Pretoria - Rainwater harvesting should be made compulsory in all urban areas, the Agriculture Research Council said on Monday.
“The majority of people are not doing enough (to combat climate change),” said CEO Shadrack Moephuli.
“People are still using tap water for their lawns and swimming pools. But they don't cover their pools to prevent evaporation.”
Moephuli spoke in Pretoria at the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research's conference on water and food.
He said if urban dwellers were forced to harvest and store the rain water from their roofs, it would reduce pressure on the country's water resources.
“It takes very little effort to harvest water,” he said.
He also advocated stiffer penalties for the water wastage.
Delegates to the conference, which ends on Thursday, heard the Limpopo River basin was expected to face diminished rainfall and higher temperatures as a result of climate change.
The basin is home to some 14 million people in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
Moephuli said re-using partially treated waste water for agricultural purposes should be considered.
There needed to be a long-term strategy to manage the regions water resources and ensure it was not wasted.
He said a greater effort was needed by local authorities to ensure that leaking plumbing did not contribute to the loss of water. - Sapa