Platform members included in South African record

Ilka de Beer was presented with the award for 'Most professional signatures collected by an individual'. At the time of this award in June 2013, she had collected 1 373 signatures from professional people. She received the award in 2011, and her name will once again be entered into the Book of South African Records.

She visited our group in 2012 and had the pleasure of meeting all the members in the group. During this time, she added the signatures of the authors in the Nature publication of 2011. All of the signatures were included in her collection.

Congratulations, Ilka

Prof Gaetan Borgonie and Kay Kuloyo in Canada

In January 2013, Prof Gaetan Borgonie and Kay Kuloyo were hosted by Prof Barbara Sherwood-Lollar , Head of the Stable Isotope Laboratory at the University of Toronto, Canada. The visit was organised as part of the Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO) research exchange initiative.

Highlights included laboratory training on noble gas isotope techniques as well as a sampling trip to Kidd Creek Mine at Timmins, Ontario, where they sampled for gas and fissure water at a depth of about 3.5 km.

Apart from the intense research programme, Gaetan and Kay also took time to see other attractions such as the world-famous Niagara Falls.

Marble Hall

TIA/UFS Platform upscale bioremediation reactors
We have a site where heavy-metal pollution occurs in the groundwater at levels 140 000 times higher than the regulated drinking water standards. We have constructed a 60 kl bioreduction pilot reactor in partnership with Geosyntec Consultants, USA. The reactor is currently treating 21 kl of water with 100% reduction of the metal daily.

January Maintenance and Improvements
Dr Peter Williams visited the site on 12 January 2013 after our metal bioreduction pilot reactor has been in operation for 16 months. Various construction changes have been made during the past year, such as the addition of a polishing reactor to mop up any residual metal which may be present in the bioreactor effluent.


Polishing reactor

General maintenance was conducted to ensure that we have good control and that the reactor is well maintained for effective clean-up.

Each site visit, plus regular interaction with mining personnel, allows for samples to be analysed in order to determine the effect of the polishing reactor on the final metal concentrations in the reactor discharge. Samples were also collected from the biofilm in the drums of the polishing reactor in order to determine the microbial diversity and possible mechanisms for metal removal from the water.


Biofilm formation in the drums of the polishing reactor

With every visit, new development ideas are born, which are used to improve the efficiency and maintenance of our reactors. During the general maintenance of the polishing reactor, it was discovered that the water-flow through the system was inadequate. This was as a result of the water effluent levels in the drums being too high. During the next site visit at the end of February 2013, this will be rectified by lowering the effluent pipe of each drum to improve the gravitational flow discharge of the system.



Slow water discharge from the polishing reactor


The bioreactor discharge dam containing treated water

Extensive analyses of the discharge water from the polishing reactor has shown that no metal is present in the water and that the water actually meets the requirements for drinking water as stipulated by SANS (2011).

Prof Esta van Heerden and Dr Peter Williams Travel to Singapore and Malaysia

Prof Esta van Heerden and Dr Peter Williams, together with Prof Mary DeFlaun from Geosyntec Consultants, (also an affiliate professor at the UFS) attended the 2nd Water Research Conference held in Singapore between 20 and 23 January 2013. They presented two papers entitled 'Pilot-scale Bioremediation of Hexavalent Chrome-contaminated Water – a South African First' and 'Remediation of Uranium-contaminated Water in the Wonderfonteinspruit Catchment, West Rand, South Africa', which sparked a lot of attention with delegates across the globe. The conference also presented the opportunity to network with various potential collaborators regarding new methods in Molecular Biology which could be incorporated into the TIA Platform to expand the research capabilities of the group.

On 24 January 2013, Prof van Heerden, Dr Williams, and Prof DeFlaun travelled to Ipoh in Malaysia to visit a Geosyntec company, GSM Consultancy. This company is expanding rapidly in Malaysia. The interaction also allowed access to sites to look at full-scale remediation processes.

During this visit, work was presented by Prof Van Heerden and Prof DeFlaun regarding the bioremediation of heavy metals in the environment. The following day, the group presented a seminar day on 'Bioremediation of Heavy-metal Contaminated Groundwater' at the Institution of Engineers – Malaysia, on invitation from GSM Consultancy and the Environmental Engineering Technical Division, IEM in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This seminar paved the way for future collaboration between the University of the Free State, Geosyntec Consultants, GSM Consultancy, and the Institute of Engineers.


Singapore

Pitso Matala in the deep mines of South Africa

Hi! I am Pitso Matala and this is my story on venturing into the deep mines of South Africa.

Wow, I am not sure where to begin, but it was quite an experience! The pictures are from my second trip to Star Diamonds mine (Theunissen, Free State). The first thing I noted, was everyone’s commitment to safety. I appreciated the environment and how tough these workers really are. The people were also very friendly and helpful! I am aware that heat can play a crucial role and one must be properly prepared for the descend into the belly of the earth. I was thankful to benchmark my work in Star Diamonds. When I attempt deeper, warmer mine samplings, I will be ready now…..I am ready for action, let’s get sampling.

Jou-An Chen and Mariana Erasmus become part of water-quality testing around Bloemfontein

Jou-An Chen and Mariana Erasmus volunteered to become part of water-quality testing around Bloemfontein, with their main purpose to direct the sampling. This is the second time that the UFS team directed the sampling in the area under Mariana's leadership.

In January and June we took samples for quality-control analyses from different rivers and dams around Bloemfontein. Water differed from each site and each site had its unique scenery. Different parameters were taken on site, such as pH, temperature, electrical conductivity, ORP, and salinity, and we saw the water cleaning systems at one of the sites. This was the first sampling trip for Jou-An and she experienced the trip as overall successful and exciting.