Transcript Name of the project

An investigation into the
factors that threaten water
resources in our community
Background of the project
 Water is a limited resource over all the world
 Only 3% of the world's water is fresh
 South Africa is a dry country
 It (S.A) receives rainfall of +- 450mm per annum
which is less than the average rainfall of the world
 In this Era of global warming and Climate change,
there is need for a holistic approach in interacting
with water
Introduction
 The research is based at Mukula community
 It investigates the factors that threatens water as a
resource paying attention to:
IAPs
Water conservation
Integrated water management
Biodiversity
Climate change and global warming
Identification of factors that threatens water
resources in Mukula community
 1. IAP
 Use lot of water
 Eliminate indigenous species
 2. Global warming and climate change
Causes: *Burning of waste papers, crop residues and
bushes
 Releases gases into the atmosphere
 Gases such as Carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen
dioxide, etc
Identified alien plants in the area
Lantana
IAP Identification continues……..
Tecoma stans
IAP Identification continues……..
Mauritius thorn
IAP Identification continues……..
Bramble
Factors contributing to global warming
Effects of increased gases
 Temperature will rise through Green House Effect
 Therefore, evaporation will also increase
 Water (resource) will be depleted
 Thus, decreasing biodiversity (aquatic life)
 In view of water conservation; the issue of burning is
unsustainable
3. Water Pollution
 Massive washing of clothes in the river
 It increases phosphate levels from soaps
 This lead to eutrophication and algal booming
 In turn, it lead to choking of a river
 Algae will decompose and reduce oxygen level
 This will kill biodiversity (aquatic life)
 Affects people’s health as portable water is not always
available.
• Fertilizers' from the crop fields
 Villagers lack knowledge of proper fertilizer application
 This result in the above-mentioned problem
(eutrophication)
Water Pollution
Water Pollution continues…………
4.Waste management
(lead to water pollution)
 Improper disposal of
metallic materials
 The piles of metals on school yard
are subject to corrosion and produce
rust or iron (III) oxide which is
washed to a nearby river (Mbwedi
River)
 This affect water quality and
biodiversity in water
• Unsustainable dumping of
paint and paint tins
 The solvent in paint gets into the
soil and washed to Mbwedi River
 This also causes water pollution and
kills aquatic life
Procedures followed to solve the problem
 We engaged the community to prepare composts
instead of burning the crop residues
 This will give them compost manure and eliminate artificial fertilizers
and its associated problems
• We conducted an awareness in the community on
problems of bush burning and ways to avoid it.
(Examples)
 It destroy biodiversity
 It releases GHGs
 It causes soil erosion
Activities done inside the class
 We teach learners about
the importance of water
 We explain to them how
IAPs, global warming,
pollution and waste
disposal affects our water
resources
Activities done inside the class
 And then we gave them a class work
task
(Some of the questions we ask)
How can you and your community save water?
How will it affect your life if water in the river next
to where you stay is polluted?
What is your view in respect to the Alien Plants?
Activities done outside the
classroom
 Educator and learners on
site where different
wastes are burnt at the
school.
Challenges
 Lack of cameras and access to computers
 Difficulty in organizing the community members
 Community members were not willing to let us take
photos of them
Way forward
 We are still looking for paper and plastic recycling
businesses
 That's where we can send the waste papers and plastics
rather than burning them at school
• We are still to engage the scrape dealers who can come
and collect the ores at our school
• We will assist in creating awareness in the neighboring
schools and community
Recommendations
 As part of the project we are aiming at eradicating the IAP
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species identified wherein learners will be involved
We will also embark on campaigns to teach people to
recycle and re-use rather than burning waste materials and
that will be done in community gatherings and the learners
will also be the ambassadors.
Educating communities on issues of sustainability
Government should enforce strict laws to those who
washed their clothes inside the river and also those who
burn crop residues and bushes
Heavy punishment for those who do not comply with the
law
Conclusion
 There are too many unsustainable activities in the
community which require corrective actions
 People in our area lack knowledge