21 Aug Purifying Water across Africa

Due to the infrastructure of Africa, water is unevenly distributed, meaning that millions of South Africans are forced to travel long distances to have access to clean water.

This water is then captured and transported back to tribes, families and towns alike, with the goal of having a stock of water which can be used for drinking and irrigation.

However, due to recent heatwaves such as those tearing through Algeria, much of the water which should be used to combat dehydration, is instead being used to battle wildfires which are popping up across Africa, further destroying infrastructure.

The presence of these fires also causes additional risks to those travelling to collect the water in the first place.

Across South Africa, there is a rush for innovative solutions that can change muddy, unusable water into pure, filtered water which can be drunk, used in the irrigation of crops, or can cede the land to protect against the spread of fire.

One such innovation comes from BN Aqua-Solutions Founding Director, Boitemelo Nlatko. To solve the issue of the water shortage, BN Aqua-Solutions developed a plant which can purify acidic water leaking from mines planted across Africa.

“We all know that water is life and is a scarce resource. Our take is that we do have water underground. Millions and millions that we are in a position to take and treat and treat it at an affordable price because we are using waste material to treat this to a drinking stage.” explains Nkatlo.

The call for more water solutions is ever-present as wildfires continue to pop up.