Namibia is the driest sub-Saharan country in Africa. Namibia's capital, Windhoek, reclaims sewage water for domestic use at the Goreangab Water Reclamation Plant (GWRP). Risks associated with sewage effluent and reclaimed sewage should be closely monitored; therefore water at the Gammams Sewage Treatment Plant (GSTP) inlet and outlet, as well as reclaimed water from the GWRP, were assayed using selected bioassays. Samples collected were analysed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent-assays and chromogenic tests for steroid hormones, neurotoxicity, cytotoxicity and inflammatory activity. Estradiol level at the sewage treatment inlet was 78 pg/mℓ and the treated sewage level showed an 83% to 95% reduction in this, while after reclamation the level was below detection limit. Estrone concentrations at the sewage treatment inlet ranged from 10 to 161 pg/mℓ. Sewage treatment reduced estrone by between 85% and 92%. After reclamation the level of estrone was below detection limit. Testosterone ranged between 162 and 405 pg/mℓ at the sewage plant inlet. Sewage treatment removed 96% of the initial testosterone. The residual testosterone was effectively removed by processes in GWRP and after reclamation no testosterone was detected in water. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition at the sewage treatment inlet was 50% while it was only 27% after sewage treatment. After reclamation AChE inhibition was not detected. Only water at the sewage inlet in March and February showed cytotoxicity. High inflammatory activity was detected at the sewage plant inlet. Sewage treatment reduced inflammatory activity by 64%. After reclamation low inflammatory activity was induced. Treated sewage used for reclamation tested positive for most of the biomarkers and can pose a risk to human health. However, reclamation successfully removed these contaminants. Due to the presence of contaminants in the intake water at the reclamation plant, it is essential to routinely monitor the water produced by the reclamation plant for potential residues that can adversely affect human health.

Namibia is a semi-arid to arid country and has most of its surface water in dams built on ephemeral rivers. Whilst water quality is often measured in terms of bacterial contamination and general physico-chemical characteristics, this study extends water quality assessment to include steroid hormone presence and potential physiological toxicity. This is the first study to determine these parameters in dams in Namibia at various stages of the seasons. Seven bioassays were used to determine oestradiol (E 2 ), oestrone (E 1 ) and testosterone (T) concentrations, as well as neurotoxicity, cytotoxicity and immunotoxicity, in water sampled during 2010 and 2011. Oestradiol and E 1 concentrations of up to 7.2 pg ml -1 and 7.6 pg ml -1 , respectively, were recorded. Testosterone concentrations measured up to 19 pg ml -1 . No cytotoxic effects were detected, while acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition assays indicated low neurotoxic effects in Goreangab Dam (18% AChE inhibition) and no neurotoxic effects in other samples. The immune system biomarker interleukin-6 was high in all samples (457 pg ml -1 ; SD 54), with interleukin-10 being high only at Avis (46 pg ml -1 ), Goreangab (74 pg ml -1 ) and Swakoppoort (81 pg ml -1 ) dams. The results suggest that water from Goreangab and Swakoppoort dams may have the potential to modulate endocrine systems, and shows physiological toxicity.

This article reports on a survey conducted in 2009 among students registering for their first year of study at the University of Namibia. The aim of the study was to determine these school leavers' concepts of 'a dictionary' and to what extent they perceive dictionaries to be of potential help in satisfying needs for specific types of linguistic information. Furthermore, the survey attempted to determine if the variables of frequency of dictionary use, exposure to dictionary pedagogy at school and dictionary ownership had any influence on respondents' concepts of 'a dictionary'. In comparison to the literature and other similar studies, this study takes a new approach by measuring respondents' concepts of dictionaries against a pre-constructed dictionary profile based on validated assumptions while focusing on the pre-consultation situation instead of on a reflection on past dictionary consultation procedures. The findings indicate that Namibian school-leavers do not grasp the complete information potential of monolingual dictionaries. Also, although school syllabuses of language subjects require dictionary skills to be taught, about a third of the respondents were not exposed to dictionary pedagogy at school, while those respondents who were exposed to some form of dictionary pedagogy do not demonstrate a substantially different concept of dictionaries from those who did not undergo dictionary training. This result questions the quality of dictionary pedagogy where it does take place. The effects of frequency of dictionary use and dictionary ownership on respondents' concepts of dictionaries also seem to have been minimal.