ETD Collection

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Has files: YesSubject: search.filters.subject.Water quality--South Africa

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Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Towards a GIS Platform for monitoring the water quality of the Jukskei river catchment: defining a sampling network
    (2019) Malatji, Reneilwe
    To obtain an understanding of issues relating to water quality monitoring in the Jukskei River Catchment a users’ needs assessment is performed, through the use of literature review, interviews, and site visits. These are evaluated and used to develop a conceptual model giving a representation of a system that can address water quality concerns. The designed conceptual model for this research incorporates hydrological features, drainage systems, DEM extraction and thematic layers needed for the monitoring of water quality. The development of appropriate sampling locations is an essential step in the valuation, restoration, and protection of river water quality. Previous studies have focused on mathematical aspects and physical attributes of monitoring the quality of river water, however, human activities surrounding the river are often not considered in detail. In this study, an advanced water quality monitoring procedure is implemented using a combination of River Mixing Length (RML), information about human activities, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to identify representative sampling locations, with the purpose of optimizing the current locations of sampling points. The implementation of a new Potential Pollution Score (PPS) model of land use is used to prioritize the importance of each sampling point prior to selecting the most appropriate site for the entire catchment. Residential areas, mining and agriculture are amongst the 6 non-point sources integrated to develop representative sampling locations. Out of an optimal number of 11 242 sampling points, this research has identified 40 sites to propose. This number of sites is chosen because it is closer to the number of sampling points currently used (32) by the EISD for water quality monitoring of the Jukskei river catchment and thus does not stretch their funds.
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    A study of silcrete raw material acquisition in the Howiesons Poort at Klasies River using GIS catchment analysis techniques
    (2019) Mosweu, Kuni Jeanette
    Klasies River Main (KRM) site contains Middle Stone Age archaeological material from the Howiesons Poort (HP) techno-complex that demonstrates a marked expression of complexity. The complexity is also apparent in the lithic technology of the HP that is characterised by an increase of different types of silcrete raw material. Although changing mobility patterns have been related to the increase in silcrete in the HP at KRM, no studies have investigated this aspect in detail. Therefore, the mobility patterns involved in the procurement of silcrete has been investigated through GIS modelling methods. GIS Least Cost Path (LCP) algorithms have been used to model silcrete raw material acquisition in the HP at KRM, using the currently recorded sources of this material in the south Eastern Cape. The results demonstrate that GIS LCP algorithms produce differing output results. The Tripcevich Tobler Hiking Function (TTHF) and ArcGIS Default Built-in Cost (DBC) algorithms modelled paths that favoured flat terrain whereas the White Tobler Hiking Function algorithm modelled paths that favoured steep terrain. The two time-based algorithms models produced different travel time ranges. The TTHF algorithm produced travel time that are more comparable with Google maps and the White Tobler Hiking Function (WTHF) produced slightly larger travel times. The travel times of TTHF implied that HP groups at KRM followed a daily foraging strategy, while the WTHF travel times imply that the groups followed a logistical foraging strategy. The nearest silcrete source from KRM is located 28.3 kilometres from the site and can be reached in 4 hours according to the TTHF. The possibility of interaction between groups from KRM, Pinnacle Point (PP) and Nelson Bay Cave (NBC) was investigated by calculating LCP’s from these sites to the silcrete sources. The results demonstrated that there was a high possibility of interaction between groups from the three sites, if they sourced silcretes in the Uitenhage and Grahamstown areas. Mapping procurement patterns of silcrete raw material and modelling predictive paths that the HP groups from KRM may have followed bring new perspectives regarding the complexity of human behaviour within this period and add to studies of silcrete raw material use in the South African Middle Stone Age.
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    Impacts of a defunct colliery on water quality of the Wasbank river, UMzinyathi Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal
    (2019) Nyath, Linah Thobekile
    The inefficiency of South Africa’s previous legislation that regulated the operation and closure of mining activities, has resulted in too many mines being abandoned without adequate rehabilitation (Naidoo, 2017). Therefore, currently, the State has taken a responsibility to identify all these abandoned mines, assess and rehabilitate them in order to mitigate their environmental impacts, mainly the acid mine drainage (AMD) impacts. A defunct colliery in Glencoe, which ceased its operation in 1973, is one of the mines that was identified as an abandoned mine. This mine is located on the upper Wasbank catchment area in KwaZulu-Natal and study was conducted in order to determine whether this defunct colliery has any negative effects on the water quality of this catchment area. A zone above the mine shaft of the defunct colliery was identified and considered as a pristine zone, which was then used as a reference zone, and three more zones were identified, adjacent and below the mine shaft, named sampling zone B, C and D in order to assess the trend of water quality indicators and therefore to determine whether the defunct colliery is contaminating this catchment area or not. Each zone had distinct sampling points within the zone, ranging from one to four sample points per zone. Water quality of this catchment area was tested on a monthly basis during the wet season (December 2017 to March 2018) and the dry season (April 2018 to July 2018). The parameters that were tested in the field were pH, electrical conductivity, and temperature. Furthermore, once a season, water samples were collected from each sampling point in order to determine the concentration of dissolved ions. All results were analyzed against the results of the reference zone and furthermore, against the South African Water Quality Guidelines for livestock farming and domestic use. The conclusion drawn from these results is that this catchment area is altered by mine drainage from the defunct colliery. However, it seems that mitigation measures designed by previous miners are effectively treating the AMD generated which has resulted in the neutralization of this acidity such that any decant from old mine works into the Wasbank River is slightly alkaline. Furthermore, based on SAWQG, the study concluded that this catchment is within the water quality standards for livestock farming and domestic use. However, there are minor restrictions to certain specific uses because of its salty state. Subsequent to the findings of this study, the defunct colliery can be considered as low priority of future rehabilitation efforts due to the state of water quality of the surrounding drainage
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    Piped water access, child health and the complementary role of education : panel data evidence from South Africa
    (2017) Wapenaar, Korstiaan Erich
    This study establishes the causal impact of piped water access on child health in rural South Africa (2008 – 2015) through the use of a panel dataset and a quasi-experimental sample space. By employing an ordinal measure of child health as the dependent variable within ordinal probit, fixed and random effects, propensity-score matched difference-in-difference and system-GMM estimators, it is demonstrated that positive health benefits for children with access to piped water are observed if and only if the minimum level of educational attainment of the primary-caregiver is equal to or greater than 7 years. This finding of complementarity is demonstrated to be a function of an individual’s (in)capacity to evaluate water quality: people below this threshold suffer from a piped water bias, place insufficient weight on the observable characteristics of water when determining water quality and are subsequently less likely to treat piped water preceding consumption. The interactional effect estimates are statistically significant at the 5% level with the impact ranging from 1.617 to 2.008 levels.