Wetlands are the only effective long-term answer to the critical pollution of rivers and ground water in areas such as the coalfields of Mpumalanga, where acid drainage from mines has been wiping out aquatic life, notes a report in The Sunday Independent.

Moves are already afoot, apparently also involving some mining companies, to see how wetlands might be used to help stop acid mine drainage from fouling up river systems. This follows the huge outcry from environmentalists about the recent mass die-off of fish and crocodiles at the Olifants River inlet to Loskop Dam, and the reduction of the Wilge River flowing through the Ezemvelo Reserve near Bronkhorstspruit to a lifeless stream. Wetlands remove phosphates and nitrates from water, making them a natural purifier of filtered sewager, says Professor Terence McCarthy, of the School of Geosciences at the University of the Witwatersrand, a strong proponent of this wetland solution. Furthermore, he adds, they have the unique ability to solidify and remove uranium from water and are highly efficient traps of metals such as copper, zinc, cobalt, lead and mercury.
Full Sunday Independent report