{"id":219804,"date":"2022-03-18T19:25:44","date_gmt":"2022-03-18T17:25:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/?p=114050"},"modified":"2022-03-18T19:25:44","modified_gmt":"2022-03-18T17:25:44","slug":"south-africas-groundwater-critical-for-a-secure-water-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/south-africas-groundwater-critical-for-a-secure-water-future\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa\u2019s groundwater critical for a secure water future"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1 \">\n<aside id=\"republication_tracker_tool-2\" class=\"republication_tracker_tool clearfix\">\n<h5 class=\"adtitle\">Republish for Free<\/h5>\n<div class=\"license\">\n<p><button name=\"Republish This Story\" id=\"cc-btn\" class=\"republication-tracker-tool-button\">Republish This Story<\/button><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"license\" rel=\"noreferrer license noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Creative Commons License\" class=\"lazyload\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/south-africas-groundwater-critical-for-a-secure-water-future.png\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Creative Commons License\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/south-africas-groundwater-critical-for-a-secure-water-future.png\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"message\">\n<p>Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Groundwater has always been critically important to human society and ecosystems, but it hasn\u2019t been fully recognised. To help countries with high water security risks, groundwater should be at the heart of sustainable development policymaking.<\/p>\n<p>This is one of the key messages from UN Water as it and many other organisations globally marked World Water Day today (March 22, 2022), and a message which South African National Bottled Water Association CEO, Charlotte Metcalf, strongly endorses.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile not one of the 30 driest countries in the world, South Africa does have significant challenges when it comes to water. Rankings aside, the country does have significant regions of high water stress, and is very vulnerable to water risks. In the driest parts of the country, groundwater may be the only water people have access to,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDespite being invisible, groundwater\u2019s impact is visible everywhere,\u201d she said. \u201cOur drinking water and sanitation, our food supply and natural environment \u2013 all these rely on groundwater. It is also critically important to the healthy functioning of ecosystems, such as wetlands. In deltas and coastal areas, groundwater ensures the stability of the ground and prevents seawater intrusion under the land.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnfortunately, human activities over-use and pollute groundwater in many places. In others, we don\u2019t know how much water is down there. Groundwater is out of sight, but it mustn\u2019t be out of mind. What we do on the surface matters underground.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe must actively avoid using products that can poison or degrade the quality of the soil and the water beneath it, and use groundwater as efficiently as possible.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe other important consideration is that groundwater crosses borders. We therefore need to work together with our neighbours to improve the way we share transboundary groundwater resources, balancing the needs in a changing world,\u201d said Metcalf.<\/p>\n<p>Much of the water bottled by South Africa\u2019s bottled water industry comes from underground water sources.<\/p>\n<p><strong>In fact, bottled water (or more correctly \u2018packaged water\u2019) is categorised in South Africa as follows:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Natural Water: This is water of certain composition, obtained directly from a natural or drilled underground source, bottled near the source under hygienic conditions. Approximately 70% of all bottled water in South Africa is natural water:<br \/>\u2022 Water defined by origin (including mineral and spring water): This is water from a specific environmental source such as a spring without passing a community water system. Approximately 20%of all bottled water in South Africa is water defined by origin.<br \/>o Mineral water: Bottled water obtained direct from subterranean water-bearing strata, which contains mineral salts in various proportions, characterised by its mineral content of constant composition and temperature, taking into account natural cycles and fluctuations. It may be classified as a \u201cnatural water or as \u201cwater defined by origin\u201d.<br \/>o Spring water: Bottled water sourced from an underground formation from which water flows naturally to the surface of the earth, and which is collected from the spring or from a borehole tapping the underground formation, and which may be classified as a \u2018natural water\u2019 or as \u2018water defined by origin\u2019.<br \/>\u2022 Prepared Water: This is water that has undergone antimicrobial treatment as well as treatment that alters the original physical or chemical properties of the water. It could come from a municipal source. Approximately 10% of all bottled water in South Africa is prepared water.<\/p>\n<p>SANBWA\u2019s world-leading Bottled Water Standard (the 4th version was published last year) continues to protect the country\u2019s water sources following, as it does, the 3rd version which was the first worldwide to include requirements for water source control and environmental stewardship.<\/p>\n<p>A single standard covering legal, hygiene, food safety and quality, and environmental requirements, the SANBWA Bottled Water Standard continues to benchmark favourably against international standards and:<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 ensures legal compliance<br \/>\u2022 is fully auditable so that a single audit can ensure that all legal and food safety requirements have been met thereby protecting the bottler and enabling it to prove due diligence<br \/>\u2022 helps bottlers identify the area where they still need to improve<br \/>\u2022 assists retailers and consumers to select suppliers of safe bottled water<\/p>\n<p>Its commitment to environmental stewardship includes many measures to ensure:<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 source sustainability and protection<br \/>\u2022 water usage minimisation<br \/>\u2022 energy efficiency<br \/>\u2022 solid waste minimisation<br \/>\u2022 support for post-consumer recycling initiatives<\/p>\n<p>The SANBWA logo acts as a seal of quality, and guarantees to the consumers the safety and sustainability of the water source. If the brand of bottled water you are buying doesn\u2019t display the logo, ask yourself \u2018why not?\u2019.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/mypr.co.za\/contact\/featured\/\">CLICK HERE to submit your press release to MyPR.co.za<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"entry-pagination pagination\">Pages: <span class=\"post-page-numbers current\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Page <\/span>1<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/south-africas-groundwater-critical-for-a-secure-water-future\/2\/\" class=\"post-page-numbers\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Page <\/span>2<\/a><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\">Source: MyPR.co.za<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Republish for Free Republish This Story Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. Groundwater has always been critically important to human society and ecosystems, but it hasn\u2019t been fully recognised. To help countries with high water security risks, groundwater should be at the heart of sustainable development policymaking. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":219805,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9021,1],"tags":[3257],"class_list":{"0":"post-219804","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mypr","8":"category-south-africa","9":"tag-mypr","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/south-africas-groundwater-critical-for-a-secure-water-future.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}