#3 Finding water with Oom Gideon

Loading player...

Gideon Groenewald holds PhDs in palaeontology, hydrology and geology and he has walked the Karoo studying drought. Using satellite imagery and prayer, he discovers over a dozen boreholes a week, most recently for Gift of the Givers, in drought-stricken parts of the country, with 90% accuracy. His story matters because he and his team help communities find solutions to water problems and because the Karoo is a contested fracking site.

Season 1 / Episode 3 18 Sep 2020 English South Africa Nature

Other recent episodes

Imitating nature to reimagine how we use water

Biomimicry, or innovation inspired by nature, has given us technologies and inventions such as the aeroplane, sonar, and even velcro. The Namib Desert Beetle is a fascinating creature that prompted architect and designer Shaakira Jassat of Studio Sway to start thinking differently about the relationship between buildings in urban environments…

Season 2 / Episode 24 21 min

Testing the waters

KwaZulu-Natal is one of South Africa’s most water-rich provinces, with sparkling wetlands, dams and rivers that are home to a vibrant array of wildlife, and a hub of water sports like the Midmar Mile and Dusi Canoe Marathon. The uMngeni River and its tributaries (like the Msunduzi River) are of…

Season 2 / Episode 23 26 min

Planet Ocean

Humans have an ancient relationship with water. When we free-dive, and hold our breath to journey deep into the ocean, our mammalian dive response kicks in. This is the same biological set of automatic reactions that allow whales, dolphins and seals to travel for kilometres underwater before needing to breach…

Season 2 / Episode 22 20 min

Water in the information age

The information age, and the internet in particular, has fundamentally shaped how we live our lives today. And IoT, or the Internet of Things, pushes the information we can draw from the world around us, even further. Dr Kevin Winter is part of a team at the Future Water Institute…

Season 2 / Episode 21 30 min

A brief history of water on Planet Earth

In this episode of For Water For Life, hosts Gugulethu Mhlungu and Michelle Constant facilitate a conversation that’s a little different than usual. With the help of Thato Tshukudu (who is also known as Gogo Mthunzi or Mkhulu Manzini), movement practitioner Tekano Phambani, Professor Anthony Turton and journalist Sean Christie,…

Season 2 / Episode 20 27 min

All episodes