Although an extreme disaster, she said that she was encouraged by the way in which innovators and entrepreneurs from industry are coming forward to offer products that people want and need right now to help them cope.
She pointed out that this drought will forever change the way that we look at drinking water and foresees this to be the beginning of
a new era in how the region will generate, save, recycle, transport and store water in the future.
As was the case with the electricity crisis in South Africa a few years ago, Zille believes the discernible innovative approach in coming up with solutions to the current water crisis will lead to substantial job creation and new growth opportunities in the Western Cape.
She commended Stellenbosch-based Retief Krige Industrial Designers, the designers and developers of WaterLoo greywater bank, on the smart and low-tech problem-solving solution that it's industrialised to help households save drinking water.
WaterLoo is a greywater storage bank that fits on top of toilet cisterns. It is a non-permanent installation that aims to blend seamlessly with the cistern’s design, while integrating with the flushing system. WaterLoo makes it easy to pour and reuse salvaged household greywater in one's toilet.
Compared to pouring greywater from a bucket directly into the toilet bowl or the cistern, WaterLoo provides for additional greywater storage space which allows for multi-flushing with only one transfer of greywater. This reduces the frequency of having to manually refill the cistern each time after using the toilet and eliminates the uneasiness of having guests and small children filling cisterns with buckets of greywater after having used the toilet.
WaterLoo will soon be available at selected hardware stores in the Western Cape, and can also be ordered online.
For more information, go to www.mywaterloo.co.za.
