Property group sponsors search for water in thirsty Knysna
Popular Knysna on the Garden Route hops with holidaymakers in the high season and while this is good for the local economy, it places a strain on the town’s limited water resources.
Now, several projects are under way to ensure that everybody gets their drop to drink in future, including one to find groundwater in and around the Knysna golf course, with the view to making it independent of municipal water for the upkeep of the course.
This involves a geophysical study of the area, due to be completed in three month’s time, that is being sponsored by the Chas Everitt International property group and conducted by geologist-turned-estate agent, Francois Martens - who recently joined the group as principal of the Knysna franchise.
Group MD Berry Everitt explains: “We saw this as a great opportunity to do something important for Knysna. The golf course is an important component of the town’s attraction for tourists and if it can source its own water, it will free up municipal water for other uses.”
Martens, who has spent the past 25 years in the mining industry and was formerly All Resources Manager at Harmony’s Kalgold mine near Mafikeng, says that while Knysna is a thirsty town, it lies above a virtual underground lake.
“The problem is that much of this water is contaminated by seawater. Our mission with this survey is to identify sources of potable water that can be extracted before it is dumped into the sea.
“A lot of fresh underground water is in effect being wasted because some coastal geological structures allow it to flow into the ocean below ground level.”
The study will involve interpretation of aerial photographs and satellite images. Likely target areas will then be identified and further explored through non-invasive methods such as ground-penetrating radar, seismic surveys and magnetic surveys that can reveal underground secrets up to 200m deep.
“We are able these days to ‘look’ into the ground in a very clean and neat way with no disturbance of the surface, and hence no unsightly piles of rubble,” Martens says.
Once completed, the report and recommendations will be handed to the golf club and a decision of whether to drill boreholes or not will be taken.
And, Everitt says, the company is not excluding the possibility of a further sponsorship to sink boreholes if the results from the survey prove promising. “We have the interests of the local golf-playing fraternity at heart, and by implication, the interests of the Knysna community as a whole.”
Issued by Chas Everitt International
For further information call Brenda Smith at
Chas Everitt International Bryanston on 011 463 2033
or visit www.chaseveritt.com