Media Release. 18 August 2010. Mossel Bay Tourism

IMAGE: Bartolomeu Dias Museum Complex manager Mbulelo Mrubata at the pond below Dias’ Spring.

Dias Museum’s 500-year-old Solution to Water Crisis

The Dias Museum Complex in Mossel Bay boasts one of only a few Braille Trails in South Africa – so when the drought that’s currently gripping the Southern Cape began to threaten the plants in the Museum’s Ethno-botanic Garden (of which the Trail forms an integral part), manager Mbulelo Mrubata decided to look to the past for a solution that would lead the important tourist icon into the future.

“Our first reaction to the drought was to install three 10,000 litre tanks that were donated to us by Petro SA,” he said. “We wanted to catch the run-off from the Shell Museum and the Maritime Museum, which both have enormous roofs – but, of course, the rains never came, so the tanks remained empty.

“But there’s a spring that runs out of the hillside just below the Post Office Tree, and while we can’t be certain that it really is the exact place where the early explorers drew their water, it’s generally known as ‘Dias’ Spring’ – and it hasn’t stopped running since the day I began working here four years ago,” said Mr. Mrubata.

“So I asked the municipality’s water engineer, Johan du Preez, to test the water – and he said it was fresh and that we could use it for irrigation.”

A collection well was built, a pump was installed, and Mr. Mrubata ordered the museum’s irrigation contractor to sever the irrigation system from the municipal supply.

“From then on it took only a few days to fill the tanks, and we’ve been irrigating with our own water three nights a week ever since,” he said.

In the next few days, he said, the water would be tested for a second time to see if it’s fit for human consumption. “We’ve got 30,000 litres now, and it would make sense to use it for our public restrooms if we can.

“I know it won’t make a huge difference to the municipality’s water supply – but every little bit helps,” he said.

Mossel Bay Tourism’s chairman, Neels Zietsman, said that the Dias Museum Complex was one of the most important attractions for the town.

The Post Office Tree – a milkwood under which sailors of the 16th century would leave messages for one another – is the focus of the Complex, which also includes the Maritime and Shell Museums, the old Granary (now home to the Museum’s education centre), some of the oldest stone cottages in the town, a number of Malay graves, and the site of Dias’ padrao (the cross with which he marked his arrival in the Bay in 1488).

“It’s incredible how many foreign visitors and foreign tour operators ask about the Post Office Tree – and how many people want to post their letters from here, and have them stamped with the Tree’s special commemorative frank,” said Mr. Zietsman.

“I certainly hope other businesses and attractions in the tourism industry are looking for similarly innovative ways to survive the drought.”

More information from www.visitmosselbay.co.za or www.diasmuseum.co.za.

ENDS

Tags: Bartolomeu Dias Museum Complex, Dias, Dias’ Spring, Diaz, Mbulelo Mrubata, mossel bay, Water