason, corporate engagement on this topic is vital.
I recently had an opportunity to engage with Myan Moodley, the General Manager of Sibaya Casino and Entertainment Kingdom on this very topic.
The casino is situated on very large grounds, which means that water consumption is very high. At the core of water conservation is the need to reduce wastage of water. My question to Mr Moodley was, how is Sibaya Casino being socially responsible in their water conservation efforts?
Sibaya Casino Water Conservation Project
- Sibaya’s water conservation project started in 2014. They began re purposing waste water from cooling towers and began reusing the water in the irrigation system.
- In 2015, a 250 kilo litre reservoir was constructed.
- In 2019, a 450 Kilo litre reservoir was completed.
- 158 water and energy saving shower heads were installed. This reduced the amount of water being used in the showers.
- 78 push taps were installed at the back of house. The purpose was to ensure that no taps were left running unnecessarily.
“We stopped using municipal water supply for irrigation in early 2015 and reduced the depth of our ponds to lower the water volume. We use grey water captured from the cooling towers to irrigate our gardens as well as to wash waste bins. Installation work has been completed to run grey water from the cooling towers to a public toilet so that clean, potable water does not have to be used for flushing of toilets and urinals,” says Ravin Sahadev, Maintenance Manager at Sibaya. (PRESS RELEASE : DATED FOR 21 MARCH 2021)
Leaving the interview, I realised how important corporate involvement is. Projects like these are extremely expensive. As a collective community, we need the buy in from corporates.
Well done to Sibaya Casino and Entertainment Kingdom for their efforts and I am looking forward to seeing what other projects are in the pipeline.
