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Current Event – South Africa Drought Update

2/9/2018

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The book Chemistry on a Budget contains inexpensive chemistry labs that are useful with easy to obtain materials.
 
There are two versions of each lab, one with a ten-question conclusion and one with directions for a full lab report.  This way the teacher has the option!  Each lab is two pages to allow for one two-sided handout. 
 
A 5-Star Customer Review of Chemistry on a Budget at amazon.com states:
“[S]traight forward, to the point, using household chemicals…this is the lab book for you. 
I teach high school chemistry and this is exactly what [I] was looking for. Labs included simple household chemicals that could be easily found. Nice format, easy to follow along procedures, and touches on every topic of our chemistry curriculum.”
 
You can buy this lab book for $23 at amazon.com or lulu.com. It will take 1-2 weeks to get to you -- Order Now.  It’s a great resource!
 
http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Budget-Marjorie-R-Heesemann/dp/0578129159/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389410170&sr=1-1&keywords=chemistry+on+a+budget

http://www.lulu.com/shop/marjorie-r-heesemann/chemistry-on-a-budget/paperback/product-21217600.html
 
*Some of you have already purchased my lab book – be sure to check out Page 141 !
 
This blog reported about the drought in Cape Town, South Africa on 2/2/2018. 
 
“South Africa’s drought-stricken city of Cape Town has pushed back its estimate for ‘Day Zero’, when residents will have to start queuing for water, to May 11 [2018] from April 16 [2018], authorities say, citing a decline in agricultural water usage.
‘Capetonians must continue reducing consumption if we are to avoid Day Zero,’ Cape Town’s executive deputy major, Alderman Ian Neilson, was quoted as saying...

Neilson added: ‘All Capetonians must therefore continue to use no more than 50 litres per person per day to help stretch our dwindling supplies.’ “
http://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/climate-change/cape-town-receives-glimmer-of-hope-as-nervous-countdown-to-day-zero-continues/news-story/1e8db65b14416c7184c7d32e70765579
 
“Experts are keeping a close eye on daily consumption in a desperate bid to avoid the disaster, warning residents tempted to ignore measures that they face fines and the installation of water-management meters if they do not comply.
 
The movement of Day Zero to mid-May [2018] offers Capetonians some hope as historically, the rainy season should have arrived by then.”
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/05/africa/cape-town-day-zero-intl/index.html
 
“Cape Town, a top international tourist destination, has both high-income oceanside neighborhoods and sprawling informal settlements. Some say poorer residents are unfairly blamed as concerns rise over wasting water. About a quarter of Cape Town's population lives in the informal settlements, where they get water from communal taps instead of individual spigots at home. The 1 million people in Cape Town's poor townships make up 25 percent of the city's 4 million people yet only use 4.5 percent of the water, say water experts.”
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/cape-town-pushes-tap-closure-day-52844541
 
“The city is now working to upgrade its water systems -- rushing to build desalination, aquifer and water-recycling projects -- and help stretch the current supply. But officials say residents also need to step up. Only an estimated 55% of the city's residents are actually sticking to their allotted water per day, according to last week's figures.
But residents say they are already struggling to keep with existing restrictions. Photographer Melissa Delport, who lives in Seapoint, Cape Town, is one of those who has been queuing at a local natural spring to collect water.
‘We have reduced showers to twice a week and we shower in buckets with a face cloth,’ she told CNN. ‘We are reusing water where we can and using gray water to flush the toilet.’ “
https://www.yaktrinews.com/news/world-news/cape-towns-day-zero-pushed-back-amid-decline-in-agricultural-water-use/696912634
 
“Last week, satellite images showed Theewaterskloof Dam, Cape Town’s largest reservoir, at dangerously low levels. Accounting for over half of all water in the region’s dam system, it offered a glimpse into the extent of the deepening problem.

Should the government declare ‘Day Zero’ has arrived, faucets will cease to deliver water until the skies open and rain falls.
On this day, residents will be further rationed to just 25 liters (6.6 gallons), which they will be able to collect only from one of 200 stations. To put that into perspective, each collection point will have to accommodate the water needs of 20,000 Capetonians.

Key institutions — such as schools and hospitals — are expected to continue receiving water, according to officials, who have said contingency plans have been made.

But questions dominate everyday conversation around the city’s wider strategy for the general population, which authorities are yet to publicly outline. Given this stark outlook, there are concerns neighbors could turn on each other and fears of unrest erupting the longer the crisis continues.”
https://www.theatlantavoice.com/articles/african-wter-crisis-cape-towns-day-zero-pushed-back-amid-decline-in-agricultural-water-use/
 
Previous blog posts about Water include:
03/12/2014    Polarity and Intermolecular Forces
09/03/2015    Method to Slow Evaporation
10/08/2015    Current Event - Contaminated
                         Drinking Water​
11/13/2015    Sewage in Lake Champlain​
01/13/2016    Doce River Mine Accident (Brazil)
03/19/2016    Microplastic Polluting Our Oceans
09/23/2016    Water Pollution in US Schools
01/20/2017    Contaminated Drinking Water at
                         US Marine Camp
08/11/2017    Database About U.S. Public Water Systems
10/20/2017    Toxic Water in Puerto Rico
 
*This Blog contains several entries that would be helpful to your chemistry classroom.  Check out the Topic List to help you to find past Blog entries.
 
Also, Write To Me about your successes, challenges, or questions in the Chemistry Classroom.
 
Remember, buying a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget can be very useful to your Chemistry classroom with labs and class article ideas.

Have a great weekend!

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    Marjorie R. Heesemann is a chemistry teacher with 15 years of experience who is now working to develop resources for the Chemistry classroom.

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