How citizen scientists are helping to clean up

(MENAFN- The Conversation) Across South Africa, sewage systems are leaking and contaminating the country's freshwater. Engaging affected communities can help prevent this pollution threat, as a group of 15 citizen scientists in KwaZulu-Natal province have shown. Their community water monitoring program, in collaboration with municipal authorities, was able to prevent raw sewage from entering rivers.

The young, unemployed residents of Mpophomeni, a working-class neighbourhood, became ‘Enviro-Champs’ in 2009 through a partnership initiated by the non-profit Duzi uMngeni Conservation Trust and the Mgungundlovu District Municipality. By 2021, similar initiatives had been launched in other parts of South Africa.

A group of conservationists trains to take samples from river life. GroundTruth and DUCT.

We conducted research with community members to scientifically examine the ongoing work and concept of Enviro-Champs. We found that using a custom-built app on their smartphones, they could report data on environmental hazards such as sewage spills to their supervisors in real time. These would then be reported to local authorities.

Freshwater is becoming increasingly scarce and polluted in South Africa. Our research with Enviro-Champs has shown that there is potential for citizen scientists to use apps to carry out similar work in rural South Africa. To better monitor and manage freshwater, community awareness and mobilization is needed.

The problem

The quality of South Africa's freshwater has been deteriorating, and this has become increasingly evident over the past decade. The reason for this is poorly or untreated wastewater flowing into dams and rivers. The annual Green Drop reports of the Department of Water and Sanitation document this serious situation. Last year they showed that 576 wastewater treatment plants, or 66% of the 876 plants surveyed, were failing and in danger of becoming completely inoperable.

Contaminated freshwater leads to tragedies such as the cholera outbreak in the Hammanskraal region of South Africa in 2023, when at least 40 people died from contaminated water sources. Cholera is associated with contaminated food and water and is usually linked to poor water supplies, sanitation and hygiene practices.

Read more: Cholera in South Africa: a symptom of two decades of sewage pollution and neglect

South Africa's freshwater is also polluted by nutrient pollution. This is how nutrient-rich water and waste enter rivers, streams and dams. Nutrient pollution comes mainly from poorly functioning sewage treatment plants, runoff from fertilized farmland and waste from cattle feedlots and chicken coops. When it enters rivers and dams, it can lead to the growth of toxic blue-green algae blooms (cyanobacteria). This can cause tumors and cancer. Cyanobacteria have damaged the Hartebeestpoort Dam (in South Africa's North West province) to such an extent that its water is largely unsuitable for recreational use or even consumption by animals.

In KwaZulu-Natal, the uMsunduzi River, which flows through Pietermaritzburg, is increasingly showing high levels of Escherichia coli (E. coli), a sign of severe sewage pollution. E. coli can cause cramps, severe diarrhea and even kidney failure. It is safe to predict that South Africa will suffer major environmental, financial and human disasters over time if the freshwater crisis is not urgently resolved.

Citizen scientists come to the rescue

Enviro-Champs citizen scientists participated in a project run by the Duzi-uMngeni Conservation Trust in response to the problem of raw sewage flowing from 104 leaking manholes in Mpophomeni into streams and then into the nearby Midmar Dam, the main source of water for 4.3 million people in the cities of Pietermaritzburg and South Africa's third-largest economic hub, Durban.

Enviro-Champs performs water quality control. GroundTruth and DUCT.

The environmentalists became the eyes and ears of the community and were able to take action to solve problems. They checked water quality, reported problems, and sometimes repaired freshwater leaks. They also monitored and removed garbage and solid waste that had been dumped. The environmentalists were also trained to identify and remove invasive plants.

They used citizen science tools such as clarity tubes to measure the clarity of the water. The clarity of the water can then be used to determine the total amount of suspended solids in the water – a useful method for checking water quality.

Enviro-Champs also visited people in their homes to educate them on waste, hygiene and sanitation issues. Their main task was to inform local authorities about sewage leaks so that leaky pipes could be repaired before rivers were contaminated. Years of neglect in many parts of South Africa means that these leaks and leaks are largely ignored.

Thanks to the network's efforts, by 2016 no more wastewater was leaking from the 104 manholes monitored by Enviro-Champs.

The solutions

Enviro-Champs' research found that they could provide more comprehensive information to their managers if they had a bespoke mobile app to help them collect data on sewage leaks and other problems. Similar water quality monitoring apps are in use around the world. The best type of app for Enviro-Champs would be one that allows photos, videos and GPS coordinates to be uploaded to a database. This information could also be shared in real time with the group's managers and potentially local authorities.

Conservationists celebrate after sampling one of the cleaner streams in Mpophomeni. Courtesy of Jim Taylor

The app is now developed and in use, but there is little money for maintenance, including upgrades and customisations, which cost a monthly fee. Mobile data is also a serious problem, particularly in poorer rural areas, where additional costs can deter Enviro-Champs from taking part.

Thanks to the efforts of the Duzi-uMngeni Conservation Trust, the South African National Biodiversity Institute, uMngeni-uThukela Water, Unicef-YOMA (Youth Agency Marketplace), CGIAR, the International Water Management Institute and GroundTruth, the project has recently been scaled up and there are now 1,000 Enviro-Champs across KwaZulu-Natal, funded by the Presidential Employment Stimulus and Social Employment Fund.

Why it is important

Water pollution that causes serious disease will become more common unless drastic and urgent action is taken to improve the monitoring, conservation, treatment and management of South Africa's freshwater resources. The story of Enviro-Champs shows how communities practicing citizen science can become better informed and bring about important changes in society.

Nicholas B. Pattinson contributed research for this article.

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