EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
De Lille gave some insight into the
measures taken to reduce water wastage.
“At the beginning of 2017, the water usage
was 1 000 million litres a day and needed
to be halved. The City has employed
4 000 additional people just to attend to
leaks in the city and we are engaging
with the agricultural sector to reduce their
consumption. The holiday season with
the many tourists coming into Cape Town
could increase consumption by 1% but
fortunately, it is also the time when industry
and the builders close and this will help to
offset the increase.”
De Lille concluded with a clear message:
“It is no good blaming the ills of the past
as it will not help the present or the future.
We all need to stand together and for
our own good, tackle the water shortage
head on. Cape Town has the lowest level
of unemployment in South Africa because
of partnerships with business. With the same
approach we will not let the taps run dry.”
Speakers all referred to the critical period
as March 2018 when the present storage will
be depleted, but hopefully, this will intersect
with the new rainfall season and the effects
of initiatives to find alternative supplies.
(Ed.’s note: This has since been adjusted to
May 2018.)
Pressure measurement zones have been
identified and pressure-limiting devices have
been installed, according to De Lille.
NOT ALL WATER IS EQUAL
Peter Flower, director of the Water and
Sanitation Department of the City of Cape
Town, addressed various issues relating
to water and the quality thereof. It was
interesting to note that there is a much wider
use of treated effluent water for irrigation,
earthworks, and construction sites around
Cape Town. However, Flower warned
everyone that this water should not be used
for mixing cement/concrete as it could have
an impact on the strength of the concrete.
He also addressed the issue of the
impact of reduced water pressure on
The forum, which took place in Cape Town, was well attended.
firefighting. He emphasised that the City
has a responsibility to provide potable
water to all its citizens, but does not have
an obligation regarding the pressure at
which it is supplied. Therefore, users should
make their own arrangements for having
the required pressures for fighting fires. He
also strongly recommended that users
discuss this matter with their risk assessors.
Flower made an interesting comparison
about desalination plants and feeding
water into the network from around the
coast. He likened it to a hand: Our central
water supply comes from the inland
dams (palm of the hand) and then gets
supplied to users at the coast (end of
the fingertips). If we now start producing
water at the coast and start pushing it
back into the system to feed users further
from the coast, we will require changes to
our piping and pumping infrastructure. The
pipes that start at the dams are very large
and those feeding areas at the coast are
much smaller. If the main source of water
is at the coast, we will need to make the
necessary changes, which are not that
easy in the very short term.
Although there was a lot of discussion
about desalination, everyone was reminded
that it is like a double-edged sword, as it uses
a lot of energy and is responsible
for a lot of carbon emissions, too.
Flower also spoke about what
he referred to as ‘delinquent users’
— people who have ignored all
appeals to cut back on their water
usage. He said that he hoped
that as the situation deteriorates
further, the delinquents would do
something about changing their
wastage habits.
He acknowledged that the
City itself was faced with many
challenges and was employing
a wide variety of initiatives to
address the problem, especially
in lieu of the fact that they had
11 000km of pipework to service
and maintain. Every detail is being
considered. As an example, all fire
tenders are kept full at all times
with treated grey water.
Pressure-limiting devices have
been installed in the supply
to areas that can cope with
reduced water pressures during
certain periods.
It was interesting to note the comments
about water footprints — how much water
is needed to produce our food? People
COLD LINK AFRICA • March | April 2018
The signed pledge by the Cape Town
members of FEDHASA to reduce water
consumption, was presented by Jeff
Rosenberg, Cape chairperson.
www.coldlinkafrica.co.za
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