SA Affordable Housing May / June 2018 // Issue: 70 | Page 37

PROJECTS
Applying natural solutions
to urban problems
Local company Actuality recently focused on the Langrug informal settlement
to help deal with its wastewater, storm water and solid waste issues.
By Terraforce | Photo by Terraforce
A
ctuality worked in partnership with BiomimicrySA
and with the Western Cape Government to help
facilitate the Berg River Improvement Plan (BRIP)
and its focus on the Langrug informal settlement to deal
with its water and solid waste issues due to a lack
of infrastructure.
The informal settlement is 3km northwest of the centre
of Franschhoek with a population of 4 000 inhabitants.
Terrafirma, Western Cape Terraforce approved
contractor, was approached by Isidima Civils to install
1 000m 2 of Terracrete hard lawn paver blocks. Terracrete
blocks are permeable, interlocking, concrete pavers, that
encourage water infiltration and prevent rain water runoff,
mitigating large volumes of urban runoff that can cause
serious erosion and siltation in surface water bodies.
Permeable paved surfaces also help to control pollutants,
as they capture heavy metals, preventing them from
washing downstream and accumulating inadvertently in
the environment.
The blocks cover a 4m to 5m wide road surface of about
110m and a smaller 2m to 2.5m wide pathway of 120m that
run parallel to each other. They form part of a broader
water management system that works using a series of
greywater disposal points that are constructed and linked
via underground pipes to miniature wetlands and tree
gardens – hence the absence of open sewers. These
specially designed wetlands start to purify the water as it
moves down the slope from wetland to wetland and
ultimately to the municipal sewer system.
The system is maintained by the community it serves
and they also ensure that everyone follows the rules
needed to keep the system functioning healthily
and correctly.
PROJECT REWARDS
And the difference this project is making to the community
is already noticeable.
Says Siegfried Schäfer, journalist for the Franschoek
Tattler, after visiting the site in in January last year,
“Superficially blocks S and T of the settlement may look
much the same as the other blocks. Looking a little deeper
though, one soon discovers that something exciting is
happening here and the differences suddenly become
obvious. Plastic litter that seems to be everywhere in the
settlement is absent here. So are the open streams of foul
wastewater. The path between the shacks has a curb to
give it a level surface and channel storm water to the
nearest storm water drain. Perhaps most strikingly the
informal road is paved with open grass pavers and there
Terracrete hard lawn paver blocks were installed at Langrug
informal settlement near Franschhoek.
are large indigenous trees every few metres along
the road.”
Schäfer adds that the project includes monitoring and
research by postgraduate students funded by the
Department of Science and Technology and the Water
Research Commission. “Every aspect is documented with
the aim of learning as much as possible. Lessons learned
will determine the feasibility of implementing this within
the whole community and possibly to other informal (and
formal) settlements elsewhere.
“Further phases will include solid waste collection
points and encouraging entrepreneurship about waste
recycling and upcycling. The use of ecomachines
(biomimicry wastewater treatment systems) for treating
storm water at source is the next focus area of the project,
which is planned for construction on a section of land
adjacent to the Groendal Secondary School soccer field.”
THE TEAM RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PROJECT
• Actuality
• BiomimicrySA
• Greenhouse Systems Development
• Isidima Design & Development
• Terrafirma
• Maluti GSM
• WaterLove Projects
• CORC
• John Todd Ecological Design
• Freshwater Consulting Group
AFFORDABLE
SA HOUSING
MAY - JUNE 2018
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