What Scientists Can Learn From South African Labs About Water Conservation

As Cape Town nears drying up, researchers there have come up with simple ways to dramatically cut back on water use.

| 4 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
4:00
Share

A sign at the University of Cape TownLINDA NORDLINGJanuary to March is the busiest time of year for the University of Cape Town’s mouse-breeding facility, as researchers return from their summer break and place orders for their experiments. But this year has been more stressful than usual for Jabu Magagula, the facility’s manager. He’s been tasked with an almost impossible job: meeting researchers’ demands without access to free-flowing water.

Cape Town is dangerously close to running out of water. The South African city, home to more than 4 million people, is in dire straits as a result of poor rains and rising demand. Things got so bad in January that local authorities announced they would turn the taps off city-wide in April, forcing residents to queue for drinking water at municipal collection points.

Although “Day Zero”—when the taps run dry—has since been pushed back to July, researchers in the city have become more aware of the water they use. For many, like Magagula, water saving has become a way of life. His lab has managed to halve the amount of water it uses, from 32,000 liters per week in July last year to 14,000 ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Keywords

Meet the Author

  • Linda Nordling

    This person does not yet have a bio.
Share
3D illustration of a gold lipid nanoparticle with pink nucleic acid inside of it. Purple and teal spikes stick out from the lipid bilayer representing polyethylene glycol.
February 2025, Issue 1

A Nanoparticle Delivery System for Gene Therapy

A reimagined lipid vehicle for nucleic acids could overcome the limitations of current vectors.

View this Issue
Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

sartorius logo
Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Lonza
An illustration of animal and tree silhouettes.

From Water Bears to Grizzly Bears: Unusual Animal Models

Taconic Biosciences
Sex Differences in Neurological Research

Sex Differences in Neurological Research

bit.bio logo

Products

Photo of a researcher overseeing large scale production processes in a laboratory.

Scaling Lentiviral Vector Manufacturing for Optimal Productivity

Thermo Fisher Logo
Discover a serum-free way to produce dendritic cells and macrophages for cell therapy applications.

Optimizing In Vitro Production of Monocyte-Derived Dendritic Cells and Macrophages

Thermo Fisher Logo
Collage-style urban graphic of wastewater surveillance and treatment

Putting Pathogens to the Test with Wastewater Surveillance

An illustration of an mRNA molecule in front of a multicolored background.

Generating High-Quality mRNA for In Vivo Delivery with Lipid Nanoparticles

Thermo Fisher Logo