#31 - Neil Armitage: Reflections, from a canoe chute and litter traps to Day Zero and South Africa's Sustainable Drainage

The Grand Challengers Podcast

Neil Armitage, Emeritus Professor from the University of Cape Town reflects on his journey from engineering through to academia and the human side of sustainable drainage systems. We reflect on South Africa's integrated urban water management challenges and have fun picking at terminology around SuDS, WSUD, LIDs and the like. We see what Neil is up to at the moment and look back at the major lessons he has learnt.
Podcast Intro/Outro Song: Starsky by Alex Keren (Check out more of his tunes over on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5vZ3lENfDLjkln8scBJ8mW)
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:59 Guest Intro and the Canoe Chute Story
9:05 Choosing Water Engineering by elimination
12:42 From Zimbabwe to Cape Town
14:44 The PhD and a more impactful side project
19:49 Neil’s greywater and sanitation chapter
23:45 Terminology around sustainable drainage
30:58 The Future Water Research Institute at Uni Cape Town
33:13 Cape Town Day Zero Drought
39:18 Stormwater harvesting for drought-proofing?
41:54 Creating change in South Africa with community
48:41 Summarizing the concept of SuDS
49:32 A stormwater engineer’s greatest ally
51:40 Gravity sucks
56:15 Neil’s current endeavours
1:05:07 Q&A Start
1:05:19 What inspires you?
1:07:34 Key moment, book, person
1:11:18 If you had a magic wand?
1:12:39 Time management
1:18:28 Advice for young researchers
1:20:00 Where can people reach you?
1:20:45 Final Message
1:22:07 Outro

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Chapters

1. Intro (00:00:00)

2. Guest Intro and the Canoe Chute Story (00:01:59)

3. Choosing Water Engineering by elimination (00:09:05)

4. From Zimbabwe to Cape Town (00:12:42)

5. The PhD and a more impactful side project (00:14:44)

6. Neil’s greywater and sanitation chapter (00:19:49)

7. Terminology around sustainable drainage (00:23:45)

8. The Future Water Research Institute at Uni Cape Town (00:30:58)

9. Cape Town Day Zero Drought (00:33:13)

10. Stormwater harvesting for drought-proofing? (00:39:18)

11. Creating change in South Africa with community (00:41:54)

12. Summarizing the concept of SuDS (00:48:41)

13. A stormwater engineer’s greatest ally (00:49:32)

14. Gravity sucks (00:51:40)

15. Neil’s current endeavours (00:56:15)

16. Q&A Start (01:05:07)

17. What inspires you? (01:05:19)

18. Key moment, book, person (01:07:34)

19. If you had a magic wand? (01:11:18)

20. Time management (01:12:39)

21. Advice for young researchers (01:18:28)

22. Where can people reach you? (01:20:00)

23. Final Message (01:20:45)

24. Outro (01:22:07)