MANAGEMENT OF WATER-RESOURCES IN SOUTH-AFRICA WITH RESPECT TO THE TEXTILE-INDUSTRY

South Africa is a welter scarce country with an average annual rainfal l of less than 60% of the world average. It is therefore important to encourage industries to minimise water consumption, and recycle and re -use water and effluent where possible. The South African Department o f Water Affairs and Forestry is responsible for the management of wate r resources in South Africa, thereby ensuring the provision of adequat e water supplies of acceptable quality for all recognised users. Of th e industrial effluents produced in South Africa, textile effluents are considered to be one of the most problematic in the KwaZulu-Natal coa stal area, especially in terms of colour, chemical oxygen demand (GOD) and salinity (total dissolved solids, TDS). Of these, colour is perce ived to be the most problematic as it is visual pollution and gives ri se to public complaints. The Department has been actively involved, th rough negotiations with management and : local authorities, in encoura ging the textile industries to reduce the colour load discharged from the factories. Four case studies will be presented describing the appr oach taken by the Department to solve the problem of textile effluent discharge. (C) 1997 IAWQ. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.