Very few interventions or career days have the advantage of practically illustrating what a career is all about. At the finals of AQUALIBRIUM, the SAICE Schools Water Competition 2018, held at the Grundfos Building in Germiston, on Friday 27 July 2018, participants, and onlookers alike, experienced an adventure they will remember for a long time.
This competition affords learners the opportunity of planning, designing, constructing and operating a water distribution network exactly the way civil engineering practitioners in local authorities and metros would do. They encounter all the same challenges that occur in real-life civil engineering in towns and cities.
After some tense moments during the construction of the water distribution network and the adjudication process, the winners were Hoërskool Framesby from Nelson Mandela Bay (Port Elizabeth) with only 45 penalty points. The team members were Phillip du Plessis, Donovan Jerling and Juandré Gilbert. In the second spot were two teams on 125 penalty points, i.e. Domino Servite School from Pietermaritzburg and Harriston High School from Harrismith in the Free State. The three team members from each school were Marx Haux, Martin Graf, Evin Hanekom, and Rhoan Rive, Kala Pearce and Mbuli Tshabangu respectively. In the third place with 130 penalty points, was Sentraal High School with team members Hano de Jager, SL Scheepers and Cheree Claase.
The teams from these winning schools each received a substantial amount of prize-money, and their educators received a token of appreciation for their enthusiasm, involvement and support.
The participants were also taken on a tour of Grundfos’ sustainable intelligence hub, which impressed them with its amazing exhibits. On top of this, the Grundfos Building itself is a certified Green Building providing its own water through the treatment of borehole water and the harvesting of rainwater; and using solar for energy. A novelty is the ‘station’ for charging an electric car’s batteries in the parking area. With its ‘be think innovate’ slogan, the building is referred to as a ‘thinking building’.
Finalists
Regional winners came from as far as Bloemfontein, East London, Harrismith, Kimberley, Mossel Bay and Pietermaritzburg, to combat the teams from Johannesburg and Pretoria, as well as the national winning teams from Swaziland and Zimbabwe. Many of the teams were flown to Johannesburg and accommodated in a good hotel ― an experience that these young people, and some of the educators will never forget. Without the sponsorship of Grundfos, Incledon, Penetron and the SAICE Water Engineering Division, this would not have been possible.
The 2016 finalists’ team from the Winnie Mandela Secondary School in Ivory Park in Tembisa, are all (three) currently studying civil engineering at the University of Pretoria. How does one put a value to a competition that has led to so many learners, especially from rural areas and townships, studying civil engineering and which, at the same time, make a difference to the priority scarce skills situation and the lives of many people.
The competition
Water distribution networks are important as they supply safe and clean drinking water to people. The teams are tasked to design a model water distribution network to distribute three litres of water equally between three points on the grid using two different diameter pipes and connection pieces. They are then judged on how well they execute the task – working on a penalty points system. The teams have a period of about an hour in which to plan, design, build and operate their network.
This competition exposes learners to the practical application of processes that influence their daily lives, which is how water gets to their homes. They are made aware of the intricacies involved in the design of water distribution networks and the actual water delivery to households.
The grid used for the water distribution network is on a background that depicts the entire water cycle with all the major impacts affecting this scarce resource. This grid intrigues learners, as well as educators, who find it a very useful educational tool.
The competition creates awareness regarding the issues surrounding water in South Africa. It spreads the message that water is a precious commodity, which should be recycled, re-used and respected, while the use of water should be reduced. Through this annual competition, SAICE takes the responsibility of spreading the news that water should be used wisely, that infrastructure should be maintained and that new infrastructure should be developed to provide potable water to all in South Africa.
In two consecutive years (2012/13 and 2013/14) the AQUALIBRIUM initiative had the honour of being chosen as one of four finalists in the National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF) Awards, the oldest and most prestigious in South Africa, in the category where an individual or team is recognised for their outstanding contribution to science, engineering, technology and innovation (SETI) through science communication and through creating science awareness.
AQUALIBRIUM strengthens government’s initiatives aimed at encouraging learners to take Mathematics and Science at school and to follow a career as a science or civil engineering practitioner. Only in this way can we assure that the quality of life of all South Africans will be better in future.
