Joint monitoring in South Africa

In July 2023, the two scientists Dr. Dirk Jungmann (Institute of Hydrobiology) and Dr. Hilmar Börnick (Institute of Water Chemistry) carried out monitoring in close cooperation with colleagues from the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, South Africa. State-of-the-art chemical and effect-based analytical methods will be used to characterise the urban influence on the rivers in the QwaQwa catchment. The rivers studied originate in the mountainous region of Lesotho and are of enormous importance for the irrigation of large downstream agricultural areas.  The results will be published in peer-reviewed scientific journals and will serve as a preliminary investigation for planned larger research projects. In addition, a number of meetings and discussions were held with scientists and decision-makers from the UFS, providing an important basis for even closer cooperation between TUD and UFS in the future.