wpc
re-commissioning new equipment or systems only
addresses a point in time, and that the only constant in
the life of most infrastructure and facilities is change.
He said that water energy efficiency is not integrated
17
into the daily management of our organisations and our
lives, which is problematic. He said the solution was
that people and organisations need to be engaged in
managing water and energy continuously.
Breakaway session: sanitation
Programme officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation, Sun Kim, chaired the sessions on
sanitation. Lawrence Benatar from Benatar Consulting
presented on the topic of various configurations of
drainage systems and the design of waterless urinals.
Interestingly, waterless urinals have a benefit of not
using water, but that reduction of water — along with
the reduced flow of faucets and showers besides
other conservation means — creates other problems,
since sewer systems have been designed for a certain
flow rate to convey wastewater and waste effectively.
Benatar also spoke about the antiquated regulations in
South Africa and the need to update them.
Executive manager water use and waste management
at the Water Research Commission, Jay Bhagwan,
made the point that sanitation constitutes 60% of
capital cost of water services. Kim said this was
surprising, considering that UN sustainable development
goal number six is about water and sanitation — people
should have access to this human right. People focus
on water and not sanitation, but if you don’t take care
of sanitation the water is contaminated and disease
results. Sanitation needs to be repaired, along with
having your water supply. Bhagwan said many people
talked about innovation and research, and agreed that
we really do need transformational technologies for the
future.
Other points Bhagwan made were that water resources
are declining, energy costs are rising, and about 55%
of energy used in the water cycle is for wastewater
treatment. The bulk of this energy is for aeration
in biological processes, accounting for upwards of
60% of total energy consumption. Current sanitation
technologies are not sustainable — it is problematic
that society is conditioned into seeing a flush toilet
and centralised sewage treatment works as preferred
options. Another concern was that stormwater is
regarded as a nuisance rather than a resource.
International business development director at Polypipe,
Jonathan Cooper, spoke on heavy concrete, copper
tubing, cast iron, and a move towards composite
plastics and other innovative products that are lighter,
www.plumbingafrica.co.za
Programme officer at the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation, Sun Kim, chairing the
sessions on sanitation.
cheaper to make, less wasteful and less likely to be
stolen, as copper tubing often is. Cooper discussed the
reality of having thousands of product lines and the
cost of certifying those product lines for entry into any
one country and having to re-certify the same thing
repeatedly. Steve White, technical director at Studor,
covered high-rise venting and exploding toilets.
A theme to emerge from the presentations of these four
speakers is the importance of transformation: coming
up with new ways of doing the essentials of providing
water and safe sanitation, and the importance of properly
applying regulations and standards.
To conquer the problems we face in the developing world
we have to develop new solutions. These are not the
same solutions that were used to advance the nowdeveloped world. “We really need to come up with a new
road map, and that is where I believe innovation and
implementation will be key,” said Kim.
Continued on page 19 >>
November 2016 Volume 22 I Number 9