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While the water shortage can be blamed on the drought, a lack of maintenance is taking its toll on South Africa’ s water infrastructure.
Liquid gold – down the drain
Water is the giver of life, more precious than any commodity and without which life ceases. So why are we allowing our water infrastructure to crumble?
By Kim Kemp
W a ter, Sewage, and Effluent caught up with Vishal Haripersad, MD and chairman of Knight Piésold, at the recent African Infrastructure Conference held in Johannesburg. A 100 % South Africanowned and managed company, Knight Piésold is also the oldest consulting engineering firm on the continent. If anyone knows about infrastructure, it’ s them.
Haripersad doesn’ t pull any punches and when asked to comment on the present state of our water infrastructure, he had this to say:“ It’ s no secret that our water infrastructure is in a poor state, through under investment, a lack of maintenance and, I hate to say it, incompetence as well. This has led to our ageing infrastructure failing. If you look around various municipalities, provinces, and undeveloped areas in South Africa, what was done pre-1994 has not been updated or maintained— not enough to sufficiently keep pace with urbanisation and a growing population in the urban nodes.”
The result is that the infrastructure in established areas, for example Sandton, shows signs of wear and tear, and investment, he points out, is rather in maintenance and not in strategic growth investment— if even that, given the dire state of repairs that our sagging structures presently require.
From a water supply, treatment, and network expansion viewpoint, the past two decades, he says,“ has had huge under investment,” and adds,“ The reality is, it’ s coming home to roost.
Our sewage plants cannot keep pace with flow increase; our population has expanded; we don’ t have sufficient water treatment works in the rural areas,” and, to exacerbate the situation,“ corruption has mired the work already done in water treatment and supply,” resulting in a“ severe challenge experienced by all our citizens.”
“ No access to safe drinking water or clean sanitation is the result and that, is a health hazard. It’ s a moral imperative that we secure reliable and consistent access to power, clean water, and sanitation for our entire population; that is where future investment needs to happen,” Haripersad stresses.
“ Water is like liquid gold— without it, we die,” he says bluntly.
12 Water Sewage & Effluent September / October 2017