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         The winning team from Pretoria in 2004 |
SAICE HOME PAGE / SAICE OPPORTUNITIES, EVENTS & OUTREACH Rand Water-SAICE Centenary Schools Water Competition 2005 A challenge to all Branches!!!Be part of this exciting competition and give some learners an experience of a lifetime! There is still time – deadline 12 August 2005! Rand Water and the South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) celebrated hundred years of existence in 2003 and as part of their centenary celebrations they launched a joint competition for high school learners. Since then this competition has gained momentum and new applications, such as being used for team building and during ‘technovation’ days! The competition has also been refined by students from the Johannesburg University under the leadership of Professor Kobus van Zyl. Water distribution systems are important for supplying safe and clean drinking water to people. In the competition, learners are tasked to design a model water distribution network in order to distribute water equally between three points using two different pipe diameters. They are then judged on how well they execute the task, having three tries in a period of one hour. This competition exposes learners to the practical application of processes that influence their daily lives, i.e. how water gets to their houses. The competition also creates awareness regarding the issues surrounding water in South Africa. It spreads the message that water is a precious commodity, which should be treated with the respect it deserves. As part of the competition the water cycle is explained to learners. Attention is also given to issues such as why we have to pay for water, explaining the building of dams, distribution of water through water boards to municipalities and then to users, as well as the conservation of our water resources. Rand Water and SAICE are spreading the news that every drop counts, that water should be used wisely, that infrastructure should be maintained and that new infrastructure should be created to provide potable water to those without water. Some SAICE branches are already busy with their regional competitions to determine which schools would go through to the finals, to be held at the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre in Newtown, Johannesburg – a few blocks from the Nelson Mandela Bridge – on Friday, 2 September 2005! For more information please contact: LINK TO THE WATER WIZ KIDS WEBSITE e-Mail Marie Ashpole |
SAICE