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Grade 7 Geo Term 4 Water in South Africa

South Africa faces a water scarcity issue due to increasing population demands, with water used across various sectors including homes, agriculture, and industry. The country relies on a complex system of dams and pipes for water distribution, with future projections indicating a need to double current water supply by 2030. Alternatives to building new dams include improving water efficiency, recycling wastewater, and repairing existing infrastructure.

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36 views2 pages

Grade 7 Geo Term 4 Water in South Africa

South Africa faces a water scarcity issue due to increasing population demands, with water used across various sectors including homes, agriculture, and industry. The country relies on a complex system of dams and pipes for water distribution, with future projections indicating a need to double current water supply by 2030. Alternatives to building new dams include improving water efficiency, recycling wastewater, and repairing existing infrastructure.

Uploaded by

buhlesikhonde187
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Water in South Africa

Who uses South Africa’s water?

South Africa’s water resources are scarce and there is an increasing demand for water as the population
increases.There is less than 1% of fresh water on Earth.People use water in homes,farms ,forests mines
and industries.Farmers use water for irrigation ,animals ,cleaning animal sheds and washing
machines.Homes use water for washing,cleaning and getting rid of sewage.Mines and industry use
water in the processes that remove minerals from rocks.

Activity 1 page 95.

Availability of water and requirement in South Africa

There is not enough water to meet the needs of all people in the country ass the population
grows.There is a complex system of rivers ,dams and pipes to store and distribute water across the
country.Some of the water used in South Africa is imported from Lesotho.South Africa has just enough
water for 50 million people.Complex water cleaning and distributing systems and the many dams ensure
that we have enough water.

The importance of dams and water cleaning and distributing systems

To get to people a number of things need to happen :

*Water has to be stored in dams.

*Water needs to be cleaned so that it is safe to drink.

*Clean water needs to be stored.

*Water has to be pumped along pipes to settlements.

*Dams store water.

*Dams provide a regular supply of water for settlements ,farms and industry.

*Dams help to control the flow of rivers.

*Water can be moved from one dam to another.

*Some dams are used to generate electricity.

Building dams

By 2030 South Africa will require double its present water.There are however many disadvantages with
building more dams.There are alternatives to building more dams such as:

*Use the available water more efficiently and avoid waste

*Recycle waste water so that it can be used again

*Repair existing water supply systems ,by fixing leaking pipes e.g

*Store some water underground to avoid evaporation


Activity 2 page 97

River health and the care of catchment areas

The River Health Programme (RHP)

Run off is water that flows over the land surface,the catchment area is the area from which the river
receives its water.The River Health Programme is an organisation that works towards finding out where
and how river catchments have been damaged.All activities that people do in a river catchment area can
affect the quality of water that ends up in the river.E.g water pollution,soil erosion caused by
deforestation,poor irrigation of crops ,use of fertilizers and pesticides.

Activity 3 page 98

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