Page 6 - Silver Lakes_Issue 10_2022

ESTATE NEWS

MESSAGE FROM THE CEO

Baby-changing stations consistent maintenance, we should be able South Africa has an average annual rainfall of
It came to our attention that Silver Lakes to get the hornwort reduced drastically less than 500mm, while that of the world is
did not have baby-changing stations in and, hopefully, eradicate it in time. about 850mm.
our bathrooms. We have installed one
changing station in the male change Being water-wise “On top of this, between 37% and 42% of
room in the disabled toilets, and one in Although I did touch on this in my last potable water is unaccounted for. This water
the female change room in the disabled article, we have subsequently moved to is lost through leaks, wastage and illegal
toilets. I trust this will make life a little level 2 water restrictions. Even though connections. The international average
easier for new parents in our estate. the HOA uses borehole/grey water to water usage per day is 173 litres, while
water our gardens, we have nonetheless South Africans use 61.8% more water than
Hornwort requested our service supplier to be the world average.” (Sourced from National
We are aware that the hornwort is water conscious. water security | South African Government
continuing to spread across our dams. (www.gov.za)).
However, we are still waiting for our We were blessed with rain last season,
maintenance management plan to and according to reports, we will be The HOA will be investigating various
be approved by the Department of blessed again this year. But the fact solutions and plans to reduce our water
Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural remains: South Africa is a water-scarce footprint. We will share our findings with
Development. It is believed that the country. the residents to ensure that we all make a
increase in growth of the hornwort is concerted effort to reduce our water usage
related to the continuous sewage spills. As our government puts it: “South Africa and, more importantly, our water wastage.
is a water-scarce country. It ranks as one
Once the plan is approved, we can begin of the 30 driest countries in the world, Yours faithfully
to deepen our dams, where it’s believed with an average rainfall of about 40% less
that the hornwort will struggle to grow as than the annual world average rainfall. Dean Pretorius
the sunlight is reduced. We will also look
at introducing tilapia fish, which should
manage the hornwort going forward as
the tilapias feed on aquatic plants.

We have introduced aerators in strategic
positions in our dams. The larger
Otterbines are scheduled to be delivered
within the next few months; they will
oxygenate the water and should limit
the hornwort growth. Unfortunately, this
process will take time, but we believe
we are on the right track and that with

4 | INTRAMUROS NOVEMBER 2022