SANParks.org Forums

This matter has been laboured before.

Should you need fresh/stilled water for daily normal human consumption during your trip, you can simply bring it along in a container from home, or buy as much as you like at the shops in the park. They carry large stocks.

I would however like to differ with a general feeling that the water in the KTP is just about undrinkable . . . . and even being called ‘gnu piddle’ recently on the Forum. I do agree that drinking the brackish water 'straight from the tap' will give anybody (that hasn't tasted it before) one hell of a jolt first time around . . . . . and with your body not being used to the water in this format, it may very soon result in an upset tummy.

However, on this fact only, do not discard the water totally, because it has another unique quality . . . . resulting that we must be the only people in the world that regularly takes a 5/10 litre container of the water home when we leave the KTP !

This brackish water when boiled, and with its higher than normal salty contents, makes the best early morning coffee . . . just make sure that you use quality ground coffee . . . and not the 'plastic' instant stuff.

A friend of ours (with the 'wors' in hand on pic 47, www.reddune.info ) relishes in his 2/3 glasses of this water directly from the tap every day, because he grew up with it.
. . . and surely, there must be other Forumites as well . . .we must respect them.

There is an old saying . . “that the Kgalagadi will only reveal itself to the one that visits it with an open and susceptible mind ". Once you reach the stage when city habits and comforts are not being compared to the small and simple things that the KTP offers . . . only then will you reap the value of this beautiful part of the world.

I have to agree with Red Dune here..........I use park water for all cooking and boiling etc. I just don't drink it and I don't use it for my tea!!!. Otherwise it is quite okay..........

Red Dune,

Your posting is so correct, the water is NOT undrinkable. If you are not used to it then it can cause a upsetting stomach. The locals are so used to it that if they drink city water they have the same problems.

What we used to do is when the truck went into Upington we would send our 25 L cans with and they would fill it up in Upington. That would also be an option that if you do want to take a canister with for water then fill it up in Upington.

I stand by my earlier comments. The gnu piddle was meant as a joke - I have never tasted the real thing!

I love the Kgalagadi as much as anyone, and it reveals much to me. The water revealed to me says drink summat else!

I don't eat salt or put it onto my food, so maybe it is a bit more extreme to me.

On my first trip i made an instant coffee from the Kgalagadi water and it was the worst coffee in my life. We never have ground coffee on our trips with us. So we are used to drink instant coffee.

On the other hand you don't need so much soap or shower gel when you take a shower with the salty water. It is indeed very soft.

Let me give my millilitres worth!
I absolutely agree that it is what you are used to.
We love coffee...the real thing that is, not instant coffee, and I would rather go without if I had to drink it made with some of the KTP water.
I say some because it just depends where you are.
I prefer the water when it is unboiled and found it acceptable in TR, Nossob, Mata Mata, KTC and most certainly Urikaruus.
Grootkolk was aweful no matter what we did.
The water at Urikaruus was no different to home. What more can one expect from such an awesome camp. Could sit all day on the balcony and drink plenty of real coffee made from Urikaruus waterWe still take our own supplies for those special refreshments
As far as showing, my hair is always in it's best condition ever when washed with KTP water. As they say, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose

Has anyone tried the water in Scotch? I would not recommend that they do! I carry my own rainwater for that purpose and for drinking. For other uses, the water is fine.

OK, an upset stomach because of the water is not on! That way you cannot enjoy the Kalahari to it's fullest. I suggest bottled water to drink, tap water for the beauty routine (hair conditioner etc etc.) and JUST ENJOY THE KALAHARI!

I know that the water is pumped from holes drilled deep into the ground 36 to 108 meters deep, if I remember correctly). It is used for human and animal consumption all around the year, so I was wondering if we were not, slowly, using all the reserves from the water tables.
Does somebody know if the yearly rainfalls are enough to balance the amount we withdraw ?

I also wonder about that, Pikasso

I did read about the amount of water that Nossob uses just to keep the camp running and it was a shocking amount..sorry cannot remember the figures but it did set my mind thinking.
There is a huge amount of water used for washing linen for guests. One arrives in Nossob....spends one night in a chalet( clean linen) ..we then move onto Grootkolk for one or two nights ( clean linen). We then move back to Nossob...more clean linen. It seems such a waste of water.
What if guests took their own sheets, pillow slips and duvet covers and the camps just provided the pillows, duvets and blankets. That would surely save a lot of water. I know I wouldn't mind taking my own linen along but maybe it would be a hassle for overseas tourists. But then maybe the park could have sets of linen for tourists to hire that would then travel around the park with them.....just a thought

Water has to be saved...............it seems a lot more is being used than what nature provides! Although having said that after experiencing the rains in Nossob in 2005 one would have thought that there was enough water for the whole of Africa !!!!!

Hello Caracal.
I would not mind at all renting linen and taking them along to the wild camps. Water conservation first!
I red somewhere that the saltier the water is, the less there is left. It sounds logical. In october, we found that the water was not as salty as in January. Maybe this means the reserves were high?

Hi again Pikass
I agree with your logic re - saltiness but I must admire you for conducting your little experiment ...........tasting that water..you are brave indeed !!!!!!
I know the water will not harm one but ugh !!!!!

Maybe instead of talking about this plan to save water I should forward our bright idea to somebody in the know ??????

I did not taste the water , just felt it under the shower. It was nearly as hard as here in France!

oh.....and here I thought we had a brave Frenchman in our midst

I really support almost every idea to save water in the Kgalagadi.

But the very first idea that comes to my mind is to get rid of the swimming pools. I do know that this is very unpopular, but we've been to KTP only in mid summer and never used a swimming pool.

They are a waste of water to us and unnecessary.

To your question Pikasso, i've been told, that the boreholes in KTP are more than 100 metres deep until they reach water level.