Ensuring sustainable supply

Water is a critical resource, but also one that is at significant risk across South Africa. Few people will forget the challenges and fears associated with Cape Town’s severe water shortage in 2017, when the prospect of Day Zero had citizens across the metro fearing that water resources could literally dry up at any moment. Given the essential nature of this resource, the City prioritises fair access to it, along with its careful use and effective protection and preservation. To this end, the City’s Water Strategy sets out a comprehensive and highly proactive strategic approach to meeting Cape Town’s immediate and long-term water needs. Cape Town’s water sources Cape Town gets the majority of its water – for domestic, business and agricultural use – from the Western Cape Water Supply System (WCWSS). In a ‘normal’ year, the people and businesses of Cape Town use about 60% of the available water, and agriculture uses approximately 30%. The WCWSS is managed by the national Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) in partnership with the City.

The DWS is responsible for water resources regulation (making allocations and monitoring abstraction) as well as for water resources planning. Surface water sources make up the bulk of Cape Town’s water supply. The City’s surface water system comprises six large dams (three owned by the City) and a number of smaller ones. Total storage of the six large dams is approximately 900 million kilolitres. These dams rely on winter rains, which are increasingly variable and cannot be predicted from one year to the next.

As recent times have shown, South Africa faces numerous challenges in Strategic vision the supply of water and electricity. The overarching vision that informs the City’s Water Strategy is that, by

Being essential to both life and 2040, Cape Town will be a watereconomic development, these vital sensitive city that optimises and resources demand reliable supply. integrates the management of water resources to improve resilience, Cognisant of this, the City of Cape competitiveness and liveability for the

Town has developed robust prosperity of its people. To achieve this vision, the City’s strategies underpinned by Water Strategy encompasses the sustainability. following five key water commitments: • safe access to water and sanitation for all • wise use of water resources • ensuring sufficient, reliable water from diverse sources • shared benefits from regional water resources • a water-sensitive city. Ultimately, the achievement of the City’s water vision requires Cape Town to transition from being a city that is mainly focused on water supply, to one that is truly watersensitive. Water-sensitive urban design includes all the components of urban water cycle management, including supply, sewerage and stormwater management. It requires a significant shift in the way in which urban planning and design consider water and water infrastructure. The Cape Town Water Strategy is a key component of the City’s commitment to ensuring greater resilience, and sets out a refocused and integrated urban water

management approach for at least the next 10 years.

It aims to secure Cape Town’s water future by increasing the available water supply by more than 300 million litres per day over the following decade, at an approximate cost of R5.7 billion. The intention is to reduce the likelihood of severe water restrictions in the future by increasing the reliability of supply from 98% to 99.5%. To achieve this, the strategy explores investment in alternative water sources, including groundwater, wastewater reuse and desalination, to supplement water supply. It also addresses the effectiveness of network management, expanding and managing bulk water and wastewater infrastructure, and reducing the risk associated with having to share regional resources.

Sustainable energy It’s no secret that chaos has descended upon South Africa’s electricity generation capabilities. Due to myriad factors that include inadequate investment, corruption and incompetence, the nation’s electrical utility, Eskom, has repeatedly stumbled in providing a secure supply of electricity. Beyond this, coal-fired generation is being increasingly frowned upon, and justifiably so.

The fast-changing energy and urban landscape, characterised by disruptions in the electricity sector and the need to respond to climate change, has required the City to reconsider its position in terms of natural resources and environmental sustainability. At the heart of this is striking a balance between catering to growing energy consumption needs and ensuring harm to the environment is minimised as far as possible.

The City remains committed to rapidly expanding its sustainable energy programmes and ramping up its climate action ambitions towards achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. In support of this, the City of Cape Town has developed a number of programmes and projects that aim to provide adequate supply: • an electricity-savings campaign for commercial and residential sectors • enabling small-scale embedded generation • energy-efficiency improvements and

the introduction of renewables in municipal operations • exploring the purchase of renewable energy directly from independent power producers • assessing the opportunities to develop City-owned small-scale renewable-energy plants • facilitating third-party access to the municipal grid • investigating new, enabling technologies and fuel options for the future, including utility-scale storage and electric vehicles • a programme to achieve net-zero carbon buildings and energy performance certification • a strong focus on public transport,

TOD, non-motorised transport and transport demand management • landfill gas-to-energy and beneficiation processes, as well as waste minimisation initiatives • producing the Cape Town State of Energy report series every five years to profile the City’s energy system in detail, and directly support the goal of a data-driven and evidenceled administration • climate change response planning, such as through the City’s Climate

Change Strategy and Climate Change

Action Plan.

Cape Town’s is the only city government in South Africa both genuinely committed and practically able to deliver the conditions necessary for economic growth and human flourishing. For anyone wanting to conduct business or invest in South Africa, Cape Town is not only the safest but the most exciting choice. We hope you will join us in building a prosperous future in our city.”

Geordin Hill-Lewis, Mayor of the City of Cape Town

The evolution of man and fire

Half a million years ago, humans discovered fire. What we have today is technological fire, and that requires innovative and technological solutions from experts such as SA Fire Watch.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution represents a fundamental change in the way we live, work and relate to one another. It is a new chapter in human development, enabled by extraordinary technological advances commensurate with those of the first, second and third industrial revolutions. SA Fire Watch is a fire safety and compliance provider that has protected lives, property and assets in the Western Cape for over a decade. By providing end-to-end products and services, we ensure our customers’ peace of mind.

Fire safety and protection are historically water-intensive sectors, which is a concern in countries with a serious risk of water stress. Indeed, the water footprint of many companies or industries has implications at many levels: from local communities to national or even global partners.

Fire suppression innovation Innovation and the technological advancement of green gas fire sprinklers will propel South Africa towards the Fifth Industrial Revolution, which will be based upon sustainability, including the responsible use of water, as per the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

With the green gas fire suppression system, there is no agent decomposition, it can be discharged where people are present, it does not decompose, and it does not contribute to ozone depletion, global warming or atmospheric lifetime. Green gas comprises Halon 1301, in accordance with SANS 14520, and is stored under dry nitrogen pressure and released as a gas – common components of the air we breathe outside. It has been tested to combat Class A, B and C fires, complying with OSHA regulatory standards. Halon recovery, recycling and refilling operate in a manner that promotes safe and environmentally responsible Halon reclamation.

The cylinders are connected with selector valves; in case of a fire, the gas is only released in the zone where the fire is situated and does not release gas to other areas.

Gas is stored at 200 bar and 300 bar, with a pressure differential valve. Mounting is done via nomadic tubing. The regulated discharge pressure is between 40-60 bar installed together with an over-pressure vent to prevent turbulence damage in the room. Nozzles range from 3-25.5 mm depending on the size you require.

Our industrialisation process provides enough fuel to sustain the combustion of a fire in a building. The evolution of humans made it possible for humanity to create a crisis that today requires evolving from water to gas fire suppressants. We are the fire species: we can control it, and to make it, we must also co-evolve with the fire we create. We are the fire animal, whose history spans half a million years.

At SA Fire Watch, we know it is possible to protect lives, property and assets, while also caring for the environment and a sustainable future.

For more information on supply and installation, contact info@safirewatch.com.