There’s money in muck!
Rather than focusing on the problems that raw sewage could (and does)
create, why not investigate how to use this endless resource profitably?
By Mike Muller
With land applications, biosolid waste can be applied at specific, varied rates that will meet crop nutrient requirements.
W
astewater management in
South Africa is a national
scandal. We know that
because the previous Minister stopped
publishing the Green Drop reports on
wastewater treatment because they
were just too embarrassing. There
is a dire need for a new approach to
avoid a situation in which all South
Africa’s rivers turn as green as
the Hartbeespoort Dam usually is.
Waste should drive the wastewater
treatment process.
We are always told that there is
wealth to be made from waste. Too
often though, that is just propaganda.
I recall in the early days of the
24
debate over how to deal with the
acid mine drainage problem in the
Witwatersrand (a problem that, I think,
is exaggerated), the mines came up
with a novel solution: If government
were to join them in treating the
waste, they would be able to sell the
by-products and the process would
pay for itself.
Their enthusiasm to sell the stuff
was understandable. In one of my
other lives, I went down the old
Grootvlei Mine on the East Rand to
the chamber where the pumping
equipment was running hard to keep
the mine dry. The huge cavern was
half full of what looked like bright red
Water Sewage & Effluent May/June 2018
sandstone. As the water emerged
from the rock into the sump from
which it was pumped, the dissolved
iron immediately reacted with the iron
to form a fine iron oxide powder.
It was hell to manage — the trick
was not to allow the water to come in
contact with air until it was safely out
of the shaft. But the miners had a bright
idea. They could sell that iron oxide and
make a profit. And they duly came with
evidence that there was a profitable
market for high-grade iron powder, for
use as a pigment in paints and other
products. The price was interesting,
but they neglected to tell us how small
the market was — certainly not big