SERA Water Task Team leader and Director of the UP Water Institute, Prof Eugene Cloete.

Under the leadership of SERA Water Task Team leader, Prof Eugene Clote, the University of Pretoria (UP) has created a united front in the form of its new Water Institute to tackle capacity and research problems towards more sustainable use of Africa's water resources.

South Africa, and the continent, faces tremendous water challenges, not the least of which is a lack of skilled people to ensure sustainable access to clean water and safe sanitation to the millions that are still going without. Capacity building through research is a crucial building block not only for the supply of basic services, but also to ensure the sustainable use of water for growth and development.

UP has a well proven record in water research and education across several disciplines, and the tertiary institution has already contributed significantly towards building capacity in the sector. However, this research was historically undertaken largely in isolation within several faculties, creating the potential for duplication and gaps.

Calls for a more cohesive and concerted level of organisation to give impetus to the university's water focus area led to the formation of the UP Water Institute (UPWI). "By working together as a team, the university's water experts are able to meet the challenges with which they are faced in a more coordinated fashion than they would have been able to do individually," explains Cloete, who leads the institute. "A coordinated research and education effort such as this has been lacking in the water sector, not only in South Africa, but in Africa, as a whole in recent years", he adds.

The UPWI has been welcomed by the international water community and was officially opened in March in a ceremony attended by guests from at least ten countries. Apart from building further on existing relationships with organisations such as the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, in the USA, the UPWI has received calls of interest from the International Water Association and the US National Academy of Science, among others.

The Institite also hopes to unite forces with other local institutions to tackle South African specific water challenges. The private sector has not been left out. "Industry is more than a client, it must play a crucial partnership role in finding answers to the country's water challenges," says Cloete. The UPWI's network of water professionals brings together six faculties, including engineering, natural and agricultural sciences, law, human and health sciences, and veterinary science, covering all facets of the water cycle.

The UPWI conducts research in five main areas, namely water and health, water treatment and supply systems, water agriculture and biodiversity, water flow in the environment, and water-related decision-making, policy and governance. According to Cloete, the institute's strength lies in its multidisciplinary approach to water sector challenges, and the high degree of expertise among personnel.

"With the establishment of the UPWI will come a lasting mechanism for the continuous development of technical professionals, facilitated by the provision of valuable services, the generation of new knowledge through research and the creation of human resources needed for government agencies, regional and national water resource centres, industry and academia," he says. "This institute has the potential to be a leading research and education organisation, and a real asset to South Africa", concludes Cloete.

Source: Water Wheel (Water Research Commission)

For more information on UPWI, contact Prof Eugene Cloete on +27 12 420 3717.