DEVELOPMENT OF THE COASTAL 15ELT OF SOUTH AFRICA. 2iy 



of England knows that most of the rivers arc utilised in this way, 

 very little fall being lost. On the Rivers Severn and Teme, the 

 loss due to the flow of the water is only two or three inches per 

 mile. With a fall of i,8oo feet in a distance of 50 miles, 

 allowing a fall of 2 feet per mile for the flow^ of water, it leaves 

 if the river were thoroughly utilised, a fall of 66 feet every two 

 miles. Nine million gallons a day would give a theoretical HP 

 of 125. Allowing 50 per cent, efficiency, including losses in 

 water furrows, etc., it would give in round figures a BHP of 60; 

 so that a factory could be put up every two miles of the Buffalo, 

 from the Perie to the sea, using 60 BHP from this portion of 

 the catchment area only. 



The next question to enquire into is the value of this power. 

 In doing this, we must remember that with water power no 

 labour is required whatever, beyond starting and stopping, and 

 occasional oiling. If steam, suction gas, or oil engines were used, 

 the labour of so small a plant as 60 HP is a fairly considerable 

 item. Taking all things into consideration, the author would 

 suggest that J/d. per BHP per hour would be a fair value to put 

 on this power. 



It may be argued that if the factories were started in the 

 larger centres of our population, they might be able to get 

 electrical power at less than 3''2d. per BHP per hour; but in the 

 case of a factory established in a large town, there are many 

 disadvantages to contend with, such as high rates and taxes, high 

 cost of ground, high cost of living, increasing the wages account, 

 and perhaps difficulty in getting water for their manufacturing 

 process ; whereas, in this case, they would be on a river. 



. Further, in a number of manufacturing processes^ there are 

 certain odours given off, which, although they may be quite harm- 

 less, are objectionable in the centre of a large population. It 

 is probable, therefore, that if a manufacturer were given the 

 choice of obtaining power, say, at J/4d. per BHP per hour in a 

 large centre of population like Johannesburg or Durban, or 

 obtaining the same power at J-^d. on a coastal river like the 

 Buffalo, presuming always that there is railway communication, 

 they would in most cases choose a site on a coastal river. 



If we take the value at a ^d. per BHP per hour, then 60 

 BHP per hour will equal £3 a day, or £1,095 P^^ annum. There 

 would be 25 such factory sites between the Perie and the sea ; so 

 that the total value of the water power would be £27,375 ^ year. 

 As previously stated, the catchment area is 143^2 square miles, so 

 the value of the power flowing off each square mile would be 

 £1,888 per annum. Taking the total catchment area of the 

 coastal rain belt at the low figure of 15,000 square miles, the value 

 of the power running to w^aste every year, from this narrow 

 belt only, would be £28,300,000. A sufficiently startling figure 

 to enquire whether it would pay to utilise this power. 



In considering this question, the author will agairi^,j:©t«:m>.^ 



LIBRA 



