GroundTruth

09/10/2026

We are changing the way we use water at GroundTruth💧
Water is something we use every day, often without thinking about where it comes from or how much we use. A toilet flush, washing our hands, cleaning a vehicle, watering the garden, topping up the pool, or even rinsing a coffee spoon may seem insignificant, but the litres quickly add up ⬆️

This led us to ask: do we really need clean municipal water for everything? The answer was no.

So, we changed the plumbing in our buildings so that collected rainwater can be used for toilets and basins🌧️🔧 Our system follows a simple process: rain falls on the buildings, is collected and stored in tanks, then pumped through the system for appropriate uses. We have also installed a smaller geyser for the kitchen, reducing unnecessary energy use⚡ Another innovative step is the L’Uritonnoir, a waterless urinal that directs urine into straw for a natural composting process, avoiding the use of clean water simply to flush urine away🌾 Only the kitchen taps remain connected to municipal water🚰 Rainwater is also used for washing vehicles and watering gardens. We have even made changes to the little things; dirty coffee spoons are placed in a cup of soapy water and cleaned together instead of being rinsed individually under running water☕ In short, we use rainwater for tasks that do not require drinking-quality water♻️

To understand whether these changes are working, water consumption is now recorded daily. This helps us identify unusual increases, detect possible leaks early, understand where water is being used, reduce waste and measure the effect of our improvements. The records give us evidence rather than assumptions📝🔍

Small changes can make a meaningful difference 🌊 Older toilets may use 13–19 litres per flush, while water-saving models use about 4.8 litres. Older flushing urinals can use 4–7 litres per flush, compared with about 0.5–1 litre or less for water-efficient models. A standard tap can flow at around 8.3 litres per minute, so a 20-second handwash may use approximately 2 litres⏱️All uses for which filtered rainwater is suitable, saving treated municipal supplied water.

Since the changes, our combined meter records show a clear decline in municipal water consumption 📉 Saving water does not always require a major project; it starts with noticing what we do and choosing the right water for the right job. Every drop counts💧

29/09/2026

Do you know what the shape of a river tell us about its health? 🏞️
From 21 to 24 September 2026, six officials from the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) completed GroundTruth's 4-day course on fluvial geomorphology and the Geomorphological Driver Assessment Index (G*I).

The G*I model determines the EcoStatus of a river's geomorphology, giving a clear measure of its geomorphic health. Theory sessions ran at the Katse Dam offices, followed by field practicals on the Matsoku River. The course covered:
🪨 The main classifications and principles of fluvial geomorphology
📐 Describing a river reach and site
🔭 Monitoring river geomorphology over time
🧮 Assessing geomorphic EcoStatus with the G*I model

Equipping LHDA staff with these skills strengthens in-house capacity to monitor and manage the rivers of the Lesotho Highlands.

Looking to build river assessment skills in your team?👷‍♀️👷‍♂️
Get in touch to discuss tailored training 🤝

16/09/2026

📲 Did you know the miniSASS app is on the Google Play Store?
The mini Stream Assessment Scoring System (miniSASS) is a citizen science biomonitoring tool that puts a river health check in your pocket🤳 It is easy to do, only needs a few resources (that you can make at home!), and takes less than 30 minutes🕒

All you have to do is spend a few minutes sampling the aquatic macroinvertebrates (little creatures in streams) present at a stream or river site🦀, take (good) photos of them against a clear white background📸 and use the app to help you identify and log what you have found (then don't forget to put them all back, alive and well!)🌿

The community of creatures you find reflects the stream's condition, so based on what you sample, you will get an estimate, on a scale from a natural to very poor, of how healthy your stream is!💧💚

🔹 Work offline: record a site and its assessment with no signal, and it uploads automatically once you are back online.

🔹 Identify specimens straight from a photo, with the help of a specially trained AI identification algorithm and a digital interactive identification picture key!

🔹 Explore your river health data alongside data from thousands of other users around the world on an interactive map.

Today is National River Clean-Up Day, part of Clean-Up & Recycle SA Week🧹♻️ Are you heading out to clear litter from a local stream or river? Run a miniSASS assessment while you are there! You'll get a 'before' picture for the site to compare against on your next visit after your clean-up.

📲Download the app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rk.amii&pli=1

🔗Find out more (all you need to know about miniSASS) at https://minisass.org/

And if you really want a deep dive, head to the Green Learn-to-Earn (GL2E) - River Monitors Course🎓 https://yoma.world/opportunities/019946d2-575f-7f89-a600-47b4fd1f8d3a

Thank you to the CGIAR International Water Management Institute (IWMI) for its continued support developing and maintaining the app, and to Kartoza (Pty) Ltd for all its supporting development work on the app over the past few years.

14/09/2026

How healthy is your local stream? 🌊
This Friday, 18 September, is World Water Monitoring Day💧 It falls within Clean-Up & Recycle SA Week (14–20 September), and on the same day as National Recycling Day SA! How many more reasons do you need to go out and take action for your local streams?

Take the opportunity this Friday to get out to a local stream and do a miniSASS assessment with the miniSASS mobile app, a simple survey of the creatures in the stream to find out the streams condition!

🔹 The mini Stream Assessment Scoring System (miniSASS) turns anyone into a river health monitor. Wade in, sample the aquatic macroinvertebrates present using a net and tray, and match what you find against a simple identification chart.

🔹 The mix of species present places the site somewhere on a scale from a natural, unimpacted state through to very poor, based on how sensitive different macroinvertebrate groups are to pollution and disturbance.

🔹 The miniSASS app is free on the Google Play Store, and every result feeds into the public database at minisass.org, adding to a growing map of river health across Southern Africa.

Already planning a clean-up for Clean-Up & Recycle SA Week? Run a miniSASS assessment before you start cleaning up. A 30 minute survey gives you a health score for the site and a baseline to check against next time!

Your data help understand streams around the world, and a clean-up at the same time doubles the benefit! What are you waiting for? 🤝

11/09/2026

🦺 Safety First at GroundTruth!
Health and safety is essential in the workplace🥽⛑️ Recently, some of our staff refreshed their skills and renewed their First Aid certifications, while also getting hands-on training in firefighting and evacuation procedures 🔥🩹🚒🚨
This keeps our health and safety compliance up to standard📋 But really it is all about staying prepared, keeping our team safe, and making sure we’re equipped to respond when it matters most!👷🏻‍♀️

World Day for Safety and Health at Work may be in April, but every day is the right day to act on workplace wellbeing🌱💚

10/09/2026

What an incredible few days at the SAHS Conference 2026! It was inspiring to connect with hydrologists, water resources experts, and engineers from all around the world🗺️ Our key takeaway? Climate change is making tailored, practical hydrological modelling and assessment more critical than ever🔑

As South African Hydrological Society Conference co-organisers, workshop facilitators, and presenters, we were excited to be deeply involved across the board. Here are a few highlights from our time at :

🎓 Capacity building and hands-on learning
Beyond the presentations, the GroundTruth team took part in technical training covering two process-based hydrological models and advanced techniques for invasive alien plant identification and mapping.

💧 NaFSAT Version 1.0 public reveal
We facilitated a session demonstrating the design rainfall and flood estimation tools developed specifically for South Africa. Enthusiasm for National Flood Spatial Analysis Tool (NaFSAT) was clear, and we cannot wait for practitioners to start using the full long-term release. We'll be hosting more interactive NaFSAT workshops at the Institute of Municipal Engineering of Southern Africa - IMESA Conference and The South African Institute of Agricultural Engineers (SAIAE) Symposium next month.

📊 Mapping the future of hydrological extremes
In our interactive workshop on "Future Research Priorities for Hydrological Extremes and Climate Resilience", we presented an analysis of current research databases. Findings revealed a strong historical skew toward drought research over flood research, across both South African and international studies. Through focus groups and a dynamic "bus stop" engagement activity, researchers and industry practitioners helped co-create priorities to guide future research investment.

📌 Interactive poster session
The team also presented a poster on holistic hydrological and hydraulic modelling. It attracted strong interest from practitioners and researchers, and we're now turning it into a dedicated article on the ecological and social dimensions of flooding, so watch this space!

A big thank you to all co-organisers, co-presenters and co-facilitators, and attendees who made these sessions dynamic and impactful. Looking forward to continuing these collaborations🤝

08/09/2026

🌍 Environmental technology usually works best when it starts with local people and the questions they actually need answered.

That was GroundTruth message at the UNESCO event, Science for Island Futures: Accelerating Resilience and Innovation in Small Island Developing States (SIDS), held at UNESCO Headquarters in July🏝️

💻 Drawing on more than 20 years of community training and engagement across Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean region, GroundTruth highlighted how powerful data systems are those that are co-designed with the people who will use them, not built first and explained later.

🌊 SIDS are usually framed by size and vulnerability, but they are really large ocean states, with the ecosystems and local knowledge to match. The local capacity, strengths, and systems need to be leveraged to co-create technology that works with people and nature, not just for them.

UNESCO's IslandWatch is putting that into practice, validating community observations and feeding them into national planning. We look forward to where that work goes next🔭

31/08/2026

The countdown to is officially on, and the final conference programme is live!

If you are attending the South African Hydrological Society Conference in the Drakensberg next week, make sure to add these two interactive workshops to your schedule on Wednesday, 2 September and Thursday, 3 September:

WORKSHOP 3️⃣: Creating a Community of Practice for Improved Design Flood Estimation Through Stakeholder Engagement
🗓️ Wednesday, 2 September 2026 | ⏰ 14:00 – 15:30 | 🏢 Venue: Zunkels
GroundTruth's Dr Udhav Maharaj, PhD co-facilitating with Prof. Jeff Smithers (University of KwaZulu-Natal) and the South African National Flood Studies team.

We are bringing something extra special to this session! Alongside an overview of the National Flood Studies Programme (NFSP) and recent advancements in South African Design Flood Estimation models, we will be hosting the FIRST-EVER public demonstration of NaFSAT Version 1.0 before its official long-term release! Whether you are a practitioner or researcher looking to streamline spatial analysis and flood estimation workflows, this is your chance to get an exclusive first look at the tool in action.

WORKSHOP 4️⃣: Agenda Setting for Hydrological Extremes and Climate Resilience
🗓️ Thursday, 3 September 2026 | ⏰ 14:00 – 15:30 | 🏢 Venue: Monks Cowl
👥 Dr. Katelyn Johnson (Stellenbosch University) co-facilitating with Orin Zeke Booysen, Siyasanda Makhaye, Kobus du Plessis, Ione Loots, Jaco Gericke, Jaco Pietersen, Dr Udhav Maharaj, PhD, and the project team, supported by the WRC South Africa.

How does South Africa's extreme weather research compare globally? We will be revealing key findings from a comprehensive knowledge review on flood and drought research, highlighting where South Africa stands internationally. Most importantly, this will be a highly interactive stakeholder session where your input will directly shape the agenda for future research investments!

Which session are you most excited for?

We will see you at Zunkels and Monks Cowl next week!

26/08/2026

24/08/2026

What do you think of when you hear “Water for People and Progress”?

For us, it is a reminder that human wellbeing, healthy ecosystems, climate resilience, and sustainable development all rely on water security💧🍃

🧭 World Water Week 2026 begins today, offering an opportunity to reflect on our long history of working with water across Africa. For over 20 years, GroundTruth has driven solutions for effective water management. It is no simple task. Success depends on sound evidence, practical innovation, long-term monitoring, strong collaboration, and an integrated understanding of the connections between people, rivers, wetlands, and the wider environment.

🧩To get it right, you need to see the whole picture: From catchment monitoring, wetland assessment, and community engagement, through to hydrology, hydraulics, aquatic modelling, and the co-design of climate-smart systems.

You need to work with nature and people, not just for them.

By understanding water, and how it underpins everything else, we can ensure that our carefully engineered solutions support biodiversity, sustain communities, and shape resilient futures 🌱 That is why GroundTruth has built a team of diverse experts under one roof: To solve complex problems together, and develop solutions that will last for generations to come.

Because progress for water is progress for people, nature, and climate🌍

🤝 Get in touch, and let’s turn World Water Week into sustainable action for a water-secure world.