30.01.2024
Purifies Contaminated Acid Mine Water Safe For Local Communities
Boitumelo Nkatlo, an innovator from the Scaling Out for Impact (SOFI) programme and founder of BN Aqua Solutions has turned to acid mine drainage water to provide a solution to this water shortage crisis. Acid mine drainage is the runoff produced in mines when water interacts with exposed rocks. The sulphur minerals in the rock react with the water and air to form sulphuric acid and dissolved iron. The increase in acidity contaminates the water. BN Aqua Solutions has developed a water treatment plant based at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa. The Intellectual Property of the plant is owned by the University of Johannesburg and licensed to Boitumelo as the inventor. Their plant purifies the acidic water so it can be used for drinking and irrigation. This collaborative innovation is improving food security by providing a safe source of water for crops and livestock. The South African city of Germiston has a population of 172,000 people. Thousands of litres of contaminated water sit underground in a disused gold mine. Using this innovation, the water can be treated and sold at a cheaper price to the surrounding communities. This is improving local livelihoods by increasing the accessibility of clean water. Credit: DW
Poverty deprives people of adequate education, health care and of life's most basic necessities- safe living conditions (including clean air and clean drinking water) and an adequate food supply. The developed (industrialized) countries today account for roughly 20 percent of the world's population but control about 80 percent of the world's wealth.
Poverty and pollution seem to operate in a vicious cycle that, so far, has been hard to break. Even in the developed nations, the gap between the rich and the poor is evident in their respective social and environmental conditions.
Poverty and pollution seem to operate in a vicious cycle that, so far, has been hard to break. Even in the developed nations, the gap between the rich and the poor is evident in their respective social and environmental conditions.
