Monitoring in South Africa

In July 2024, the collaboration with colleagues from the University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein, South Africa, was intensified in the form of collaborative water quality monitoring.

Members of the Institute of Hydrobiology and the Institute of Water Chemistry carried out extensive monitoring in the Vaalharts irrigation system, one of the largest irrigation systems in the world. Analyses were carried out in the fields of ecotoxicology, molecular biology and chemical analysis. Some parameters were already analyzed on site in mobile laboratories. Further analyses were then carried out at the TU Dresden institutes.

Together with members of the Vaalharts Water User Association, a large-scale sampling concept was developed in order to assess the impact of human use of natural water resources on chemical water quality and the ecosystem in the best possible way.

In addition, the sampling was supplemented by teaching events and presentations in which the results of previous sampling activities in South Africa were presented.