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retrofitting ailing , aged plants versus new installations ; quantity of reuse ; rising tariffs ; quality of the source ; public health issues ; public trust and knowledge of water reuse ; and regulations and guidelines for reuse .
South Africa ’ s water sector is under pressure to perform by magically producing water out of thin air , making the drought go away , and building infrastructure — all without money — while jumping through legislative hoops .
According to Chris Braybrooke , general manager ( marketing ) at Veolia Water Technologies SA , a water treatment company : “ We all know the current status of the infrastructure in the country . Some provinces look after theirs better than others .” He comments that a major issue is that the country has fallen behind in terms of maintenance , upgrading , and expansion of water infrastructure . Part of this problem is created by urbanisation , putting an extra burden onto an already stressed and overloaded infrastructure .
Veolia
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“ We have raw sewage seeping into our river systems , and what little groundwater we have is totally polluted . The status is bad ,” he says bluntly .
Water reuse is widely practiced throughout the world , both in developed and emerging economies , and many countries have established water reuse policies , with associated laws and regulations in place .
Annexure D of the NWRS states : “ Water reuse internationally contributes to reconcile the gap between water availability and water needs in such countries as the United States of America , Spain , Australia , Israel and China .”
According to Carl Haycock , managing director of Talbot & Talbot , there are many opportunities for wastewater treatment in South Africa ; however , many remain untapped . Included in this resource is domestic sewage , industrial waste , and various types of run-off . While some of these are treatable , some are not . However , for those that are , good opportunities are available , he stresses .
So why is South Africa so far behind ?
Braybrooke offers several suggestions , and top of the list is skills . “ First , we need to look at the operational skills we have in the country , which we lack — dearly ,” he stresses . He believes that more people need to be trained in water and wastewater treatment in the municipal sector . This is vital , he points out , seeing as if you do not have this skills base , the infrastructure could be compromised and thus , unreliable .
“ While the money is there , it never seems to reach the contractors who can perform these upgrades on the plants ,” he adds with a degree of frustration .
There are many contractors , such as Veolia , who can perform the upgrades of the older plants , but he says they are hamstrung by lack of financial investment .
“ Another challenge is that consultants consult to the municipalities , putting the long-term plans in place , but using old , tried and tested , conventional methods of water treatment . As a technology vendor , with 350 technologies at our disposal to choose from , our approach would be different . We would look at the existing infrastructure and assess how we can best maximise its production ,” he states .
“ Innovation is the only way forward . If you continue with the same methods , you will not achieve anything .”
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However , there cannot be a one-sizefits-all approach , he says and points out that different methods are required , according to circumstance , “ There are different approaches : either fix existing infrastructure or invest in new technology .” Veolia has been active in this arena and has a number of case studies to reference , he assures .
“ As an environmental company , we see even wastewater as a resource .”
He explains that wastewater is normally treated to a certain standard and discharged back into our rivers . “ Nothing wrong with that as it keeps our riverine systems healthy ,” he comments and references the Durban Recycling Water Works as a case in point . “ It is the largest water supplyrelated successful PPP in our country ,” he states .
Wastewater as a resource
There are some progressive councils when it comes to wastewater reuse , Braybrooke says , and describes Cape Town and Stellenbosch , where Veolia is installing membrane bio-reactors . “ Instead of a conventional clarifier , we use ultra-filtration modules . These modules are installed into a concrete basin , and the water is purified by removing most of the impurities . The resultant water is such that it requires a few polishing stages to become pure drinking water , but definitely can be used , at least , for industrial water ,” he says .
“ We have installed several of these wastewater plants in Africa ; a perfect example being that of Goreangab in Windhoek , which has been operational for 17 years without incident and supplies potable water to 400 000 people . The plant purifies wastewater and semi-purified sewage for direct potable reuse .”
While the extent of water reuse in South Africa is very likely to increase significantly , there is , however , a perceived associated risk that water reuse is unplanned , unregulated and / or results in unintended or undesirable consequences .
Haycock comments on resistance to reusing water . He says that as much as Talbot & Talbot recovers water in the beverages space , for over the past 10 years , the client still refuses to put that treated water back into the product used for drinking . He insists that the water is as good as bottled water and describes how last year , KwaZulu-Natal was in a similar position with debilitating water shortages . Wastewater treatment ,
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