Research Projects for 2008/2009

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Programme 1: Quantification of water use and waste production

In order to prioritise those facets of industrial and mine-water management that need most urgent attention, it is important to quantify the water used and waste produced by different sectors. The NATSURV investigation conducted by the WRC provides the benchmark for water use and waste that are produced by the major South African industries. While the WRC reported on water use by coal mines and COMRO on water use by gold mines, no overall assessment of the effect of mining or industrial waste on water quality is available. The available information thus needs to be updated and refined. Furthermore, new information needs to be gathered for those sectors that may present important emerging issues.

Programme 2: Regulatory mechanisms to improve industrial and mine-water management

The regulatory authorities are responsible for managing the impact of industrial and mining waste on the quality and quantity of our water resources. Traditionally the resource-intensive command-and-control approach was used almost exclusively to manage water quality. Internationally use is increasingly made of indirect economic or other instruments to supplement or even replace the command-and-control approach to water quality management. These new approaches are believed to be more cost effective and to improve equity. Both the established and new approaches are being investigated and refined in order to support improvements to the regulatory mechanisms that are used to control and reduce the negative environmental effects associated with industrial and mining waste.

Programme 3: Minimising the impact of waste on the water environment

South Africa has a large legacy of mining and industrial waste products that impact negatively on the water environment. In spite of efforts to the contrary, the quantity and range of waste products are expected to increase for the foreseeable future. It is thus necessary to develop cost-effective techniques and approaches to minimise or reduce the impact that historical and new waste products have on the water environment. Approaches such as pollution prevention, rehabilitation, waste beneficiation and reuse, are investigated to assess their application potential and suitability to reduce and minimise the negative impact of industrial and mining waste on water quality.

Programme 4: Minimising waste production

There exists a direct link between the quantity of waste produced and its impact on the water environment. The type of waste that is produced may, however, often be of even greater importance than quantity. In order to reduce the negative impact of waste production, it is thus important to reduce both the quantity and toxicity of waste. The international trend towards waste management is therefore to minimise the production of waste by adopting cleaner production processes. Approaches such as life-cycle analysis are employed to ensure that the net effect is positive and does not merely represent the transfer of negative effects from one sector or environmental medium to another. This programme investigates and promotes the implementation of approaches that minimise waste production.

Programme 5: Improved ability to predict and quantify effects

The environmental consequences of waste products are almost always long-term in nature, with impacts that may potentially last for hundreds of years. These long-lasting effects were often not fully appreciated in the past, and consequently not properly considered when waste was disposed of. In the present regulatory environment it is increasingly expected of waste producers to quantify the present and future environmental impact of their operations and to indicate how these will be remedied. This programme is primarily aimed at establishing and improving pollution prediction capabilities appropriate to the South African situation.