Sandton City’s
significant savings
Thanks to a dedicated environmental initiative
as part of its innovative management, Sandton
City has cut its water use by 16% since 2015.
By Kim Kemp
O
ver the past two years, Sandton
City has saved 44.5-million litres
of water, which is enough water
for 5 933 households to use a month
and it would fill nearly 18 Olympic-sized
swimming pools.
“While Sandton City is known for
its devotion to everything stylish, it is
as passionate about good corporate
citizenship as it is about good style,”
says Preston Gaddy, general manager
of the Sandton Precinct for JHI Retail.
Sandton City is owned by Liberty
Two Degrees, Liberty Group Limited,
and Pareto Limited, and managed by
JHI Retail, and its focus on both water
and energy efficiency aligns perfectly
with the sustainable values of its
owners. In the case of JSE-listed REIT
Liberty Two Degrees, its commitment
to environmental sustainability is
expressed across its entire portfolio
with resource efficiency and eco-
friendly innovations.
Determined to lighten its
environmental footprint, in 2015,
Sandton City proactively began a
painstaking process of counting every
single drop of water it used — long
before Gauteng’s water restrictions
were imposed and then lifted, or Cape
Town was in water crisis. This is no
simple task.
Sandton City was built and expanded
in multiple phases over more than
40 years, making its water, drainage,
and sewer systems intricate. Also, it
runs on a mix of municipal water and
boreholes for irrigation.
The scale of the successful project
is clear when considering that this
business hub has a large central air-
conditioning plant and its cooling
tower system is one of the largest
plants of its kind in South Africa. Also,
water is used throughout the large
super-regional mall in a variety of
10
ways: air conditioning, fire sprinklers,
in restaurants, hairdressers and more.
Sandton City’s utilities management
team left no stone unturned in their
endeavour to reduce the amount of
water used in all aspects of running
the centre. The water-saving process
began when an in-depth audit on its
water consumption was conducted
and ways were targeted to reduce
water loss. Actioning its findings,
changes were applied that would have
the most immediate impacts.
Gaddy reveals: “While our customers
may see some evidence of water-
saving initiatives, such as the dual-
flush toilets and sensor taps in some
of South Africa’s most iconic mega-
mall’s bathrooms, there is much more
happening behind the scenes.”
Sandton City improved its cooling
tower’s treatment mechanisms, fine-
tuned its domestic water tanks, split
its domestic tanks from its fire tanks,
and stopped waste when draining
its sprinklers systems. It placed an
alarm on its fire water system that
alerts the mall when water begins
flowing through it, helping to stop
leaks as soon as they start. The
mall also installed water meters
throughout the thousands of metres
of water pipes running through the
building, to keep a constant check on
water usage.
Disciplined daily checks have been
invaluable in the centre’s water-saving
process. Water tele-consumption
is measured daily and compared
against the mall’s growing record of
consumption patterns. This helps to
identify increases in water use beyond
normal ranges. Factors such as the
day of the week, time of year, and the
weather, which all influence how busy
the mall is and how much water is used,
are considered.
Water Sewage & Effluent January/February 2018
Gaddy notes change always begins
within, and in its quest to champion
the environment, that is exactly what
Sandton City did. “We have shifted
mindsets with training and created a
valuable understanding of the ways
in which water can be saved and how
it is wasted. In this way, everyone
involved is empowered to make a
difference.”
While Sandton City’s dedicated
utilities team is driving the initiative,
everyone who is part of the mall is
contributing to the project’s success
in their own way. Each night, as part of
their patrols, security guards check for
running toilets and dripping taps. They
report any concerns and immediate
action is taken.
The team at Sandton City also shares
its expertise with the tenants in its
shops, restaurants, and offices. In this
way, the mall has even bigger positive
impacts on saving water.
“Optimising water savings is not
only essential to protect this precious
resource in a water-scarce country
like South Africa, but it is also an
excellent business decision,” notes
Gaddy. “Helping tenants with their
water efficiency, which often also
results in cost efficiencies, adds to the