The authors discovered that these aluminium oxide nano-sheets were highly porous and went on to prove they were suitable for filtering both heavy metal ions and oil contamination at unprecedented, ultra-fast rates.

With less than 1.2 per cent of all water on Earth available for humans to use, the world faces a 40 per cent shortfall in available global water supply by 2030, according to latest United Nations data.

Suid-Afrika se gemiddelde reënval beloop slegs 490mm per jaar, terwyl die wêreldwye gemiddeld 814mm is. Dít beteken Suid-Afrika is 'n waterskaarsland, wat verskeie implikasies vir die gebruik en bestuur van waterhulpbronne inhou. 

As COP24 in Poland reaches its mid-point, it is becoming distressingly obvious that reaching the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees Centigrade will be extremely challenging. 

UK tap water contains very low levels of dissolved silicon or silicic acid (more often referred to as silica), which is unfortunate for the nation’s health. I think everyone should drink silicon-rich mineral water every day to remove toxic aluminium from their bodies and brains.

The Earth’s surface is 70 percent water, but even that underestimates how vital ocean health is to our planet’s ability to maintain life. Recent results from scientists around the world only further confirm that our waterworld is in serious danger.

The increased number of desalination plants around the world threatens the sustainable use of the technology, a study warns.

The UN-backed study, published today in the journal Science of The Total Environment online, cautions that the disposal of leftover brine into the sea is expensive, harms the environment and threatens the future use of sea water in desalination.

Groundwater has often been seen as the underground resource that never runs out. This “out of sight out of mind” attitude means wells and boreholes are indiscriminately sunk and that groundwater is abused by the public and even by governments. This is exacerbated in times of drought and even more pronounced in arid areas.

Water is a precious resource so improving its use is essential. Adopting proven sustainable agricultural practices reduces water use per bushel. Research, innovation, and access to improved technologies, seeds, and improved irrigation techniques are essential to increasing the efficiency of water use. Agriculture needs to be part of watershed management.

It’s not raining enough in the Eastern Cape and it’s definitely going to have an impact on volumes, citrus growers say. By the end of February there will be more certainty on what can be expected from the citrus season, but across the Eastern Cape – in the Gamtoos Valley, Sundays River Valley and inland in the Kat River Valley – the mood is cautious.

South Africa's wetlands play a key role in climate change mitigation and disaster risk reduction, writes Alanna Rebelo. Part of the answer to surviving climate change may be South Africa's wetlands.

The wine industry is fortunate in that it cultivates a crop that’s largely adapted to dry conditions, with drier years often being an indicator of quality vintages. But even a vineyard’s natural resilience can be pushed to the limit and beyond by consecutive years of drought.

Although the rainfall has improved dam levels in North West, statistics show that the water storage is far below what it was in 2018, according to a weekly report on dam levels that was released on (5 February 2018).

Using light, a prototype “green” material can purify enough daily drinking water for four people in just one hour. In tests, it killed nearly 100 percent of bacteria in 10 liters of water, researchers report February 7 in Chem.

With 325 Angora goats, 60 Dorper sheep and a hay field, Jan Loff and seven co-owners of the Swartrivier farm in the Great Karoo are operating a viable agricultural concern as part of the national land reform initiative.When Swartrivier, registered as Wolwekraal 211, was bought by the government, the new owners were determined to prove they could succeed in creating a livelihood and employment for eight families.

The future calls for fresh thinking about freshwater with businesses and governments collaborating to manage sustainable water use – and avoid a global crisis.

Last year, a few days before Christmas, Gail Fuller drove me out to the middle of a wind-whipped field just north of Emporia, Kansas.

Die landbou in Suid Afrika is nie ’n argaïese beroep met ’n beperkte toekoms nie – dis vele beroepe ineen, waar sukses behaal kan word en ’n volhoubare toekoms geskep kan word.

By 2050, the world’s population is forecast to reach 9.7 billion and agricultural production will need to rise by about 60%, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Solving environmental problems usually just means cleaning up the mess people have made. But scientists are increasingly interested in creating something valuable from pollution.