Water, Sewage & Effluent March April 2019 | Page 21

any existing WWTW to either intercept
culprit flows or to enhance capacity
and increase efficiency of the works.
For a ‘green field’ installation, several
additional components must be in place
prior to project initiation, or accounted
for in the planning and design stages.
Ownership, sufficient land, necessary
resources including technical skill, valid
regulatory licences (where required),
and a defined end use are among the
most important. Thus, for a successful
project outcome it is critical that the
customer (that is, end user) needs to be
identified and recognised in advance.
In short, this requires identification
of the need/problem and establishing
whether true value and benefit will be
derived after demonstrator technology
implementation. 
technology and food security remains
unknown and continues to await
implementation and operation of a
full-scale demonstrator under South
African conditions. Success might also
facilitate development of a platform for
elaboration of sustainable waste-to-
algae-to-energy systems. But, how to
achieve this?
Implementation of IAPS and other
demonstrator
technologies
can
occur in several ways. First, an entire
demonstrator system can be installed
‘green field’. Second, an existing
pond-type WWTW can be upgraded or
converted to an IAPS in a ‘brown field’
installation. Third, component parts
(for example the AFP and/or HRAOP in
the case of IAPS) of the demonstrator
technology can be configured for use at
innovations
Some residents of Port Elizabeth did not enjoy their December 2018 holiday break
because of raw sewage which has flooded their area since August last year.
In all of the above cases, the proposed
projects addressed core concepts of
IAPS technology and set out to facilitate
full technology transfer.
Downstream advantages of efficient
and effective WWT across South
Africa are obvious with clear benefits
to, among others, the environment,
agriculture, tourism, and community
health. However, challenges around
WWT, experienced by the majority
of municipalities, tend to mask the
value and as yet unexplored potential
of wastewater. Thus, each of the
aforementioned projects had as a major
deliverable the exploration of synergies
between WWT and food security at full
commercial scale.
This link was emphasised on the
basis of the critical importance of
low input costs towards sustainable
and financially viable food security;
hence the essential role of IAPS
in supplying clean water, biomass
and energy as low-cost vectors for
sustainable food security. However,
in the absence of real-time process
and product data, quantification of
the synergy between IAPS as a WWT
Whither IAPS? (and other
demonstrator technologies)
for a bespoke 0.75ML/d IAPS were almost
identical to those of the design used for
public tender purposes. Against this
background and in the face of contrary
information and costings that could not
be accommodated within the available
budget and, which thus precluded
approval of the redesign and executive
appointment of consultants/contractors
to build the bespoke IAPS, due diligence
by the university was initiated to establish
a best way forward. As a consequence,
and due to perceived delays, an apparent
impasse between the funder and project
team manifested and the university has
since and together with the WRC, initiated
termination of the project.
www.waterafrica.co.za
Water Sewage & Effluent March/April 2019
19