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16 October 2019 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Rulanzen Martin
Dr Thuli Mphambukeli and Victor Okorie
Water is a fundamental human right, says Dr Thulisile Mphambukeli, (left) Senior Lecturer at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning. On the right is Dr Victor Okorie.

Research shows that “access to water and food remains critical to the survival and stability of any nation”. This is according to a team of academics that has been hard at work exploring ways in which to secure water and food in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS nations).

These scholars from the University of the Free State (UFS) and North-West University recently published a paper titled: Exploring the Political Economy of Water and Food Security Nexus in BRICS. Dr Thulisile Mphambukeli, Dr Victor Okorie, and Prof Samuel Amusan are members of the Food Security Research Cluster of the South African BRICS Think Tank that has been fervently tackling the water and food in(security) challenge.

Water as a key to social justice 

The team argues that unequal access and distribution of water has in the past led to violent conflict. The paper cites Qwaqwa as one of the many areas affected by water-service protests in the recent past. “Water and food crises are worsening thanks to the intensification of climate change, rapid urbanisation, nutrition transition and population growth. Solutions to these crises partly lie in cooperation and collaboration among nation states, regional economic commissions, and global power brokers.”

What are some of the local solutions? According to the scholars: “For agronomic and husbandry practices, there is a pressing need for research activities on innovative ways of supplying water to crops and animals such that water loss through evaporation and run-off is significantly reduced. 

“Similarly, research activities on redesigning toilets, especially the urinary section – where more than nine litres of water are used to flush less than one cubic centimetre of urine – are timely in the context of managing the water and food security nexus crises.”

Improving livelihoods

In an effort to achieve food security, BRICS aims to stimulate domestic capacity for production. Food and nutrition security cannot be achieved without water security, and vice versa. 

It is evident that the water and food insecurity issues are complex. However, concerted efforts are being made by various sectors to solve these challenges and improve the livelihoods of urban and rural citizens within BRICS nations.

News Archive

Bloemfontein's quality of tap water compares very favourably with bottled water
2009-08-04

The quality of the drinking water of five suburbs in Bloemfontein is at least as good as or better than bottled water. This is the result of a standard and chemical bacterial analysis done by the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Centre for Environmental Management in collaboration with the Institute for Groundwater Studies (IGS).

Five samples were taken from tap water sources in the suburbs of Universitas, Brandwag, Bain’s Vlei, Langenhoven Park and Bayswater and 15 samples were taken of different brands of still and unflavoured bottled water. The samples were analysed at the laboratory of the IGS, while the interpretation of the analysis was done by the Centre for Environmental Management.

“We wanted to evaluate the difference in quality for human consumption between tap water and that of the different brands of bottled water,” said Prof. Maitland Seaman, Head of the Centre for Environmental Management.

“With the exception of two samples produced by multinational companies at their plants in South Africa, the different brands of bottled water used for the study were produced by South African companies, including a local small-scale Bloemfontein producer,” said Prof. Seaman.

According to the labels, the sources of the water vary from pure spring water, to partial reverse osmosis (as an aid to standardise salt, i.e. mineral, content), to only reverse osmosis (to remove salts). (Reverse osmosis is a process in which water is forced under pressure through a pipe with minute pores through which water passes but no – or very low concentrations of – salts pass.)

According to Prof. Seaman, the analysis revealed some interesting findings, such as:

• It is generally accepted that drinking water should have an acceptable level of salt content, as the body needs salts. Most mineral contents were relatively higher in the tap water samples than the bottled water samples and were very much within the acceptable range of drinkable water quality. One of the bottled samples, however, had a very low mineral content, as the water was produced by reverse osmosis, as stated on the bottle. While reverse osmosis is used by various producers, most producers use it as an aid, not as a single method to remove nearly all the salts. Drinking only such water over a prolonged period may probably have a negative effect on the human physiology.

• The pH values of the tap water samples (8,12–8,40) were found to be slightly higher (slightly alkaline), like in all south-eastern Free State rivers (from where the water is sourced) than the pH of most of the bottled water samples, most of which are sourced and/or treated in other areas. Two brands of bottled water were found to have relatively low pH levels (both 4,5, i.e. acidic) as indicated on their bottles and as confirmed by the IGS analysis. The health implication of this range of pH is not significant.

• The analysis showed differences in the mineral content given on the labels of most of the water bottles compared to that found by IGS analysis. The possibility of seasonal fluctuation in content, depending on various factors, is expected and most of the bottling companies also indicate this on their labels. What was a rather interesting finding was that two pairs of bottled water brands claimed exactly the same mineral content but appeared under different brand names and were also priced differently. In each case, one of the pair was a well-known house brand, and the other obviously the original producer. In one of these paired cases, the house brand stated that the water was spring water, while the other (identical) “original” brand stated that it was spring water treated by reverse osmosis and oxygen-enriched.

• Nitrate (NO3) levels were uniformly low except in one bottled sample, suggesting a low (non-threatening) level of organic pollution in the source water. Otherwise, none of the water showed any sign of pollution.

• The bacterial analysis confirmed the absence of any traces of coliforms or E.coli in any of the samples, as was also indicated by the bottling companies. This is very reassuring. What is not known is how all these waters were sterilised, which could be anything from irradiation to chlorine or ozone treatment.

• The price of the different brands of bottled water, each containing 500 ml of still water, ranged between R3,99 and R8,99, with R5,03 being the average price. A comparison between the least expensive and the most expensive bottles of water indicated no significant difference in quality. In fact, discrepancies were observed in the most expensive bottle in that the amount of Calcium (Ca) claimed to be present in it was found to be significantly different from what the analysis indicated (29,6 mg/l versus 0,92 mg/l). The alkalinity (CaCO3 mg/l) indicated on the bottle was also found to differ considerably (83 mg/l versus 9,4 mg/l). The concentration of Total Dissolved Salts (TDS) was not given on the product.

“The preference for bottled water as compared to Bloemfontein’s tap water from a qualitative perspective as well as the price discrepancy is unjustifiable. The environmental footprint of bottled water is also large. Sourcing, treating, bottling, packaging and transporting, to mention but a few of the steps involved in the processing of bottled water, entail a huge carbon footprint, as well as a large water footprint, because it also requires water for treating and rinsing to process bottled water,” said Prof. Seaman.

Media Release
Lacea Loader
Deputy Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@ufs.ac.za  
3 August 2009

 

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