News & Fox Innovation: Soccer pitch that also harvests rainwater An artificial soccer pitch that also harvests rainwater meets two needs for an impoverished North West community BL PREMIUM

A pilot project at a school in an informal settlement in North West promises relief from the region’s crippling drought by combining SA’s passion for soccer with the production of clean drinking water. The idea arose during the 2010 soccer World Cup when a group of Dutch engineers, visiting SA to watch the tournament, were struck by the intensity of the soccer madness that gripped the nation. They came up with a potential solution to the lack of potable water in many poor rural communities. SA is one of the world’s 30 driest countries, with an average rainfall of about 40% less than the global average. With recent rain, the level of the Vaal Dam has risen to 63.4%, significantly up from 26% in November. But the after-effects of the 2014-2016 El Niño weather cycle — one of the three worst experienced since 1950 — continue to threaten food security in the region. The Dutch visitors designed a system that could harvest, purify, store and dispense clean drinking water by using a non-wat...