The Jukskei River is one of the largest rivers in Johannesburg, South Africa. The river is a source of drinking water as well as a natural space in which the children of the district bathe and play. Unfortunately, the river holds serious sewage pollution—a high concentration of raw sewage and E. coli—due to aging infrastructure, a backlog of maintenance repairs, and local dumping. Up until now, the river has been dismissed as one beyond care, but two pioneering women have set out to restore cleanliness to part of the river.
保护主义者Romy Stander指出，约翰内斯堡也是一个亚大陆污染师，因为Jukskei将该城市的污染北部进入鳄鱼河，Hartbeespoort Dam和Limpopo河。激励的居民和协助组织确信，他们的河流的污染不是一个致命，并且它可以与整个社区的投资一起找到其前清洁度。
Stander and artist Hannelie Coetzee are dedicated to tackling water pollution using research, green infrastructure, and art in a model they hope can be replicated for other rivers across the country. Working closely with the local community, the duo launched an initiative to remove alien, invasive plants in December 2020, with plans underway to build natural water filters to protect the river.
“Water is a reflection of society, and this one is toxic,” said Stander, who co-founded the charity Water for the Future with Coetzee. “We want to create a green corridor filled with safe water and eco-art that communicates with people.”
未来的水是位于大城市约翰内斯堡的前洗衣厂的维多利亚院子，现在拥有艺术一室公寓，社区蔬菜花园，诊所，克里切尔和更多 - 所有人都建于Jukskei河。
Together with engineers, researchers, architects, and scientists, Stander and Coetzee are trying to understand what can be done to fix the river permanently. A monitoring station and a water quality sampling device were installed in September 2020 by Campbell Scientific and SRK Consulting to gauge the river’s water quality and discharge. Research has helped Water for the Future understand the impact of illegal sewage connections, collapsed stormwater drains, and high rates of urbanization in the city that have all put pressure on the river.
The data collected from the monitoring station will be used to:
- Educate visitors to Victoria Yards as well as residents
- Estimate extreme event response and urban drainage through student projects at universities
- 为Jukskei River河上的约翰内斯堡城市做出贡献
- Develop an understanding of the mechanisms of flow and water quality fluxes in the Jukskei, aimed at targeting remediation within the catchment and use of Jukskei water in Victoria Yards’ efforts at riverside ecology rejuvenation and enhancement
- Create a discharge and water quality response record, which will be valuable for many urban studies
The following equipment was used to build the monitoring system:
- CR300.
- CELL215
- CS475.
- Hygrovue™5.
- TR-525 (from Texas Instruments)
In monitoring the discharge and water quality of the upper Jukskei at Victoria Yards, an integrated water quality sampling device was installed. This allows for flow-rated sampling, which means that single samples are extracted automatically during low flows. Then, with the increase in discharge during rainfall events, samples are automatically taken at a more frequent rate. This results in a concurrent record of flow and water quality, particularly during rainfall event responses.
Examination of these parameters, together with associated stable isotopes of water, allows Water for the Future to deduce the sources and possible pathways of the discharge and water quality species. This is an essential first step for evaluating rehabilitation measures as follows:
- Knowing the water quality concentrations (together with a flow time series) to calculate mass loading, which is often more important than peak concentrations
- 评估具有相似放电速率的大规模装载季节变化
- 评估任何变化的直接影响the stormwater reticulation or implementation of remediation measures
- Gathering meteorological measurements that will allow for the calibration of rainfall-runoff stormwater models
The collected data is intended to be made available to any interested parties and will include contributing to the City of Johannesburg’s monitoring network, research and consulting endeavors, and Water for the Future’s plans for rehabilitation and selected water usage projects.