Students encouraged to report water leakages around the campus.
Wits University used National Water Week – March 18 to 24 – to challenge students to come up with innovative solutions to save water on campus.
Property and Infrastructure Management Division manager Themba Khumalo told Wits Vuvuzela that the university would soon hold seminars, workshops and exhibitions that would make students understand the urgency to protect and conserve water.
“This should not only be done during the National Water Week. There is a need to constantly educate and engage students about why they should save water,” Khumalo said.
According to visiting adjunct professor at Wits School of Governance and former director general at the Department of Water and Sanitation, Mike Muller, water scarcity in South Africa requires improved and sustainable measures to manage water resources.
“South Africans need to pay more attention to water, where it comes from and how it’s used. For a university like Wits, we ought to be deeply engaged in the planning, building and operations of our society’s complex water system,” Muller said.
A Wits MSc student, Ronald Phiri, said National Water Week was a good opportunity for the South African water sector to showcase its work to everyone, engage with citizens to participate in various activities focused on water management and usage.
“This is a great platform to educate people about different issues related to water crisis locally and globally, as well as highlighting the benefits one would enjoy if we were to all save and protect water,” Phiri said.
National Water Week is a campaign by the Water and Sanitation department that aims to educate South Africans about the importance of saving water. This year’s theme was ‘Access to safe water by 2030 –
possible through nature’.
FEATURED PHOTO: Students are encouraged to use water sparingly. Photo: Takalani Sioga
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