Unpacking our water sustainability initatives on the St Stithians Campus

July 25, 2022 | Girls’ Preparatory | Author: Mrs Brigette Simonsz

St Stithians embarked on The Water Security Programme, which physically started coming to life this year. “The Water Security Programme mandate for the College, over the long term, is to materially reduce reliance on the Municipal Water grid and strive to be as self-sustainable as possible” says Thando Bili, Head of Operations. Visit our story from January to recap on this project here.

As part of their STEAM lesson, the Grade 6s from Girls’ Prep enjoyed an outing to our water plant, with our renowned Campus landscaper, Mrs Pauline Dickson.

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The Grade 6 girls outside the water sustainability plant.

Mrs Dickson outlined to our girls why there is a lot of water on our campus. She explained that water comes from the higher cliff areas, which feeds into the Braamfontein Spruit. Much of the water on our campus forms pockets of water underground, much like small lakes. Water gets pushed between the shale rock underground and along with water running from higher lands (Randburg, Bram Fischer Drive, Lyme Park and Manor Place) and a major inlet channel near Mt Stephens Boarding House this all contributes to the accumulation of water on the St Stithians Campus.

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Our Grade 6 STEAM class being addressed by Mrs Pauline Dickson on the water sustainabilty project.

The water underground is filled up continuously, and when the underground areas are full, water pushes through the rock, to the surface, and can be recognised as springs. There are many springs on our Campus, which proves there is a huge amount of water underground! Once the water comes to the surface, it runs to the Spruit. The water takes the shortest route, through the designed waterways, to get the water off our Campus into the Spruit via the bird sanctuary, under William Nicol. All the waterways that channel the Campus water system are manmade and have followed the natural route the water would have gone through if there were no buildings.

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Mrs Pauline Dickson explaining the various water sources on the St Stithians campus

A huge benefit from having The Water Security Programme is that St Stithians will be self-sustainable in terms of water supply. The storage reservoirs are fed from 7 boreholes. Before the water enters the storage tanks, it goes through a series of filtration systems, cleaning the water of all debris. Chemicals are added, filtered again, then the water passes into the storage tanks. The filtration and chemical systems are computerized and managed by a person who works from the office at the plant.

Facts:

  • 2 million liters of water is stored on campus.
  • 500,000 liters of water is used on campus daily, feeding the schools and the ground and fields.
  • The water plant is protected by berms (a flat strip of land, raised bank, or terrace bordering a river or canal) to channel any flood water that could threaten the safety of the reservoirs.  The berms channel water into the waterway that feeds the small dam, which feeds the big dam.  There is an overflow which runs between the Girls’ Schools and the fields, making its way to the Braamfontein Spruit.   

 

We are very proud of this asset – and considered front runners in our foresight to manage our water, a precious commodity.

Any tours should be channeled through the Ops Department.