UCT’s use of sustainable water-extraction and water-sensitive technologies on campus and in nearby living labs
UCT both implements on-campus rainwater-harvesting and water-sensitive measures (harvest tanks, reuse for irrigation/toilet flushing, metering and demand management) and leads off-campus pilots that experiment with sustainable water extraction/augmentation (stormwater harvesting, managed aquifer recharge) through its Future Water Institute and the PaWS living-lab work in Mitchells Plain. The interventions are a mix of operational installations (e.g., rainwater tanks on new builds) and research/pilot projects (stormwater pond retrofits, MAR trials) that are verified in official UCT reports and peer-reviewed outputs.
Below are the specific examples (2022–2025 reporting, with emphasis on 2023–2024 activity where available).
1. Rainwater harvesting and reuse on campus (operational examples)
- d-School Afrika rainwater tanks (Upper/Middle Campus): UCT’s Khusela Ikamva sustainability reporting and UCT News explicitly note that the d-School Afrika building has rainwater storage tanks used to irrigate gardens and flush toilets as part of creating a water-sensitive campus. This is an on-campus, operational system rather than only a concept.
- Engineering building / other harvest installations: UCT communications and social posts describe rainwater harvesting being built into new engineering and refurbishment projects as part of the university’s commitment to reduce water consumption and capture rain for non-potable uses (flushing/irrigation). (UCT News / social media reporting refers to rainwater capture on new builds.)
- Institutional monitoring and strategy: UCT’s various water task teams and strategies documented in presentations and project reports explicitly list rainwater harvesting among the technical measures the university is exploring and implementing to improve campus water resilience. The “Day Zero” presentation (Oct 2024) lists rainwater harvesting, greywater, borehole drilling and treated effluent access as part of UCT’s practical responses.
2. PaWS living-lab (stormwater harvesting → Managed Aquifer Recharge) - off-campus, research-to-practice
- PaWS living laboratory in Mitchells Plain (Fulham Road pond): The Pathways to Water-resilient South African cities (PaWS) project — led by UCT’s Future Water Institute with the University of Copenhagen (Danida funded) — has run a six-year living lab (2019–2025) in a stormwater detention pond in Mitchells Plain. The project tests nature-based solutions, stormwater treatment, stormwater harvesting and opportunities for managed aquifer recharge (MAR) to augment urban water supply and resilience. UCT News and PaWS project pages describe in detail the pond retrofit experiments and community engagement.
3. Campus-wide planning, pilots and evaluation work (integration and monitoring)
Khusela Ikamva (Secure the Future) project: This R10-million sustainable-campus research programme (supported by UCT’s Research Office) targets water as one of five research areas. The project has funded feasibility work, rainwater-harvesting assessments, living-lab pilots and monitoring to shift UCT to a water-sensitive campus. The campus project documents and news items (2022–2024) report progress on harvesting, monitoring and behaviour change campaigns.