World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
Water S.A.
H-index 7

Water S.A.

0378-4738

Published by: Water Research Commission

http://www.wrc.org.za/water-sa/

Ranking & Metrics

Discipline name Position Best Scientists Publications D-Index
Environmental Sciences 594 18 21 7

Additional Metrics

Number of Best Scientists*: 37
Documents by Best Scientists*: 37
Top 100 Ranked Scientists*: 3
SCIMAGO H-index: 72
SCIMAGO SJR: 0.408
Impact Factor: 1.2

Overview

Top Research Topics at Water SA?

The journal aims to foster the development of research in Hydrology, Environmental engineering, Water quality, Water resources and Wastewater. Hydrology and Sediment are closely related fields of research discussed in the journal. The Environmental engineering study featured in the journal draws parallels with the field of Environmental chemistry.

The journal connects research in Water quality with the related topic of Pollution. Research on Water resources addressed in it frequently intersections with the field of Water resource management. While work presented in it provided substantial information on Wastewater, it also covered topics in Pulp and paper industry, Effluent and Sewage treatment.

Aquifer is a focus of the presented Groundwater works and it dives deep in Aquifer. Activated sludge is a primary topic of Waste management research in it.

  • Hydrology (21.08%)
  • Environmental engineering (14.36%)
  • Water quality (12.45%)

What are the most cited papers published in the journal?

  • Adsorption kinetics for the removal of chromium (VI) from aqueous solutions on the activated carbons prepared from agricultural wastes (401 citations)
  • Microbial decolourisation of a reactive azo dye under anaerobic conditions (378 citations)
  • ADSORPTION OF CU (II) AND CR (VI) IONS BY CHITOSAN: KINETICS AND EQUILIBRIUM STUDIES (329 citations)

Research areas of the most cited articles at Water SA:

The journal papers cover a variety of subjects, including Hydrology, Environmental engineering, Water quality, Environmental chemistry and Water resources. The study of Hydrology in the published papers encompasses disciplines such as Pollution, as well as fields such as Nutrient, all of which overlap with one another. The studies on Water resources discussed at the journal papers can also contribute to research in the domains of Environmental protection and Water supply.

What topics the last edition of the journal is best known for?

  • Ecology
  • Statistics
  • Organic chemistry

The previous edition focused in particular on these issues:

The main research concerns discussed in the journal are Water quality, Hydrology, Water resources, Drainage basin and Water resource management. Index (economics), Nitrate, Wetland and Quality management are some topics wherein Water quality research discussed in it have an impact. The study of Wetland encompasses disciplines such as Acid mine drainage, as well as fields such as Environmental engineering, all of which overlap with one another.

Some problems in Hydrology that were presented in it overlapped with concepts under Dry season, Inorganic ions and Chemical composition. The featured works in Water scarcity, which all belong in the domain if Water resources, also overlaps with concepts under Series (stratigraphy). The studies in Drainage basin featured incorporate elements of Agriculture, Eichhornia crassipes, Sedimentation, Biomanipulation and Nutrient.

The most cited articles from the last journal are:

  • Optimizing water and resource recovery facilities (WRRF) for energy generation without compromising effluent quality (5 citations)
  • River water quality management using a fuzzy optimization model and the NSFWQI Index (2 citations)
  • Exploring the use of indigenous Western Cape plants as potential water and soil pollutant phytoremediators with a focus on green infrastructure (1 citations)

Papers citation over time

A key indicator for each journal is its effectiveness in reaching other researchers with the papers published at that venue.

The chart below presents the interquartile range (first quartile 25%, median 50% and third quartile 75%) of the number of citations of articles over time.

The top authors publishing in Water SA (based on the number of publications) are:

  • M. C. Wentzel (44 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • G. A. Ekama (42 papers) published 2 papers at the last edition,
  • Chris Buckley (36 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Bhekie B. Mamba (23 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • HE Jacobs (21 papers) published 1 paper at the last edition, 3 less than at the previous edition.

The overall trend for top authors publishing in this journal is outlined below. The chart shows the number of publications at each edition of the journal for top authors.

Only papers with recognized affiliations are considered

The top affiliations publishing in Water SA (based on the number of publications) are:

  • University of KwaZulu-Natal (151 papers) published 5 papers at the last edition, 9 less than at the previous edition,
  • University of Cape Town (100 papers) published 4 papers at the last edition, 1 more than at the previous edition,
  • Stellenbosch University (94 papers) published 4 papers at the last edition, 4 less than at the previous edition,
  • University of Pretoria (82 papers) published 3 papers at the last edition, 2 more than at the previous edition,
  • University of the Witwatersrand (81 papers) published 3 papers at the last edition, 1 less than at the previous edition.

The overall trend for top affiliations publishing in this journal is outlined below. The chart shows the number of publications at each edition of the journal for top affiliations.

Publication chance based on affiliation

The publication chance index shows the ratio of articles published by the best research institutions in the journal edition to all articles published within that journal. The best research institutions were selected based on the largest number of articles published during all editions of the journal.

The chart below presents the percentage ratio of articles from top institutions (based on their ranking of total papers).Top affiliations were grouped by their rank into the following tiers: top 1-10, top 11-20, top 21-50, and top 51+. Only articles with a recognized affiliation are considered.

During the most recent 2021 edition, 5.26% of publications had an unrecognized affiliation. Out of the publications with recognized affiliations, 61.11% were posted by at least one author from the top 10 institutions publishing in the journal. Another 16.67% included authors affiliated with research institutions from the top 11-20 affiliations. Institutions from the 21-50 range included 8.33% of all publications and 13.89% were from other institutions.

Returning Authors Index

A very common phenomenon observed among researchers publishing scientific articles is the intentional selection of journals they have already attended in the past. In particular, it is worth analyzing the case when the authors participate in the same journal from year to year.

The Returning Authors Index presented below illustrates the ratio of authors who participated in both a given as well as the previous edition of the journal in relation to all participants in a given year.

Returning Institution Index

The graph below shows the Returning Institution Index, illustrating the ratio of institutions that participated in both a given and the previous edition of the conference in relation to all affiliations present in a given year.

The experience to innovation index

Our experience to innovation index was created to show a cross-section of the experience level of authors publishing in a journal. The index includes the authors publishing at the last edition of a journal, grouped by total number of publications throughout their academic career (P) and the total number of citations of these publications ever received (C).

The group intervals were selected empirically to best show the diversity of the authors' experiences, their labels were selected as a convenience, not as judgment. The authors were divided into the following groups:

  • Novice - P < 5 or C < 25 (the number of publications less than 5 or the number of citations less than 25),
  • Competent - P < 10 or C < 100 (the number of publications less than 10 or the number of citations less than 100),
  • Experienced - P < 25 or C < 625 (the number of publications less than 25 or the number of citations less than 625),
  • Master - P < 50 or C < 2500 (the number of publications less than 50 or the number of citations less than 2500),
  • Star - P ≥ 50 and C ≥ 2500 (both the number of publications greater than 50 and the number of citations greater than 2500).

The chart below illustrates experience levels of first authors in cases of publications with multiple authors.

Top Publications

  • Integrated nutrient transport modelling with respect to the implementation of the European WFD: The Weiße Elster Case Study, Germany

    Michael Rode;Bernd Klauer;Daniel Petry;Martin Volk

    (2020)
    31 Citations
  • Biochar for the removal of detected micropollutants in South African domestic wastewater: a case study from a demonstration-scale decentralised wastewater treatment system in eThekwini

    Jana Späth;Preyan Arumugam;Richard H Lindberg;Ovokeroye A Abafe

    (2021)
    18 Citations
  • National Wetland Map 5: An improved spatial extent and representation of inland aquatic and estuarine ecosystems in South Africa

    Heidi van Deventer;Lara van Niekerk;Janine Adams;Millicent Ketelo Dinala

    (2020)
    13 Citations
  • Chemical composition of rain at a regional site on the South African Highveld

    L. Kok;P. G. van Zyl;J. P. Beukes;J-S Swartz

    (2021)
    12 Citations
  • Nutritional yield and nutritional water productivity of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp) under varying irrigation water regimes

    Edwin Kimutai Kanda;Aidan Senzanje;Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi;Shadrack Chisenga Mubanga

    (2020)
    10 Citations
  • Occurrence of PAHs in water samples of the Diep River, South Africa

    Adetunji A. Awe;Beatrice O. Opeolu;Olatunde S. Olatunji;Olalekan S. Fatoki

    (2020)
    10 Citations
  • A new modified spatial approach for monitoring non-perennial river water availability using remote sensing in the Tankwa Karoo, Western Cape, South Africa

    Dylan Seaton;Timothy Dube

    (2021)
    8 Citations
  • Effect of Moistube and subsurface drip irrigation on cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (l.) Walp) production in South Africa

    (2020)
    7 Citations
  • Integrated nutrient transport modelling with respect to the implementation of the European WFD: The Weiße Elster Case Study, Germany

    (2020)
    7 Citations
  • Optimizing water and resource recovery facilities (WRRF) for energy generation without compromising effluent quality

    George A Ekama

    (2021)
    6 Citations

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