M.Comm / This dissertation comprises of four parts that attempt to explain the history and application of shadow pricing in South African water projects with reference to water resource development and water pricing reforms. Water is a precious resource and people simply cannot survive without fresh water. It becomes a vital function to then price water correctly and therefore revolutionise the way water is treated. The application of CBA has become increasingly important over recent years Governments often finance these projects, but there is a need for a consistent or standard framework to evaluate capital projects to minimise the risk and possible losses. As a result a manual and method to evaluate spending priorities was developed in the 1980’s in South Africa. CBA has found extensive applications in the field of water development. Important issues such as the opportunity cost of water and a method to calculate the economic value or the opportunity cost of water have been developed further in South Africa over the past few years. It emphasises that pricing water can be a complicated process affected by various forces, many of which are difficult to define and model. The History and Application of Shadow Pricing in South African Water Projects Page v This dissertation demonstrates that the strategies employed in each country are different variations of CBA, with the use of shadow pricing and are adapted to each countries varying circumstance. The political experiences in South Africa have placed strain on the countries scarce national resources. As a result there is a need for some kind of framework and method to evaluate spending and pricing of infrastructure and importantly the development of water pricing reforms and management thereof. The study concludes that there is limited literature that actually defines and explains how shadow prices are calculated in water resource management. Wrong policy or planning decisions can often be a result of price distortions. Therefore, countries are becoming more aware that external factors, such as social welfare and the environment need to be taken into consideration.

The thesis’s main objective was to determine if Albania was in close proximity to realize the human right to water, plainly by answering the subsequent queries; (i) if water utilization was accessible for all, and (ii) if the accessible water was of good quality (i.e. safe to drink) as well as (iii) if the economic accessibility was affordable without any discrepancy in its distribution. In sequence to answer the aforementioned queries, the thesis utilized a design of a case study since case studies are exceptionally well at endowing the researcher with an understanding of a multifaceted subject matter, i.e. Albania’s political economy of the right to water. The results of the thesis exhibits that water utilization is not accessible for all due to inadequate water amenities, and due to the large wastage of water that does not go into needed utilization. In proceeding, the results also illustrates that Albania is in deficient of water quality observation, which sequentially outcomes in unprotected water and relentless leakage. In conjunction with the findings of the thesis, it is verified that the rural areas of Albania are stricken the most, primarily because Albania does not encompass a righteous distribution of water reforms. Into the bargain, the rural areas are not only struggling with the discrepancy in the distribution of water but also with excessive costs of the diminutive amenities that are available.

Pastoralists tend to occupy highlands and drylands lands with uncertain climates and are experienced at coping with climatic variability and drought. Increasingly, however, the speed with which climate patterns are changing has become an issue of concern. This study examines household water management strategies of pastoralists in western Argentina. In this semi-arid region, pastoralists rely primarily on streams and springs fed by snow and glacier melt from the Andes, and have developed various strategies to meet their water needs. They also deal with myriad challenges posed by climate, economic, and socio-cultural change and work vigorously to maintain their herds – a combination of cattle, goats, and sheep – in this water scarce region. The goal of this study is to understand: 1) different household water management strategies; 2) the ways pastoral livelihoods are changing in response to changes in water supply; and 3) the socio-economic changes that affect pastoral livelihoods. Information from interviews, household surveys, and participant observations reveals that climate fluctuation impacts water supplies and use, herd size, and expenses made on tanks, technology, and infrastructure for the storage and transport of water, food for animals, and subsistence crops. Understanding the micro-scale, water practices of pastoral households provides insight into the ways rural populations in semi-arid and arid environments respond to changes in climate and meet their water needs. Moreover, these findings can contribute to scholarship on traditional and local knowledge and resource management systems, and may potentially inspire the development of adaptive management solutions.

M.Ing. (Electrical and Electronic Engineering Science) / Scientific workflows (SWFs) and artificial neural networks (ANNs) have attracted the attention of researchers in many fields and have been used to solve a variety of problems. Examples of these are (a) the use of scientific workflows for the sensor web in the hydrology domain and (b), the use of ANNs for the prediction of a number of water resource variables such as rainfall, flow, water level and various other water quality variables. ANNs have proved to be a powerful tool for prediction when compared with statistical methods. The aims of this research are to develop ANNs that act as predictive models for water resources and to deploy these models as predictive tools in a scientific workflow environment. While there are guidelines in the literature relating to the factors affecting network performance, there is no standard approach that is universally accepted for determining the optimum architecture of a neural network for a given problem. The parameters of a neural network and for the learning algorithm have a major effect on the performance of the neural network. We consider various recurrent and feed-forward neural network architectures for predicting changes in the water levels of dams. We explore various' hidden layer dimensions in learning the characteristics of the training data using the back propagation learning algorithm. Trained networks are deployed as predictive model in a scientific workflows environment called VisTrails. ': We review and discuss the use of SWFs and ANNs in the hydrology domain with emphasis on the development of neural network architecture that will give the best predictions for water resources. A number of architectures are employed to examine the best accurate predictive network for historical rainfall data. The findings of training experiments are promising in terms of the use of ANNs as a water resources predictive tool. Experimental results showed how the architecture of a neural network impacts on its predictive performance. This study shows that the number of hidden nodes is important factor for the improvement of the quality of the predictions.

The aim of this diploma thesis is to estimate the value of the water supply company Vodovody a kanalizace Beroun a.s. on the date 30. 4. 2011 by using the yield method of DCF. The value is assessed for a potential investor in order of purchase. The thesis is divided into a theoretical part defining the basic theoretical background of valuation and a practical part, which primarily consists of a strategic analysis, a financial analysis and a financial plan.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering, 2015 / The scarcity of water and strict environmental regulations have made sustainable engineering a prime concern in the process and manufacturing industries. Water minimisation involves the reduction of freshwater use and effluent discharge in chemical plants. This is achieved through water reuse, water recycle and water regeneration. Optimisation of the water network (WN) superstructure considers all possible interconnections between water sources, water sinks and regenerator units (membrane systems). In most published works, membrane systems have been represented using the “black-box” approach, which uses a simplified linear model to represent the membrane systems. This approach does not give an accurate representation of the energy consumption and associated costs of the membrane systems. The work presented in this dissertation therefore looks at the incorporation of a detailed reverse osmosis network (RON) superstructure within a water network superstructure in order to simultaneously minimise water, energy, operating and capital costs. The WN consists of water sources, water sinks and reverse osmosis (RO) units for the partial treatment of the contaminated water. An overall mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) framework is developed, that simultaneously evaluates both water recycle/reuse and regeneration reuse/recycle opportunities. The solution obtained from optimisation provides the optimal connections between various units in the network arrangement, size and number of RO units, booster pumps as well as energy recovery turbines. The work looks at four cases in order to highlight the importance of including a detailed regeneration network within the water network instead of the traditional “black-box’’ model. The importance of using a variable removal ratio in the model is also highlighted by applying the work to a literature case study, which leads to a 28% reduction in freshwater consumption and 80% reduction in wastewater generation. / GR2016

Thesis - Master of Management in Public Policy. University of Witwatersrand, Wits School of Governance / Objective: In this study I deconstruct South Africa’s sanitation policy in order to understand why demand-driven service delivery (i.e. service delivery based on collective action) has failed as a tool for public policy management. The overall objective was to locate both case-specific as well as generalizable answers in the data. Method: Guided by deconstructivism and Grounded Theory Methodology this paper mapped out the South African policy landscape and proceeded to code the data collected in that exercise through three rounds of coding. Once these elements of the planning which went into the study were explained and demonstrated, the results were shared. Thereafter the details of theory-building were explained before moving on to provide a literature review to position the study. Lastly, the emergent theory was applied to the South African sanitation case as a test of usefulness. Results: The emergent codes indicated a general consensus around the idea that public policy governance is largely the responsibility of government which is seen as powerful, while individual citizens are seen as marginalized and disempowered in the course of hoping to realize their rights. Deeper analysis revealed that individual citizens are the true holders of power as they have outsourced their responsibility to participate in collective action to government, leaving government alone in the process of service delivery. Conclusion: Demand-driven service delivery fails as a tool of public policy governance where there is a misunderstanding of public policy which prevents collective action. A quasi-theory of governance as collaboration emerged as the necessary solution to this problem. / MT2017

Annually, the global environment receives enormous amounts of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), in addition to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Their ubiquity has made them identifiable contaminants in almost every environmental compartment of the global system. In particular, aquatic systems have been adversely affected by these pollutants. Therefore, effective monitoring, both in ground and surface water, that can reliably assess their environmental impacts is required. Passive samplers have been proposed as suitable options to the traditional grab/spot/bottle sampling approach because they simultaneously sample, isolate and enrich target analytes. Moreover, apart from successfully detecting very low water dissolved analyte concentrations (trace and sub-trace levels), the devices can also provide time weighted average (TWA) concentrations that take into account episodic events. This is usually not practical with other sampling techniques.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Science, 2004.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Science, School of Geography, Archaeology & Environmental Studies, 2016. / The aim of this thesis is to expose the effects of water scarcity on rural livelihoods. The chosen study site for this investigation is Borakalalo village in Lehurutshe region (North West Province). The aim of this study was to explore the water usage patterns of households in Borakalalo village in order to unpack the various water-related activities that households in Borakalalo engage with. The main argument made in this thesis is that in order to comprehend the effects of water scarcity on rural livelihoods, it is paramount that the water usage trends of rural dwellers be documented and, the contribution made by various water-related activities in generating a livelihood income be scrutinised. Therefore, using the sustainable rural livelihood framework of analysis, the goal of this study was to investigate the role that water plays in securing a livelihood for households in Borakalalo village. The introduction chapter explains the relevance of this study in the context of South Africa as a whole, also paying special attention to Borakalalo village, which is the chosen study site for this investigation. The methodology chapter highlights the advantages and disadvantages of methodological techniques employed in this study. A critical engagement with literature on water scarcity reveals some of the key conceptual dilemmas in defining water scarcity. Furthermore, the social, political and economic impacts of water scarcity on a global and national scale are looked into. A household survey that was conducted with 150 households in Borakalalo village aimed to uncover the water usage trends of rural households and, to examine how water serves the livelihoods of households in Borakalalo village. In the discussion chapter some of the main findings in this investigation are brought forth through looking at the ways in which water-related activities such as agriculture, livestock herding and small water-related rural enterprises sustain rural livelihoods. Although the discussion uncovers the role of water in a productivist rural economy, the results also seem to suggest that there is a shift in the rural economy from productivist to post-productivist livelihood activities. Henceforth, as much as water scarcity poses a threat to productivist livelihood activities, it also limits the expansion of the emerging post-productivist rural livelihoods. Furthermore, the increased need for monetary income in rural households in order to compensate for the loss of productive rural activities is evident. However, high levels of unemployment in rural areas limit the capacity of rural households to generate monetary income, and henceforth, livelihoods in Borakalalo village are enormously threatened by current water shortages in the village. / MT2016