Water&Santiation Africa Jan/Feb 2015 by 3S Media

Promoting professional excellence in the water sector

Water& Sanitation The official magazine of the Water Institute of Southern Africa T

Complete water resource and wastewater management

Africa

NuWater

Going Modular and Mobile WATER TREATMENT African water sector delivers global solution

MINE WATER Exploding the AMD myth: it's not just water underground

IN THEE OT HOT AT SEAT July

Henkk Sm Smit speaks about Vovani Water Products one-stop-shop oﬀeerin erings providing convenience and customer satisfaction to the wate w water treatment market. P16 January/February 2015 • ISSN 1990-8857 • Cover price R50.00 • Vol 10 No. 1

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C O N T ENTS S

Volume 10. No.1

ON THE COVER

Technology and solutions provider NuWater is in the process of finalising its first large-scale municipal contract using a completely modular and mobile plant. P4

13 Regional Project

REGULARS Editor’s comment

COVER STORY Going modular and mobile in municipal water treatment 4 WISA CEO’s comment

President’s comment

A rewarding year in water

REGIONAL PROJECT More than just a drop to drink

HOT SEAT Treatment technology all-rounder

INSIGHT Missives from the void

WATER TREATMENT Laboratories ‘gap’ continues

WATER METERING Saving water through technology

Smartening up metering

Pipe jacking safeguards the environment

TRENCHLESS TECHNOLOGIES Tshwane rejuvenates its pipes

DAMS AND RESERVOIRS Eastern Cape award winner shines

PANEL DISCUSSION Desalination Quality Filtration Systems

Buckman

Veolia

PUMPS, PIPE & VALVES Botswana water scheme gets pumped

End in sight for City of Saints‘ water woes

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

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Publisher Elizabeth Shorten Editor Frances Ringwood Head of design Hayley Mendelow Designer Frédérick Danton Chief sub-editor Tristan Snijders Sub-editor Beatrix Knopjes Contributors Jo Burgess, Beatrix Knopjes, Shanna Nienaber, John Holmes, Blake Wilkins Digital specialist and marketing manager Esther Louw Marketing Philip Rosenberg Client services & production manager Antois-Leigh Botma Production coordinator Jacqueline Modise Distribution manager Nomsa Masina Distribution coordinator Asha Pursotham Financial manager Andrew Lobban Administration Tonya Hebenton Printers United Litho Johannesburg +27 (0)11 402 0571 Advertising sales Avé Delport Tel: +27 (0)11 467 6224 • Cell: +27 (0)83 302 1342 Fax: 086 502 1216 • Email: avedel@lantic.net

EDITOR’S COMMENT

Strained relations T HAS LONG BEEN a fact that water and energy exist as a nexus: one being

contingent on the other in the service delivery context. So when Eskom announced towards the end of 2014 that it would be implementing stage-three load-shedding, some senior Ward heads (notably from the opposition party) demonstrated concern

over what that would mean for water supply. Two of these have approached Water & Sanitation with their concerns in the last two months. Meanwhile, South Africa s biggest municipality ‒ City of Johannesburg ‒ has already experienced supply disruptions in the last six months caused by copper cable theft, according to a statement by Rand Water. At the ﬁrst sign of further power disruptions, water board and municipal leaders were quick to point out that substations prioritised for maintaining dams and reservoirs are ﬁrst priority in a similar way to medical power supply. Many sources are indicating a national blackout might be imminent, an event that would have serious consequences for dams, reservoirs and reticulation systems across the country. On 9 December last year, Eskom CEO Tshediso Matona denied these claims, calling them,

Publisher

absolute nonsense. MEDIA Physical address: No 4, 5th Avenue Rivonia 2056 Postal address: PO Box 92026, Norwood 2117, South Africa Tel: +27 (0)11 233 2600 Fax: +27 (0)11 234 7274/5 Email: maryke@3smedia.co.za

ISSN: 1990 - 8857 Annual subscription: R300 (SA rate) Email: subs@3smedia.co.za Copyright 2014. All rights reserved. All articles in Water&Sanitation Africa are copyright protected and may not be reproduced either in whole or in part without the prior written permission of the publishers. The views of contributors do not necessarily reﬂect those of the Water Institute of Southern Africa or the publishers.

Tipping points The South African water supply landscape has long been characterised by innovation. While new technology may at times be slow to be implemented due to a complicated and sometimes corrupted regulatory environment, the country s technical capabilities continue to shine. For many years this has been the reason water sector professionals have scoﬀed whenever alarm bells were raised over one impending water crisis or other, as they are reported in the mainstream media. Local engineering talent, while leading the global curve, keeps getting thinner on the ground. As employment options in South Africa look less attractive and the global economic crunch continues to put pressure on everyone that talent pool is quietly draining away. It only takes a look just a few kilometres north of South Africa s borders to see what happens when a country reaches its tipping point. In Zimbabwe s capital city Harare, there is a real water crisis. Infrastructure is old and in need of repair. Citizens are

WISA CONTACTS:

relying on rain water harvesting and water bucket salesmen to supply

HEAD OFFICE Tel: +27 (0)11 805 3537 Fax: +27 (0)11 315 1258 Physical address: 1st Floor, Building 5, Constantia Park, 546 16th Road, Randjiespark Ext 7, Midrand BRANCHES

their needs. Costs are staggering, quality is poor and corruption is rife. South Africa, with its proud water history, its brilliant engineers and its stars in the public sector, cannot go the same way. Heartening to see in this month s issue is government spending on award-winning projects to increase supply through various interven-

Eastern Cape Chairman: Hennie Greeﬀ Tel: +27(0)41 453 3102 Secretary/Treasurer: Chris Dickson Tel: +27(0)41 507 8200

www.ewisa.co.za

Free State Chairperson: D.R. Tlhomelang Tel: +27(0)51 403 0800 Secretary/ Treasurer: Riana Wessels Tel: +27(0)56-515-0375 KwaZulu-Natal Chairman: Chris Fennemore Tel: +27 (0)31 311 8734 Secretary/ Treasurer: Stephanie Walsh Tel: +27 (0)31 302-4077 Western Cape Chairman: Gareth McConkey Tel: +27(0) 21 712 4260 Secretary/ Treasurer: Eleonore Bondesio Tel: +27(0)21 872 0322 WISA mission statement The Water Institute of Southern Africa provides a forum m for exchange of information and views to improve water resource management in Southern Africa.

Endorsed by

tions in the Eastern Cape ‒ South Africa s poorest province. Less heartening is how many private companies appear to be securing independent water supply. In 2015, how will the industry pull together to ensure South Africa s energy diﬃculties don t aﬀect the my) irreparably? water sector (and the economy) Frances Ringwood

APOLOGY In the last issue of Water&Sanitation, Dr Piet Meyer's name was left oﬀ the Hot Seat strap. We apologise to Aquatan for the oversight.

COVER OPPORTUNITY In each issue, Water&Sanitation Africa oﬀers companies the opportunity to get to the front of the line by placing a company, product or service on the front cover of the magazine. Buying this position will aﬀord the advertiser the cover story and maximum exposure. For more information on cover bookings contact Avé Delport on +27 (0)83 302 1342 or email avedel@lantic.net

JANU JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

COVER STORY

Going modular and mobile in Technology and solutions provider NuWater is in the process of finalising its first large-scale municipal contract using a completely modular and mobile plant to provide additional water treatment capacity at an existing facility on a multi-year build, own and operate basis. By John Holmes*

is quite simply commercial ﬂexibility. Although in some cases these solutions are used tactically while ﬁxed infrastructure is being put in place or expanded, the company is quickly getting past the view that its solutions are temporary in nature. NuWater has rather demonstrated that they are an elegant way of minimising the risks associated with infrastructure projects, and that they

UWATER IS PROBABLY

proven the performance, reliability

make short-term own and operate

best

and cost-eﬀectiveness of its plants

water treatment projects commer-

Africa for its modular and

over a number of years with

cially viable. Instead of having to

mobile water treatment

manding customers in the mining

sign a ten- or twenty-year services

and desalination solutions provided

sector. It has long been imminent

contract or water purchase agree-

to the mining sector. However, as

that the rapidly deployable nature of

ment, the company is able to oﬀer its

municipal water treatment infra-

NuWater s plants, and the ﬂexibility

customers contract periods from as

structure comes under increasing

they provide, would become increas-

little as three years on the basis that

strain following years of under-in-

ingly attractive to the municipal

the company can easily redeploy its

vestment, NuWater s solutions are

water treatment sector. It was how-

plants to another customer at the

gaining

from

ever important that the company

end of the contract and therefore

municipalities due to their rapid

ﬁrst demonstrated the eﬀectiveness

does not need to recover the full

deployment capability and technical

of both the technology, as well as

capital investment over the contract

and commercial ﬂexibility.

its build, own and operate service

life. The onus is therefore on NuWater

NuWater has pioneered large-scale

model, in the private sector, in order

to demonstrate the performance and

modular and mobile water treatment

to provide the necessary assurances

cost-eﬀectiveness of its solutions in

and desalination plants and

to more conservative and risk-averse

order to secure contract extensions,

public sector customers.

and the customer retains ﬂexibility

N An ultrafiltration module being delivered on a flatbed truck to the Vereeniging plant

known

signiﬁcant

interest

South

the company has

de-

should its water treatment require-

Flexibility advantage

ments change over time.

The appeal of NuWater s modular and mobile solutions

The seemingly obvious argument from competitors is that a series of short-term contracts will cost more over the long term. However when construction time and associated risks of large

JANUAR JA JAN A UA UAR AR Y/F Y// EBR R UAR UA A RY Y 2015 20 0155 JANUARY/FEBRUARY

COVER STORY

municipal water treatment and inﬂexible ﬁxed infrastructure

that the plant could

are factored in, the ﬁrm believes its

proposition is compelling, and it

another

has major brand-name customers

at the end of what

that can conﬁrm this. In many cases,

was

NuWater s customers can t accept the

long time periods required to plan

contract

and negotiate long-term contracts or

made

accommodate extended construction

for

periods when they have immediate

oﬀer

and critical treatment capacity short-

terms that were also

ages. Under such circumstances, the

attractive to Anglo.

company s ability to have a plant on

relocated

The fact that the plant could be relocated to another customer, at the end of what was considered to be a short contract period, made it possible for NuWater to offer commercial terms that were also attractive to Anglo

customer, considered

short period,

possible

NuWater

The

commercial

plant

itself

the ground and commissioned within

consists of ultraﬁl-

weeks rather than years and on a

tration modules for

short-term, own and operate contract

suspended

basis, becomes attractive.

removal

solids RO

management team did recognise was

for dissolved solids (dissolved salts)

the ﬂexibility of the solution to adjust

Mining case study

removal, or desalination. The control

to changing requirements over time.

An example of a NuWater modular

room and pumping station are also

This allowed them to rather reassess

and mobile plant, which it owns

stand-alone modules. The beauty of

and renew the contract on a periodic

and operates for Anglo American s

NuWater s modular solution is that

basis based on actual performance

New Vaal Colliery in Vereeniging,

capacity can be added and removed

and

shows how the plant technology

without

ongoing

treatment requirements, rather than

and commercial model work. The

production of the plant. This allowes

trying to capture the eventuality in

plant treats up to 20 million litres

engineers to get the ﬁrst modules on

a long-term contract, which would

of mine wastewater a day, with the

the ground and operational fast, and

have been the case for conventional

high-quality treated and desalinated

to then scale up production by adding

ﬁxed infrastructure.

water being sent to the neighbouring

additional modules over subsequent

NuWater is pleased to have been

Eskom Lethabo power station for pro-

weeks, ticking an important box for

able to repay Anglo management s

cess and cooling purposes. This both

Anglo. More recently, the ﬂexibility

vision and trust in our ability and

ensures that wastewater from the

of the company s modular design

commitment to deliver a highly

mine does not impact the surround-

has also allowed it to reconﬁgure the

eﬀective water treatment and desal-

ing environment ‒ including the Vaal

plant to handle deteriorating feed-

ination solution.

River itself ‒ as well as reducing the

water quality and higher produced

amount of water drawn from the Vaal

water requirements from the Lethabo

Public sector applicability

River by the power station ‒ a great

power

NuWater

step towards environmental sustain-

resulted in major disruption and cost

convincing municipalities that they

ability in the local area.

for a ﬁxed plant, if it was possible to

would realise the same beneﬁts

achieve at all.

seen at Anglo New Vaal Colliery. The

The

original

project

tender

documents issued by Anglo were for a

and

impacting

station.

the

This

would

have

Following a number of short-term

changes

now

feedwater

succeeding

and

company expects to have its ﬁrst

ﬁxed plant. At the same time, the mine

contract

NuWater s

large-scale municipal contract for a

wanted the supplier to build, own and

performance at the mine has been re-

completely modular and mobile plant

operate the plant but did not want to

warded by a further multi-year exten-

ﬁnalised in January 2015. NuWater

commit to more than a two-year initial

sion. Anglo New Vaal s management

will build, own and operate this plant.

contract period. This combination

team has never really seen the plant

Owning and operating our plants

of requirements appeared to be

as a temporary solution. They took a

and providing water treatment as

impossible

NuWater

calculated risk on what at that time

a service to our customers means

however saw it as an ideal opportunity

was NuWater s untested modular and

we have plenty of skin in the game

to combine its suite of advanced

mobile solution, as no one else had

and are therefore incentivised to

technologies, including its compact,

demonstrated this concept at this

keep costs as low as possible while

high-performance and patented 16″

sort of scale. The risk was however

maintaining

reverse osmosis (RO) technology, into

mitigated by the fact that NuWater

high

a completely modular and mobile

was eﬀectively taking the technical

levels speciﬁed in

plant that could be rapidly deployed

and commercial risk ‒ if it didn t work,

the

and was completely scalable. The fact

Anglo wouldn t pay. What the mine s

our customer.

reconcile.

extensions,

NuWater’s modular and mobile plant, which it owns and operates for Anglo American’s New Vaal Colliery in Vereeniging, Gauteng

*John Holmes is the CEO of NuWater

the

performance contract

with

t +27 (0)21 531 0641 www.nuwaterglobal.com

In each issue, Water&Sanitation Africa oﬀers advertisers the opportunity to promote their company s products and services to an appropriate audience by booking the prime position of the front cover, which includes a feature article. The magazine oﬀers advertisers an ideal JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 platform to ensure maximum exposure of their brand. Please call Avé Delport on +27 (0)11 467 6224/ +27 (0)83 302 1342 to secure your booking.

CEO’S COMMENT

One-on-one with

WISA’s CEO WISA’s W ISA new CEO Lester Goldman speaks to Frances F ra anc Ringwood at WISA’s Midrand offices to discuss d isscu the institute’s big plans for future growth. ABOVE Lester Goldman comes from a finance background and was appointed WISA’s new CEO early in 2014

Africa s

NEW

BROOM

sweeps

industry since the development of

whistle-blowers face losing business

clean, as the old saying

so much new technology and poli-

or other vital contacts if they speak

goes,

Water

cies for implementing better water

up about what goes wrong.

Southern

management at government level

and

Institute

the

2014-appointed CEO has

tance of coming to the institute for

some big plans for streamlining departments within the organisation,

Goldman s response to the problem is again to stress the impor-

are coming into effect.

Institute vision

guidance and assistance, as to how

creating efficient media engage-

Ultimately I want to be a part of the

to effectively communicate those

ment platforms on a careful and

effort to ensure a vision where kids

issues. Our strategy for this type of

considered basis and driving new

that don t have water in Southern

engagement heading into the new

membership growth.

Africa get access to clean, quality

year is not changing substantially.

It s by being part of WISA that

tap water. That s the vision I aspire

I do get calls from the mainstream

people can make a difference. I

to. And yes, it might sound naive

media for comment on water issues

think that s part of the governance

but I believe that if we take those

as they happen, and my general

structure I m looking for. We re

naive ideas and we implement

response is that engagement with

saying to patron members and

them successfully, I think we re on

those types of media is not really

anybody out there who wants to

the right track. Even implementing

within

they must join WISA. If you are already a member of WISA, come and join a committee or come and make an offer to volunteer

“It’s by being part of WISA that people can make a difference.”

your services, says Goldman. I need that support. I regard it

mandate. got

However, divisions

that from a technical perspective

may

able to comment on some of these issues independently. It is my

risk mitigation strategies in that

sincere aim that soon, we will be

direction is the right direction for us

able to make those commentaries.

as a strength that I don t have any

to be going.

preconceived ideas or conceptions

We ve

heard

Importantly, we need to coordigovernment

say

nate this type of communication

about what the sector needs to

often that it can t do it alone. And as

as a unified body. We need to

solve the challenges its members

the CEO of WISA, I can t do it alone.

create a structure where experts

face. What I need is for stakeholders

As a board, we can t do it alone.

are able to comment, without fear.

to come to us and communicate

That is why we need our members

We are in the process of preparing

challenges and possible solutions,

to step forward and communicate,

the infrastructure to have experts

he adds.

says Goldman.

address these technical questions from a professional perspective,

WISA has an experienced board

our

we ve

make a difference, that

of water sector professionals but

Sector advocacy

according to Goldman, that board is

There is an issue with advocacy

WISA also plans to increase its al-

continuously rotated and renewed.

in the water sector. It s difficult

ready-extensive membership base,

concludes Goldman.

So my request to the general mem-

for suppliers at the coalface to

in order to create greater industry

bership is that they be part of that

come forward and talk about it

cohesion, and ultimately work with

change,

he says. It s an exciting

when they witness a management

all stakeholders within the sector, to

time for all members of the water

problem or corruption, because

improve delivery and impact.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

PRESIDENT ’S COMMENT

The importance of communications in science and engineering It has been encouraging for all of us to see the mainstream media taking water issues seriously, such ma as tthe News24 article entitled: ‘South Africa’s looming a water disaster’. wat w ABOVE ABOVE Jo Burgess, president of WISA

ATER PROFESSIONALS have identified

is our job to ensure that we have a

the communication expertise that is

well-informed national media.

needed, while WISA staff have com-

problems with some

munications channels but cannot

Media engagement

be experts in every topic. If we, as

ing made about the root causes of

How do we as sector professionals

the technical divisions and regional

some of the headline-hitting events,

and specialists ensure that the

branches, empower WISA s commu-

such as the recent water supply fail-

right messages and awareness is

nications staff and give them access

ures across parts of Johannesburg.

given to the public, including chal-

to knowledgeable human resources,

A great deal of email traffic inevi-

lenging incorrect and inconsistent

they will be able to start engaging

tably ensued between actors in the

media reports?

better with the media, and we will

of the statements be-

water sector, with viewpoints being

We have to recognise that strate-

argued for and against, and a robust

gic communication ‒ part of which

debate developing regarding the

is media engagement ‒ is not just a

cause, to some extent, and the re-

support function but an important

quired corrective action, to a much

and integral part of our business;

If so, where would they get the resources?

greater extent. This is fine ‒ this is

knowledgeable water experts need

By leveraging the vast pool of

healthy, and it often leads to cor-

to work with communication ex-

knowledge in the WISA members;

rective actions that are substantially

perts to engage the media the right

there are already excellent sector

peer-reviewed. However, the big-

way. If we make resources available

publications, but these are read

gest problem with the arguments

for developing and providing the

by us, not the general public.

being presented is that they have

media with facts, data sets, possi-

Repurposing and repackaging the

been in private: unless the water

ble story angles, arguments and

information that we already have

sector is willing to speak frequently

different viewpoints, we can drive

for public consumption will make

and clearly to people outside of its

how they report on our issues. If we

great strides in the understanding

own community, we cannot lay the

don t, they will do it their way, often

of water issues by the public. We

blame for what we may perceive

with a focus on bad rather than

can engage with the media by

as poor public understanding of

good news.

sending them the right information.

ence into the noise.

We should think about providing

water issues and the water cycle at

data-driven, factual press releases

media is to identify and highlight

Where do we find the resources for this? Is it something WISA could do?

issues the public sees as important

Yes, but WISA cannot do it alone ‒

Some media do pick this up and

for debate at the appropriate public

because you, the members, might

copy-paste what you write. And

level. But as water professionals, it

have the water expertise but lack

don t forget the importance of

the feet of mainstream media. In a democratic society, the role of the

be able to raise the voice of experi-

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 2014

which explain not only the what and why but also the background.

PRESIDENT ’S COMMENT

timing! Journalists operate in a fastpaced environment ‒ if you take too long to act or react, it s already not news any more.

Why bother? To answer this question, we will share an experience that highlights the

power

communication

through schools and children, which is one of the most effective means of transferring messages. Fifteen years ago, a cost recovery system was implemented in Mankweng township (with a population of about 18 000) in Limpopo. The area hosted all levels of service and revenue management from billing

meters,

prepaid

meters,

fixed-rate tariffs, house connections, yard

connections

and

roadside

standpipes. Cost recovery before the project was as little as R2 000 per month. There was both a technical component (new meters, billing equipment, meter readers, higher levels

service)

and

social

component, which included radio advertisements, community drama, and a school art competition. The school art competition focused on

We have to recognise that strategic communication, part of which is ‘media engagement’, is not just a support function but an important and integral part of our business

the seven secondary and primary schools in the area. Financial prizes

that the poorest household would

community, the families were moti-

were awarded for the best student

not be disadvantaged if they had

vated to read the flyers, to learn and

artists

top

to use free natural resources) and

interpret the story provided and to

five, and the like) and a prize was

the theme of the art piece had

create an art piece that they would

offered to the winning school. The

to embrace something that was

be proud of and be recognised

prizes started at R1 000 for the top

written or described in the A5 flyer

for within a competitive environ-

students in primary and secondary,

about the water cycle. Students

ment, and in the hope of winning

and R4 000 for the top schools.

would take their flyers home to their

first prize. We are a competitive

Each student was given an A5

family, for them to read, advise and

nation ‒ riding on this value can

flyer which described the water

discuss ideas of what to produce

be effective!

cycle (in pictures and a written

whilst subconsciously or consciously

story, and at a level that was

reinforcing key messages pertaining

the

comprehensible to all students). It

to the water cycle, revenue manage-

delayed by two months, the social

described where water comes from,

ment and the project that was being

component continued as planned.

how and why it is treated, how and

implemented. There was a massive

In the first month after the social

where it is distributed, the different

response from all the students and

component

levels of service available, water

schools, and following adjudication

revenue increased from R2 000 per

conservation, sustainability issues,

there was a spectacular prize-giv-

month to over R50 000 per month.

why and how much we should be

ing with dancing, drama, singing

This money was only from those

paying for water in terms of cost

and speeches, but a fun day for all

customers who knew what they had

per kilolitre and fixed rate tariffs for

the kids and their families, while

to pay ‒ i.e. those on fixed-rate tar-

whom it applies, and also where

re-emphasising the key messages

iffs, or if they already had billing me-

people should go to pay for water.

around the water cycle, conserva-

ters that were read, but which they

Children were invited to create a

tion and payment of the service

had not paid for previously. People

piece of art, whether a drawing, a

being provided.

started paying because for the first

(primary,

secondary,

picture, a model ‒ anything artistic and made from any material (so

The

school

art

Now, here s the thing: although technical

component

was

implemented,

competition

time they had the knowledge of

reached every household in the

why they have to pay and how and

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

PRESIDENT ’S COMMENT

New for old

where they have to do so. The power of school children, schools and competitions to get important messages over is truly potent and often underutilised.

Constant communication If you travel to Singapore, the education of the water and sanitation business, including water reuse and recycling, is transferred all the way through the children s school career. It is integrated within the curricula, culminating in regular visits to water treatment and sewage treatment plants, new

water

and water recy-

KROHNE WATERFLUX meets SANS1529-1:2006 fit for trade metrology – exceeds class D Specifications

cling

factories,

reservoirs,

the

barrage,

and

similar facilities. The

children

continuously take

messages

home to their families leave

and school

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proud

about the water and

sanitation

business, being of

the

infrastructure they are responsible for as a community and

If positive messages are transferred through learners right at the grass roots, at the schools and through these wonderful ‘communication vehicles’ in the form of our greatest assets – school children – then we can eliminate misconceptions

with no hangups around issues such as sanitation or water recycling,

Its unique, RILSAN -lined measuring tube is wear-free and without mobile measuring parts, eliminating the need for maintenance. This reduces follow-up costs for statutory recalibrations – as an overhaul or replacement of the water meter is no longer necessary.

which is unfortunately often the case in other countries, including South Africa. Sanitation is sometimes thought of as being a dirty word, and reuse of water is socially rejected, as it is deemed unacceptable to drink what others have already used; however, if positive messages are transferred

Both the low initial costs and the significantly reduced operating costs pay off in daily operation. Employ the WATERFLUX instead of mechanical bulk water meters and create financial freedom for new projects – simply exchange new for old.

through learners right at the grass roots, at the schools and through these wonderful communication vehicles in the form of our greatest assets ‒ school children ‒ then we can eliminate misconceptions and create greater awareness of the water business through our nation, whilst maximising water conservation and revenue management, and encour-

KROHNE – Water is our world.

aging sustainability of our resources and infrastructure. There are many effective ways of transferring knowledge

Please see our website for more information ZZZ NURKQH FRP ZDWHUëX[ VHULHV

to our people ‒ this is just one good news story I wanted to share with you, in the hope that it may initiate further such interventions in future.

KROHNE South Africa 8 Bushbuck Close Corporate Park South Randtjiespark, Midrand Tel.: +27 113141391 Fax: +27 113141681 Cell: +27 825563934 John Alexander j.alexander@krohne.com www.za.krohne.com

*With sincere gratitude to Mark Bannister of DWS, and Sören Bauer of WaterComm, for kind permission to repeat their valuable insights and experiences described in this article. Accuracy and credit belong to them; any mistakes belong to me. Bannister can be contacted at his email bannisterm@dwa.gov.za or by phone on +27 (0)12 336 8841 for more information on the Mankweng cost recovery project and Bauer can be emailed at sbauer@watercomm.net, if anyone wishes to find out more about how to drive the reporting of media on water issues.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

WISA NEWS | YOUNG WATER PROFESSIONALS

A rewarding year in water Sub-Saharan Africa has the fastest population growth (projected between now and 2050) and the highest youth population in the world. This reality makes the youth-bulge in the population bell-curve a pressing concern.

LTHOUGH THE growth

bears reflecting on the highs and

need of support in terms of under-

prospects of the continent

lows that were last year. This article

standing journal editor s require-

are

marginally

positive

is dedicated to those institutions

ments and how to get their work

esti-

and companies that have contrib-

published. Given this context, YWP-

mates at 4.8% in 2013 and 5.3% in

uted to the growth of the South

ZA decided to host a Publication

2014, 40 million young people are

African Young Water Professionals

Workshop Series.

estimated to be out of work and

(YWP-ZA) programme, a division of

many more in poor employment.

the International Water Association

The

(IWA) and the Water Institute of

with

African

growth

Economic

rate

Outlook

estimates that 53 million of Africa s

Southern Africa (WISA).

200 million young people between the ages of 15 and 24 are in unstable

Strong scientiﬁc output

employment and 40 million young

For YWP-ZA, 2014 kicked oﬀ with the

Africans are out of work. However,

YWP Publications Workshop Series,

while 18 million of them are looking

held from 21 January to 6 February.

for a job, 22 million have already

The publication of articles in journals

given up.

Mpumalanga YWPs with the winners of the Crocodile Catchment Forum event

By monitoring the paper acceptance rate associated with the last three YWPZA conferences, it became apparent that YWPs are in need of support

not only establishes a researcher s

The purpose of these events was to

For the lucky employed young

expertise and reputation in a chosen

equip students with the skills need-

people in the South African water

ﬁeld, but is also a requirement for

ed to publish in leading international

and sanitation sectors today, there

the training of all postgraduate

journals. Facilitated by Professor

is a lot to be thankful for ‒ these

students. By monitoring the paper

Gustaf Olsson (IWA Publishing Award

are luckier still because of sector

acceptance rate associated with the

holder and former editor-in-chief of

contributions from employers and

last three YWP-ZA Conferences, it

mentors. As a new year rolls in, it

became apparent that YWPs are in

Water Science and Technology) the workshops covered writing skills,

JANUAR ARY/FEBRUAR R Y 2015 JANUARY/FEBRUARY

WISA NEWS | YOUNG WATER PROFESSIONALS

practical activities, review systems

particularly in encouraging school

may already have by allowing them

and extensive interrogation of partic-

pupils to pursue a career in the

to have face-to-face conversations

ipant papers.

water sector.

with managers and directors from

The

main

outcome

the

across the water sector. Sponsorships

Publications Workshop Series was

Crocodile Catchment Forum

from the CSIR, the EWSETA, the

that it enabled students to complete

In collaboration with the Crocodile

Stellenbosch Water Institute, WISA,

and revise a manuscript that could

Catchment Forum, the YWPs in

and the University of the Western

be submitted for publication. A total

Mpumalanga

Cape made this event possible along

Schools from around the city debated on how water should be managed and whether development should trump human rights

coordinated

the

of 65 students were

science school project competition

with all employers that sent staﬀ to

supported through

aimed at educating and creating

take part in this event.

this programme.

water

and

sanitation

awareness

YWP

in schools, and in celebration of

Programme is greatly

National Water Week 2014. The adju-

Rising and shining in the Eastern Cape

indebted to its spon-

dication event was held at Tshwane

On 2 August, the Eastern Cape

sors for this event:

University of Technology on 15

branch of the YWP was launched.

the

March last year.

The event was held at Rhodes

The

Department and

Key partners and sponsors in-

University with participation from

WISA,

cluded the Crocodile Catchment

up to 80 young water professionals

Forum, ICMA, Dormehl Technology,

who were eager to ﬁnd out more

Johannesburg

Young

Professionals,

about the organisation. Professor

and the University

SembCorp Silulumanzi, Sappi and

Tally Palmer gave a thought-provok-

of Stellenbosch.

the

Education.

ing keynote address about water,

Eighteen teams from the schools

governance and complexity. She

eThekwini Municipality

around Ehlanzeni entered for the

gave the audience a window into

YWP-ZA also participated in the

competition of constructing a water

her own personal journey as a young

eThekwini

Student

treatment model. The competition

water professional and ﬁnished with

Water and Sanitation Conference

targeted Grade 10 and 11 students.

some advice on how to conﬁdently

held on 20 March last year.

Winning teams were aﬀorded the

make a diﬀerence in the water sec-

Inga Jacobs was invited to be the

opportunity to present their models

tor. Following this session, Prudence

motivational speaker at this con-

at the WISA Biennial Conference in

Mambo, from the Environmental

ference and the YWP KZN chapter

Mbombela in May.

Biotechnology Research Unit, pre-

Science

Technology, the

University

Municipality

Water

Department

was called on to be the event s

Entering the water sector

of wastewater, which sparked a con-

Mayor of eThekwini, the Durban City

In the Western Cape, YWPs organised

versation about technology uptake

Hall was packed with 2 000 school

a career development event on 27

and implementation.

learners, 205 councilors, 408 user

March last year aimed at bridging the

The event could not have hap-

platform members and 80 focus

gap between YWPs and employers,

pened without the space aﬀorded

group members.

entitled Enter the Water Sector . The

by the Environmental Learning and

city

event helped young professionals

Research Centre at Rhodes University

debated on how water should be

and students ﬁgure out how to po-

and sponsorship from WISA. The EC-

managed and whether develop-

sition themselves as newcomers to

YWP committee will strive to create

ment should trump human rights.

the water sector, what skills to build

a foundation for future networking

The event proved to be a success

and how to market the skills they

and events in the Eastern Cape.

Schools

sented on the biological treatment

adjudicators. Presided over by the

from

around

the

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

REGIONAL PROJEC T

More than just a drop to drink Access to reliable water and sanitation has profound benefits for the development and integrity of rural communities. Beatrix Knopjes speaks to Amatola Water CEO Mzimkulu Msiwa about the impact of the King Sabata Dalindyebo Presidential Intervention (KSD PI).

MATOLA

WATER

has

been

non-proﬁt

organisation

based

East

given the gargantuan task of

London. Operating with the ethos of

implementing

and

bringing water to life , they will implement

sanitation

projects

water ‒

ABOVE Reservoir built to provide water to Libode town and surrounds BELOW Offloading of steel pipes for Mqanduli corridor

worth

a series of water and wastewater infrastruc-

R2.73 billion and expected to be completed

ture upgrades, on behalf of the O.R. Tambo

Rosedale water treatment works (WTWs):

by 2017 ‒ in Mthatha as part of the KSD PI.

District Municipality, to address service

• Rosedale to Nqadu

Msiwa explains: The president initiated an

backlogs and provide a reliable water supply

• Rosedale to Libode and Ngqeleni

intervention programme to upgrade the in-

to the area. Msiwa says, The groundwater

• Thornhill to Mthatha Airport, Bedford

frastructure at Mthatha, as it is an important

was not going to be suﬃcient to support

Hospital, Mthatha Military Base and sur-

commercial node within the district. This

the economic and social development of

intervention will bring about diﬀerent types

Mthatha, especially in terms of new housing

• Thornhill to Mqanduli via Viedgesville.

of infrastructure, from roads and transport

developments. The project as a whole is

The initial intervention will focus on a radius

to water and sanitation.

evident of government s commitment to

of 30 km from the Mthatha Dam and will

The town of Mthatha, part of the King

improving the livelihood of the people living

use the approved water-use licence of 150

Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality, is

in the impoverished area, through providing

million ℓ per day.

surrounded by a number of rural villages

a stable supply of water and signiﬁcantly im-

where access to potable water is limited or

proving their standard

non-existent. The KSD PI aims to rectify ser-

of living.

rounding areas

Durable pipes for a 50 km radius of supply Ultimately, the supply area of Mthatha Dam

vice-delivery shortfalls in the area, including the provision of water and sanitation

Pipeline network

will be extended to a 50 km radius and will

services. This is where Amatola

The Mthatha Dam

signiﬁcantly improve service-delivery stand-

Water steps in.

will feed into four

ards and the quality of life in the region, as

corridors

the

the people in the surrounding rural areas

and

will, for the ﬁrst time in their history, receive

Amatola

state-owned,

Thornhill

via

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

REGIONAL PROJEC T

FUNDER

ACTUAL EXPENDITURE 2013/14

EXPENDITURE 2014/15 TO DATE

MIG

R126.4 million

R2.51 million

RBIG

R151.25 million

R100.55 million

Totals

R277.65 million

R103.06 million

TABLE 1 The KSD PI has received funding from the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) and the Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG) LEFT Stripping of clarifier shuttering at Thornhill WTW in Mthatha challenges in a project of this nature. The timelines for environmental authorisation were competing with the funding. Some of the infrastructure aﬀected local communities and there had to be negotiations with them about the service upgrades, and occasionally relocating homes where pipelines needed to be laid. It is an intensive and ongoing process.

Social beneﬁts The project encompasses a 30 km radius around the Mthatha Dam, which is 8 km from the town of Mthatha. It will integrate the existing stand-alone schemes and so increase the reliability of a Blue Drop quality water supply to some 100 000 households in quality puriﬁed water for consumption.

many

Water

the area. The project has been designed to

Msiwa says, Because we are dealing with

has achieved since their appointment to

allow for yard connections for households

long distances and pressure, we are using

assist O.R. Tambo District Municipality in

that can aﬀord it, and this will also go a long

more durable steel pipelines.

October 2012.

way to bettering people s livelihoods in

accomplishments

Amatola

The steel pipes, ranging in diameter from

rural areas.

500 mm to 600 mm, will be used in the

Solving problems

construction of a 34 km pipeline that will

The Mthatha River has suﬀered from pollu-

run through the Mqanduli via Viedgesville

tion and the environment has been degrad-

lion m3, Mthatha Dam has been underuti-

corridor. The glass-ﬁbre-reinforced polyes-

ed due to poor maintenance and spillages

lised and residents in the area have relied

ter pipes, which range from a diameter of

from pump stations and the Wellington

on groundwater for their drinking water.

200 mm to 400 mm, are earmarked for the

Prison WWTW. These pump stations will

Msiwa explains the reason for this:

Mthatha Airport corridor.

be eliminated with the wastewater up-

Department of Water Aﬀairs, now the

grades and the environmental integrity will

Department of Water and Sanitation, had a

improve overall.

policy about special-purpose dams; Mthatha

The Mthatha Military Base, the Mthatha Airport and an area in Zamukulungisa are

Despite being the largest dam in the Eastern Cape, with a capacity of 254 mil-

The

being used as storage sites for the pipes.

Speaking of the challenges encountered

Dam was predominantly built for hydropow-

Delivery of the pipes has been one of the

thus far, Msiwa explains, There are naturally

er. There were limitations on what could be used for water supply and the quality

“This project will be setting the standard of water supply. We have never had a water supply system that is adequate for an environment that combines towns and villages.” Mzimkulu Msiwa, CEO, Amatola Water

was insufficient. Frequent failures of boreholes have led to the collapse of the existing water schemes. By linking into these dysfunctional schemes, operational and maintenance costs will be reduced. So far, 628 local jobs have been created and R23 million has been paid in wages. This goes a long way in boosting the local economy, especially as 12 out of the 41 water and sanitation projects, amounting to R443 million, currently in construction, have been awarded to local contractors. The local municipalities linked to this water and sanitation project will benefit by enjoying improved financial viability. The reliability of the upgraded water supply will

Amatola Water interim CEO Mzimkulu Msiwa (left) discusses the progress of King Sabata Dalindyebo Presidential Intervention with President Zuma

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

REGIONAL PROJEC T provide an enhanced level of assurance, which will directly beneﬁt the Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital pilot National Health Insurance centre, as the hospital needs a constant water supply

WATER

to operate and provide health-care services to the community. Elaborating on the social beneﬁts of the KSD PI, Msiwa says: The communities will be provided with water that meets Blue Drop standards. This will lead to a huge enhancement in terms

Water Supply | Water Treatment | Industrial Water Management Minesite Water Management | Water Reuse & Recycling Chemistry and Geochemistry | Numerical Modelling

of public health to the people who are within the radius of that infrastructure. It will go a long way to relieving the burden for schoolgoing children from fetching water. It increases the opportunity of revenue generation. Naturally, there are also economic beneﬁts, including cultural tourism.

Water management

Msiwa puts forward that rural life will be improved by the provision of water and sanitation to what are predominantly rural

for sustainable business

villages surrounding Mthatha. I envisage that it is going to be a liveable area that supports a fully rural life, because the quality of water we are providing to the households is not only for drinking, but also for small-scale vegetable gardens, small-scale poultry and pig farming, and so on. On a light note, he adds: It is also water for traditional uses, which we normally don t plan for. When the boys come back from the initiation schools there is a lot of beer brewing that happens and it requires a lot of water.

Project status The whole intervention is anticipated to be completed in 2017, provided all the funding requirements are met on time. To date, the following has been completed: • of the 100 km of steel pipes and GRP procured in the 2013/2014 ﬁnancial year, 8% have been laid • the Libode corridor is 81% complete with 29 km out of the 36 km pipelines installed • raw water projects are 68% complete with 3 km of 4.4 km of raw water steel pipelines already installed from the Mthatha Dam to the Thornhill WTW • the upgrade of Thornhill WTW from 60 Mℓ to 80 Mℓ per day is 85% complete • the main DN1200 northern outfall bulk sewers are 15% complete • the upgrade of Mthatha WWTW from 12 Mℓ to 18 Mℓ per day is 90% complete. This project will set the standard of water supply. We have never had a water supply system that is adequate for an environment that combines towns and villages. We have always treated towns separately from rural villages and we can now start ﬁnding a middle ground. People who move to town do so because there is water. When you are able to provide a balanced system between

WorleyParsons has a strong track record in delivering innovative solutions utilising pipelines, groundwater and membrane technologies and sustainability modelling for cost-effective water solutions.

rural areas and towns, town migration happens because there is a real opportunity for work. That choice must not be driven by a lack of services in rural areas, concludes Msiwa.

ABOUT AMATOLA WATER Amatola Water, a stateowned, non-profit business enterprise accountable to the Minister of Water and Environmental Aﬀairs, was created jointly by na onal, provincial and local community stakeholders to serve as a mul -service, bulk water services provider. It aims to assist local government in the eﬀec ve development and sustainable opera on and maintenance of a safe, reliable water supply and wastewater services. Amatola Water is commi ed to improving the quality of people´s lives and recognises the challenges all levels of government in the water sector face. The eradica on of water and sanita on backlogs is central to the suppor ve role that Amatola Water plays in this regard.

- Over 30 years’ experience - Deep local knowledge - Global expertise - BBBEE Level 2

countries

166

www.worleyparsons.com JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

offices

37,500

people

HOT SEAT

Treatment technology

all-rounder Henk Smit, Sales Director of Vovani Water Products, speaks to Water&Sanitation Africa about his company’s onestop-shop offerings providing convenience and customer satisfaction to the water treatment market. 16

OW DOES your company s products and services oﬀer a convenient, cost eﬀective, sustainable solution?

of their water solution from one

HS Vovani Water Products

from VWP, it makes it more cost

(VWP) supplies products which

eﬀective for them as we provide

complement each other and

our clients with unique oﬀerings

can be used together in the

when they obtain combina-

manufacturing of a water

tions of our products for their

treatment plant, making

treatment plants.

it convenient for original

company instead of various service providers. As OEM companies can obtain several of the essential elements of their water treatment plant

We carry stock in South Africa

equipment manufacturers

of some of our fast-moving

(OEM) to buy all these elements

commodity products, and as

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

HOT SEAT

our suppliers also have stock

vessels from ROPV, Micro- and

suppliers are a huge advantage,

available at their manufacturing

ultraﬁltration membranes from

as clients are able to tap into

What specialised services do you offer? We are able

facilities, we are able to deliver

IMT, ﬂexible couplings from

our suppliers technical and

to assist clients in the design

orders to clients with eﬃcient

PASS, centrifugal pumps and

experiential knowledge base

of their RO rack systems, as

lead times. Currently, we are also

energy recovery devices from

when they are working with

well as the UF rack systems

increasing our stock capability in

Fedco, low-ﬂow ultraﬁltration

VWP on a project. This access

and we make use of the IMT

order to service our clients even

systems from Aqua Solutions,

that our clients have to the

UF design tool to work with

more eﬀectively. VWP will be

which uses no electricity to

manufacturers of the products

clients to make the best use

stocking a wider range of ﬁbre-

produce treated water, and

we represent gives them peace

of the UF membranes for

glass reinforced (FRP) pressure

Phileas disinfection fogging

of mind about the quality of the

their application.

vessels, ﬂexible couplings and ul-

systems from Devea.

products and the service that is

traﬁltration membrane modules.

All the products we represent

oﬀered to them.

VWP also assists with installations of our

and supply are used across the

AquaSentry and UF Pro low-

TECHNOLOGY What key technologies does your company oﬀer? Two of

world, and have international

our product oﬀerings can be

which demonstrate the quality of

seen as our key technologies

the products and the quality con-

SERVICES What services does your company oﬀer and how does your customer engagement deliver client assurance?

‒ the IMT ultraﬁltration

trol these products are subjected

We oﬀer our clients training on

membranes and the Fedco

to. This ensures clients receive

all the products we represent,

centrifugal pumps and energy

the highest quality products for

so they are familiar with our

recovery devices.

their processes or application.

products and the use of them.

CASE STUDIES Can you provide some examples where your products or services were used in the field where the client was particularly impressed? VWP supplied

certiﬁcations from various countries and certiﬁcation institutions,

flow UF systems.

We support all our clients

FRP pressure vessels, flexible

using our products as part of

couplings and multistage

their water treatment solution,

centrifugal pumps for a

bore ultraﬁltration membranes

How do these products ﬁt within the SANS speciﬁcations? All the products

to ensure implementation

wastewater treatment

for inside-out ﬁltration. More

we supply have international

on-site is done correctly and

application at ArcelorMittal

commonly

certiﬁcations such as ASME,

eﬀectively. That means our

VWP represents IMT polyethersulfone

(PES)

ultraﬁltration

membranes, which are multi-

known

trademarked

the

SevenBore

membranes, they are 20 times stronger than other single bore membranes, and the unique development

from

IMT

has

increased the aﬃnity to water of these PES UF membranes, which has assisted in reducing fouling

tendencies

and

in-

creasing the lifetime of the IMT UF membranes. Our wide range of Fedco multi- and single stage centrifugal pumps, and the energy recovery devices called the Hydraulic Pressure Booster, are speciﬁcally focused on RO and NF applications. VWP and Fedco can give clients their next project the ideal pumping solution for their

in Vanderbijlpark in 2012. The d delivery time of the products

PRODUCTS Vovani Water Products (VWP) supplies: • FRP pressure vessels to house nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membranes • Micro- and ultrafiltration membrane (MF/UF) modules, in single bore and multi bore membrane fibres • Flexible couplings for low and high pressure applications to connect pipework to FRP pressure vessels and MF/UF membrane modules • Single- and multi-stage centrifugal pumps for NF and RO applications • Energy recover y devices for RO high pressure applications • Low-flow ultrafiltration systems for smaller applications using low or no electricity to produce potable drinking water from sur face or borehole water. The products from international companies that VWP represents and supplies to the Southern African market, are specifically focused on the micro-, ultra-, nano- and RO filtration applications that exist for treating various types of water: sur face, industrial waste, community, borehole, seawater and effluent.

RO or NF treatment plant, as

a and services from VWP e exceeded the expectations fr from the OEM involved. We installed our UF Pro3 300 system in 2013 at the M Mandela School of Science and T Technology in Mvezo, Eastern C Cape, that was built as part of tthe legacy of Nelson Mandela. T The water treatment unit is ssupplying

potable

drinking

w water to the pupils and staff of tthe entire school and commun nity in Mvezo.

V VISION W What is the guiding p philosophy that has made y your company the success it is today? To offer our

well as the best energy recovery

ISO ISO, CE and NSF61 NSF61. They are

clients can feel assured that we

c clients the highest quality

option when required.

widely accepted internationally

work with them to supply the

products at very competitive

and by all our clients, and

correct solution and not only

prices, accompanied by

thus acceptable by South

a product.

excellent service and after-

PRODUCTS AND EQUIPMENT What speciﬁc products and components does your company manufacture/ provide and what are the quality indicators that your clients must know about?

What partnerships has your company established that amplify your product oﬀering? The close

pumping systems we supply

VWP supplies FRP pressure

relationships VWP has with its

devices provided.

African standards.

In addition, we oﬀer main-

sales support.

tenance and service on all the to clients, in order to supply spare

parts

and

maintain

pumps and energy recovery

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

www.vovani.co.za

MINE WATER

EXPLODING THE AMD MYTH

It's NOT just water underground Highly regarded scientist and water specialist Dr Anthony Turton speaks to Frances Ringwood about the looming crisis facing mine water mitigation in South Africa and begins the conversation about how the country can avoid disaster.

HE INTERNET and other

that

unofficial

answer fast.

sources

have

South

Africans

need

been bandying about the

created only underground. If you do a mathematical extrapolation of the surface area of reactive spaces, it becomes evident that by far the biggest surface area for these reactions to take place is actually in tailings dams. By contrast, a much smaller surface area for reactions is left underground. In that space, decant rapidly oxidises the exposed faces, which creates a buﬀer zone

New perspective

where the bacteria responsible for

mines that are abandoned in South

Turton s perspective on the prob-

some of those reactions can no

Africa and now require massive

lems, based on systems thinking,

longer function.

funding for rehabilitation. Some

sheds a diﬀerent perspective on how

newspaper reports have gone as

the harms of AMD are distributed.

colossal number of 6 000

Turton s current work has been released to the scientiﬁc community

far as saying that toxic water will

What happens in coal and pre-

for independent veriﬁcation and it

be flowing freely in Johannesburg s

dominantly in gold mining, is that

is being tested in a number of uni-

streets within the next five years.

rock is brought to the surface and

versities around the world, including

But are these shock statistics? If they

ground into a ﬁne powder. This pro-

Strathclyde in Scotland; the Catholic

aren t, what is government doing to

cess creates a larger surface area for

University of Leuven in Belgium; the

solve the problem?

chemical and biophysical reactions

University of the Witwatersrand in

Renowned South African scientist

to take place and, in the process,

Johannesburg

Dr Anthony Turton weighs in on

pyrite present in the substrate is

University in Potchefstroom.

these and other hard questions

oxidised. The myth is that AMD is

and

hypothesises

North the

West

existence

of four different flow pathways, dependent on different biophysical and chemical conditions. The flow pathways are described as follows:

Flow pathway A: On the dump As just one example of a mining site in the goldﬁelds subject to acid rain, Mogale Gold s rain has a recorded pH value of 3. That rainfall lands on the ﬂat top of a dump. Dumps consist of billions of tiny round particles of quartzite that are coated ‒ Smartie-like ‒ in a layer of hydroxide. The hydroxide comes from the gold reduction process requiring a very high pH. Barren

The Mintails Mogale Gold site already treats AMD using its own proprietary technology. But Mintails is not the only concern operating at Tweelopies in Krugerdorp

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

MINE WATER particles are deposited on the dump at a high pH of about 10.5. After that happens, these tailings particles are exposed to harsh conditions of the dump. This causes the hydroxide coating ‒ the sweet part of these Smarties ‒ to crack under stress. Acid rain penetrates these small cracks and starts oxidising the pyrite. That means the

“The myth is that AMD is created only underground. If you do a mathematical extrapolation of the surface area of reactive spaces it becomes evident that by far the biggest surface area for these reactions to take place is actually in tailings dams.” Dr Anthony Turton, South African scientist

genesis of acidiﬁcation is on the dump and not actually underground. What s radical about Turton s work is that the acidiﬁcation has never been thought of in this way before, where the dump is actually the main culprit for AMD.

Flow pathway B: Wind and rain Acidic conditions on the dump arising from this rainfall then mobilise uranium. Over time, a crust

forms on the dump.

Concentrated uranium in the crust is subject to desiccation over time when subject to constant precipitation and evaporation cycles. A wind storm then blows over that crust removing millions of tonnes of concentrated uranium dust. The dust is then dispersed over a vast footprint.

Flow pathway C: Surface water Similarly, this pathway is dependent on chemical and biophysical conditions where weather

and

geographical

conditions

cause a series of pulses dispersing uranif-

chloride-rich water, not arising from AMD,

erous material over a given landscape. The

is entering the mine void through a fault.

most common deposit site for this material is wetlands. Over time, wetlands start

AMD and the law: Last in last out?

Turton shows Water&Sanitation Africa one of the site’s tailings dams. Tailings dams are one of the flow paths Turton has identified as being a major pollution source

concentrating uranium. The Council for

Government s policy has not had the

have many more years of life left in them,

Geosciences has done testing for uranium

chance yet to account for new research

but mining houses do not want to invest

on wetlands located in the goldﬁelds itself.

ﬁndings. As a result of this lack of un-

in what they perceive as a high-risk envi-

But limited research has been done on

derstanding, the approach we have to

ronment where those which are the last

wetlands outside the goldﬁelds footprint. A

ﬁxing the problem right now is reactive.

to disinvest might be left picking up the

better understanding of the importance of

Unfortunately, this activity has been driven

bill for decades of environmental damage

wetlands in mitigating the eﬀects of AMD

by environmental activists and these voic-

by multiple players. Turton s thesis on

could assist in better AMD management.

es from within society have focused too

untying the knot refers to the opportunity

Already, ecological engineers are working

much on blame. Blame-seeking behaviours

this presents to make the South African

on creating more of these natural features

have been driving government to make

legislative environment more conducive

to minimise ﬂoodwater impacts.

decisions perhaps before scientists have

to rehabilitation of mine-impacted eco-

had the time necessary to map the best

systems by incentivising investment into

Flow pathway D: The underground ﬂow pathway

response. A further negative side eﬀect

brownﬁeld sites.

Finally, there is the subsurface pathway,

behind a wall of lawyers, stymying debate

Reinventing the wheel

where there are multiple ingress points

and making genuine exchange to promote

Throughout most public debates on who

into the void, typically as leachate from

good problem-solving practices very diﬃ-

pays for the cost of AMD, government

the mine dump, which permeates grad-

cult, says Turton.

has largely stood behind the

has been to drive mining conglomerates

pays

polluter

principle based on the National

ually or where ﬂow pathway C intersects

These conditions need to be viewed in

a geological structure such as a fault, dike

light of a conﬁdential report released by

Environmental Management Act (NEMA,

or similar. This results in a preferential

Old Mutual Gold Fund in 2014, quoted

No. 107 of 1998). However, prior legislation

pathway leading underground. There are

in Turton s academic paper Untying the

exists when it comes to mine pollution,

many examples of such situations, includ-

Gordian Knot , which conjectures that

speciﬁcally aimed at maintaining foreign

ing Kyle s Dam in Germiston, which is built

South Africa s last gold skip will come out

direct investment in South Africa s mines.

on a fault. Studies have been done on the

of the ground in 2019. This is surprising

In 1975, the National Party government

dam in the past where it was found that

because South Africa s gold mines still

was in severe economic distress so it

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

Scientist Dr Anthony Turton standing on top of what was once an open pit rehabilitated at the Mogale Gold mine maximised revenues to the state by nationalising mine pollution liability under the Fanie Botha Accord. This has led to a policy environment in which inadequate ﬁnancial provision was made for post-mining rehabilitation,

says Turton.

eﬀect, the state is now trying to accumulate capital for rehabilitation after the majority of the mineral resource has been extracted, thereby destroying the business case for investment into brownﬁeld sites. You cannot expect to fund 100% of the liability from 20% of the remaining resource-base, which means that such sites remain un-investable.

Call for Codesa The City of Johannesburg is surrounded by mine dumps that contain a staggering 600 kilotonnes (kt) of uranium. In the Wonderfontein Spruit alone there is 430 000 tonnes of uranium. The shape of mine dumps is also not conducive to keeping pollution contained post closure. Because when mine dumps close, the berms that keep the structural integrity of dumps are eroded away, causing the dump to collapse under natural conditions. Logically, when the last skip comes out of the ground in the next five years, then the 600 kt of uranium is no longer going to be contained as the dumps succumb to chemistry and physics. This is a slow-onset disaster, warns Turton. I m nearing retirement. I ve done my work with integrity and to the best of my ability. And that is why I m speaking frankly now when I say Johannesburg is the most uranium-contaminated city in the world. It s an inconvenient truth and government policy is not sufficient at this stage to deal with the fallout. Turton says South Africa has five years to turn the situation around. He says it s time to call for a Codesa, of the sort called to secure South Africa s burgeoning democracy in the mid-90s. I fully agree with economist Clem Sunter who has called for a Codesa to talk about the state of South Africa s economy. I think that as a subset of that Codesa, we need a policy debate on mining, specifically to look at the social licence to mine. That will be a session where hard empirical research needs to be unpacked and brought into policy-making decisions if we are to attract investment and sustain livelihoods. Evidence-based policy reform is needed urgently in the next five years. But whether it will actually happen, well, that s another thing.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

WATER TREATMENT

FULL-SPECTRUM ANALYSES

From plant to site Hach is a global company established in 1947 in Iowa, first known for founders Clifford and Kitty Hach’s groundbreaking work in developing Hach South Africa’s head office in methodologies for determining water hardness. Northriding, Gauteng

signal to a telemetry hut, which feeds into a larger system. • Hach-Polymetron: Products for power stations to ensure elements such as sodium, chloride and silica do not corrode turbines. • Radiometer, analytical: Used in a variety of sectors, from petrochemical, food and beverage and water treatment to monitor moisture levels. • Satlantic: Similar to Hydrolab except that it s a bigger piece of instrumentation used for monitoring the quality of seawater

LL AROUND diﬀerent parts of

• Biotector: A product for determining total

the world and, on a smaller scale,

organic carbon (TOC) in water ‒ a critical

the

parameter which may soon be regulated in

country,

diﬀerent

water

hardness s cause water to react

to detergents diﬀerently and leave varying amounts of scale deposits, explains Robert

South Africa.

and estuaries. • Sea-Bird Electronics: Oceanography testing equipment. • Sigma: A live sampling range capable of

• Dr Lange: German testing products mainly sold in Europe.

conducting hourly composite analyses in most water bodies.

Bollea, managing director of Hach South

• Environmental test strips: Standard test

All these brands fall under the Hach um-

Africa. Chemical adjustments need to be

strips for measuring standard parameters

brella, which specialises in water testing but

made for potable usage, not just to calcium

including pH, ammonia, nitrates and ni-

also plays a leading role in other portfolios

and magnesium ions, which determine

trates among others.

such as its electrochemistry range. Hach also

water hardness or softness, but to a wide

• Evita: Used to detect dissolved oxygen

boasts an extensive range of calorimetry

array of chemical and physical character-

content in natural water bodies and plants.

and spectrum chromatography equipment,

istics of raw and stored water before it can

• Hach-GLI: Range of analogue process in-

be consumed.

that boast a superior lifespan. Total solutions advantage A subsidiary of the Fortune-500-ranked US Danaher Corporation, Hach South Africa is

says Bollea.

strumentation with excellent pH electrodes Environment prioritised

• Homeland security technologies: Providing

Hach s products are environmentally friend-

forewarning in the event of water supply

ly because they are green chemistries ,

tampering by terrorists, for example.

meaning they comprise components de-

supported by seven laboratory distributors

• Hydrolab: Single-parameter, submersible

signed not to harm the environment when

and two process distributors, and provides

probe used for monitoring boreholes

discarded. The company also takes precau-

total solutions, from industrial to domestic

or lakes.

tions in the disposal of its testing products

water users. Local government entities of all sizes, from

• Lachat Instruments: Laboratory equipment for high-throughput analysis.

containing mercury, sulfuric acid and other toxic substances that can be returned to

big metros such as Johannesburg Water to

• OPS Systems: Software for driving other

Hach for the responsible handling of haz-

the small rural municipalities, use Hach s ser-

instrumentation such as the Homeland

ardous waste, explains Bollea. A reputable

vices and equipment. We also supply water

security technologies.

waste management company is contracted

boards, power stations, medical laboratories, factories, even private users, says Bollea. Over the last 70 years, Hach s service offering has grown to cover what Bollea calls

• ORBISPHERE: Used as a quality-measuring

for this purpose.

system for ascertaining how much oxygen

Protection of the environment is core to

the fermentation process in a brewery (for

Hach s global business. Since laboratory

example) has generated.

and ﬁeld testing is necessary for main-

the full-testing spectrum from A (ammonia)

• OTT hydrometry: Hach works closely with

taining good environmental health, the

to Z (zinc). Diﬀerent divisions within the

the Department of Water and Sanitation

company s products adhere to the highest

company s family of brands, include but are

using this technology to test borehole lev-

environmental standards in order to support

not limited to:

els throughout the country. The instrumen-

Hach s overarching vision, promoting faster,

• Hach: Lab, process and ﬁeld-water-quality

tation is also capable of detecting potential

simpler, greener and more informative

ﬂoods, using sensors able to trigger a relay

water testing.

monitoring equipment.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

WATER TREATMENT

Futuristic wastewater technology arrives in SA The patented Gas Energy Mixing (GEM) System, positioned as the next generation in advanced floatation technology, was launched in South Africa in October this year by Quality Filtration Systems (QFS).

Buckman s many years of experience in numerous industries, including food and beverage, paper mills, steel mills, mines and refineries, has allowed for a sound understanding of the key issues that need to be addressed, and Buckman has been able to find the best-fit chemical solutions

By Blake Wilkins

to complement the GEM technology and optimise performance.

HE GEM SYSTEM combines cen-

a paradigm shift takes place regarding

trifugal separation with the high-

both the chemistries used for solid-liquid

est output of nanobubbles for the

separation as well as the application of

The GEM System has been used all over the

eﬀective removal of contaminants

those chemistries. The chemicals used in

world in all kinds of applications, from food

from many diﬀerent types of wastewater so

the GEM system have been supplied by

processing, paper mills and steel mills. It per-

that it can be reused.

Buckman, a privately held, global specialty

forms well on all kinds of eﬄuents, however

Rob Holmes, QFS technical director, told

chemical company with headquarters in

the more contaminated the waste stream

a group of invited guests at the launch in

Memphis, Tennessee, and a South African

or the higher the loading of solids, fats, oils

Global credentials

Stellenbosch that the GEM System

and grease, the more its beneﬁts

has signiﬁcant beneﬁts over tradi-

show. Holmes said at the launch. The core GEM technology is

tional primary treatment systems like dissolved air ﬂotation (DAF) systems

a series of hydrocyclones

or clariﬁers common in South Africa.

which the mixing speed and

mixing energy are controlled

How it works

to provide the highest level

The major diﬀerence between the

of contaminant removal. By

GEM System and conventional ﬂo-

the time the solids and liquids

tation technology is the method off

leave

forming air bubbles and attracting

and enter the tank, they are

particles to the chemicals. By sub-

already separated.

hydrocyclones

jecting 100% of the waste stream to

This allows the mixing of

entrained air and appropriate chem-

air or chemicals (or air and

istry, in the patented hydrocyclones,

chemicals) at any given time

the GEM System is able to attract the

and makes it easier to accom-

highest level of contaminants result-

modate variable ﬂow rates or a

ing in extremely clean eﬄuent within

variable contaminant loading.

a very small footprint.

This feature allows the GEM

The size of the GEM System is not

System to be applied to a vari-

impacted by increased contaminant

ety of treatment plant sizes and

flotation systems (DAFs or others)

“The major difference between GEM and conventional flotation technology is the method of forming the air bubbles and contacting the chemicals.” Rob

to increase capacity in terms of

Holmes (left), technical director, QFS

loading. This means that clients can treat concentrations of 1 000 mg/l total suspended solids (TSS) or 15 000 mg/l TSS in the same system. This also allows a retrofit of existing

flow

the

rate,

increase

contaminant

industries, said Holmes. The GEM System unveiled at the launch in Stellenbosch was imported

from

Clean

Water

Technology, Inc., located in Los Angeles, California, to undertake demonstrations and trials of the technology on a nation-

loading, getting better results or saving on

base in Hammarsdale, KZN. Buckman

wide tour. QFS plans to manufacture GEM

chemicals and operational costs without

are working exclusively with QFS to

Systems locally, apart from the proprietary

increasing footprint or investing in an

ensure optimal performance of the GEM

core GEM technology.

expensive new system. The development

technology through the application of

of the GEM technology has required that

customised chemistries.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

The company is currently installing a commercial GEM System in Rustenburg.

WATER TREATMENT

Laboratories ‘gap’ continues Three years on from the launch of the Water Research Council’s (WRC) ‘Gap Analysis of Water Testing Laboratories in South Africa’ and industry experts say the problem persists, writes Frances Ringwood. ANVASSING WATER experts from

quality laboratories, based on a pared-down

the

version of ISO 17025, and focusing on

chemicals

and

equipment

supply side, the consensus is clear:

The gap in water testing continues with no end in sight

technical competency.

the biggest problem in South

country s laboratories remain in a poor state.

African laboratories is there are simply too

No progress yet

few facilities. Thereafter, technicians skills

The reasons why adhering to world-leading

budgets and bureaucratic red tape are

are a concern.

The reason for this is that clearly limited

standards for laboratories and testing is sim-

stymying change. Although advances have

Interviewees approached on this topic

ple: to ensure that drinking water is of the

been slow, there is one surprising area that

did not reveal their identities as it could

correct potable quality, guaranteeing the

the gaps report did identify as providing

undermine their businesses in an already

safety of those who drink it. However, after

a fruitful avenue to eﬀect lasting change:

tough economy.

data mining the DWS s website for informa-

tertiary education.

One respondent conﬁrmed that the sit-

tion on whether changes to ISO 17025 had

uation as far as South African laboratories

been made, search results were inconclusive.

is concerned is much the same as it was

In addition, a review of papers presented at

Laboratories challenges are general challenges

in 2011, when Faye Balfour of Jeﬀares &

the National Laboratory Association s Test

In the paper s discussion section, it was

Green, Hanlie Badenhorst of the National

and Measurement 2014 Conference shows

pointed out: Capacity and capability were

Laboratory Debbie

Association

Trollip

and

Umgeni

Water released their ﬁndings in the Gap Analysis of Water Testing

Laboratories

South Africa .

The motivation behind undertaking the original report was that there are simply too few laboratories and that those in operation are under-capacitated

known from the outset as priority gaps in the industry, but what was unexpected was that on the surface, the

staﬀ

qualiﬁcations

(high percentage of tertiary graduates) would suggest a

Too few labs

at least three papers either calling for or

well-trained, capable workforce. From this,

The motivation behind undertaking the orig-

predicting a necessary change in ISO 17025.

one can surmise that the capacity gap lies

inal report was, much as is the case now, the

Those results are not damning as legis-

startlingly widespread knowledge within the

lation changes do take time. In addition,

training or study courses.

laboratories space that there are simply too

since ISO 17025 is an acceptable interim

few laboratories and that those in operation

standard, used around the world as a global

are under-capacitated.

measurement for all kinds of laboratories,

In an article published by African Economic Outlook last year, skills mismatches between tertiary education institutions and the working world were identiﬁed as being even more relevant for eﬀective job and performance outcomes than skills shortages. One possible solution to the problem, proposed by Test and Measurement 2014 speaker Mpho Phaloane, could be a move back to apprenticeship to provide more hands-on training for better quality control.

A reason put forward for this state of aﬀairs

from medical, to mining, it isn t insuﬃcient.

in the report was, The process and cost

Furthermore, those South African laborato-

of ISO 17025 accreditation with the South

ries that do not comply with ISO 17025 are

African National Accreditation System.

ISO 9001 compliant, according to papers

As a result, the then Department of Water

presented at Test and Measurement 2014.

Aﬀairs and Sanitation planned to implement

However, in spite of legislation for labo-

a laboratory strategy for ensuring the

ratories being adequate, the fact remains:

credibility of results from drinking water

three years from the original report, and the

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

in the inability to apply the theory learnt in

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WATER TREATMENT

African water sector delivers global solution The United Nations’ theme for this year’s International Water Week is sustainable development, so Frances Ringwood catches up with Dr Lesedi Lebogang (pictured right), a Botswanan biotechnology expert, to find out how Southern Africa is leading international research in maintaining water quality. LUE-GREEN algae (cyanotoxins), is a water pollutant neg-

by Southern African PhD graduate Lesedi Lebogang. Lebogang

atively aﬀecting the quality of drinking water around the

is originally from Botswana and has been studying for her PhD in

world, as a result of over-fertilisation and global warming.

the Department of Biotechnology, Lund University in Sweden. Her

Early detection could save lives and make eﬀorts to clean

research ﬁeld has been environmental biotechnology and the main

up drinking water sources easier and more eﬃcient. The technique

objective was to develop biosensor-based methods for detection of

uses a portable, aﬀordable and quick-to-use device developed

cyanotoxins called microsystems.

hat is blue-green algae and why is it so dangerous?

it has embarked on building

The biosensor I studied for the

I initiated and worked on

dams to supply drinking water

detection of microcystins was

its implementation on the

to the public. This means

based on an electrochemical

detection of cyanotoxins and

Cyanobacteria (formerly

the country will shift from

(capacitance) way of selective

the idea of using the speciﬁc

known as blue-green algae)

underground-based to surface

sensing of microcystins when

antibodies that target only

produce cyanotoxins that have

water supply. The country

they come in contact with the

these types of toxins as well as

harmful eﬀects on humans and

was not up to the challenge

sensing area made by attaching

the surface chemistry involved

animals. The toxins accumulate

of cyanotoxin contamination

speciﬁc antibodies to one

in the attachment of the

and intoxicate liver cells,

and hence the idea to develop

of the electrodes (working)

antibodies to the sensing area

causing damage to cellular

a simple and rapid

(working electrode).

functions and ultimately death.

method to help deal

Cyanobacteria usually occur as

with situation should

green scum on surface waters,

it occur.

Cyanobacterial scum results from increased anthropogenic pollution and threatens supply sustainability

especially the ones overloaded

The research idea

with nutrients from various

was conceived

human activities. Cyanobacteria

from the initial

are a worldwide problem

discussions with my

especially in regions with high

PhD supervisors.

temperatures. Intoxication of

We decided to

animals and humans has been

develop a detection

reported in warm climates

method along

across the world, including

the capacitive biosensor

th electrochemical l t h i l cell. ll off the

southern parts of Africa,

concept, which was already

The speciﬁc attachment of

biosensor can be applied for

Australia, South America, as

being studied here at Lund

the toxins to the antibodies

other contaminants since the

well as the US and occasionally

University. Lund University has

produces an electrochemical

measuring principle is the

in Europe during the warm

good programmes to study

change that is translated into

same, only the sensing area

periods.

biotechnology, especially

a measurable signal, which is

can be tailored for the speciﬁc

biosensor development. It

then proportionally related to

attachment of those particular

What originally got you interested in developing the biosensor? My interest in this

also has good collaborations

the concentration of the toxins

contaminants of interest.

with companies mostly from

present in the water.

the science park close to

My work was based on an

being investigated by the

research was initiated by the fact

the university.

ongoing development of the

research team for its utility

capacitive detection system

in early HIV/Aids detection,

by the bioanalysis group in

something that the FDA in the

the department. However,

United States is evaluating.

What are some of the other potential applications for this technology?

that Botswana is a water-scarce country, and for the country to meet water demand challenges

Can you tell us a little bit more about your biosensor?

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

This electrochemical Thi l

Lebogang s method is also

WATER ME TERING

Saving water through technology Housed in Provisus building, Pretoria, is South Africa's (and the world’s) only blackowned water meter manufacturer and seller, Lesira-Teq. The company was founded in 2003.

for the municipality to monitor all meters within the management area. This system makes water demand management easier for municipalities and also allows for diﬀerent reports to be generated as and when the municipality needs. Our company has been at the forefront of saving water and reducing wastage in both natural and monetary resources, says Sibiya.

Case study Prior to Lesira-Teq meters being installed in Soweto, Johannesburg had an average loss of R 21 million per month, household water consumption was 66 kℓ per month and the average cost to serve per

ESIRA-TEQ is a proudly South

household was R149. Once Lesira-Teq was

African company that manufactures

commissioned to install domestic water

and sells the only water meter that

meters within the Soweto area; water

gives water consumption readings

consumption per household was reduced

in rands. The company s MD, Edwin Sibiya,

to 12 kℓ per month, cost to serve de-

notes this as the meter s best feature: It gives data that is relevant and useful for the consumer; after all what does 6 000 kℓ mean to you?

Isoil magflow meter

creased to R42.05, and the municipality has made an average saving of R250 million per year. Recently the company has added bulk

Also distinct to the Lesira-Teq meter is the

wa water meters to the existing product

e. four-in-one settings that its meters feature.

l line, making Lesira-Teq a merchant

es Our meter does not restrict municipalities

for Isoil magﬂow meters and Fuji

e to prepaid mode or conventional mode

ultrasonic meters. These types of

h which

meters are particularly helpful in

d setting works best for their locations and

that they are extremely accurate

only.

Municipalities

can

decide

ljurisdiction, says Sibiya. For the municipaler ity s convenience, Lesira-Teq sells a meter

Domestic meters

a and have built-in intelligence. The m meter communicates via a GSM

management

n network, allowing for data that is

nsystem. This man-

ac accurate and frequent.

m agement program

These meters are able to give an

y is a user-friendly

ac accurate indication of how much wa-

Windows-based

te is being used and they can give a ter

ws system that allows

be better warning of water scarcity. The te technology employed here assists

“LesiraTeq's meter products give data that is relevant and useful for the consumer; after all what does 6 000 kℓ mean to you?”

in water conservation as it allows fo meters to detect water leakages. for O Once the leakage has been detected a message is sent to the relevant te technical personnel so that it can be ﬁxed. Lesira-Teq has leveraged technology to reduce billing estimates by muni nicipalities, make revenue collection mu easier, and provide to make for much easie asset management. easier

Edwin Sibiya, MD, Lesira-Teq JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

WATER ME TERING

Smartening up metering Making the move from industry-standard metering (whether domestic or bulk) would have a massive impact when it comes time for citizens to pay their water bills. Smart meter reading, referred to in the industry as automated meter reading (AMR), would have significant benefits for municipalities and property owners. Is advanced meter reading infrastructure feasible in Southern Africa?

ASIL BOLD, a now-retired me-

to AMR. The consultant who really under-

and, from there, a well-run municipality is

tering expert, believes that smart

stands how water management relates to

essential, says Bold.

meters are the next big thing in

these sophisticated technologies knows

metering, with one big caveat:

municipalities need to function well before

municipalities need to get their houses in

they can be used effectively.

order before implementing these systems.

An AMR system cannot be implemented

What smart metering entails is automat-

where a database is in chaos. For any

ed messages measuring exact water use

smart grid system to work, correctly

in real time to a municipal billing system

trained, skilled people need to be in place

and users. A system such as this could be revolutionary in

believe that there remains

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The consultant who really understands how water management relates to these sophisticated technologies knows municipalities need to function well before they can be used effectively. An AMR system cannot be implemented where a database is in chaos.â&#x20AC;?

some way to go from manual

Basil Bold, retired metering professional

that timely information could assist water-saving and management initiatives, fostering greater user-side trust in their metering results, which could in turn enhance revenues. There is a progression from standard meter reading to AMR. In my experience over many years, municipal officials

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

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TRENCHLESS TECHNOLOGIES

Tshwane rejuvenates its pipes A City of Tshwane bulk water pipeline had fallen into disrepair and disuse. Civil and structural consulting engineers Nyeleti Consulting, along with a team of engineering and construction professionals, stepped in to assist the municipality in giving the Gezina pipeline a new lease on life.

NFRASTRUCTURE

INSTALLED

when metropolitan areas began to develop is now reaching the end of its service life. A typical example of

this is the 500 ND bulk water pipeline that traverses the suburbs of Arcadia, Gezina and Wonderboom South, crossing several major traďŹ&#x192;c routes into the CBD, a railway line, two streams and an environmentally sensitive area to link the Klapperkop and Magalies

reservoirs.

This

45-year-old

pipeline reached the end of its service life around 2005 when its condition started to deteriorate so rapidly that the line had to be taken out of commission and alternative pipelines in the City of Tshwane s bulk water network had to be used to supply the Magalies reservoir. Replacement of the Gezina bulk water pipeline was therefore unavoidable despite the obvious diďŹ&#x192;culties that the project would pose. Construction of the Gezina bulk water pipeline was necessary to ensure reliable water supply to the Magalies and Hospital reservoirs. These reservoirs in turn served the community by providing reliable water supply to the Tshwane District Hospital, Steve Biko Academic Hospital and more than 6 000 households.

Route selection Locating a feasible route for large services through a built-up area with unreliable in-

Mossel Bay: pipe in position to be installed below the reservoir

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

formation about the position of existing services was one of the major challenges

TRENCHLESS TECHNOLOGIES the design team had to overcome. In de-

possibilities around the City s

termining the ﬁnal pipeline route, Nyeleti

Wonderboom and Magalies

Consulting had to go through an iterative

reservoirs. These chambers

process to determine the optimal route.

containing

The Water and Sanitation Division of CoT,

pressure-reducing

as the client, had to be involved in the ﬁrst

non-return

instance in all options, but great sensitivity

isolating valves now pro-

towards other aﬀected parties such as the

vides Tshwane s Bulk Water

Roads and Stormwater Division, residents

Operational

along the route and the environment was

various alternatives to supply

also required.

the Magalies, Wonderboom

water

meters, valves,

valves

Division

and

with

and Hospital reservoirs.

Project description

The pipe speciﬁcations for

The contract was awarded to a joint ven-

this project were determined

ture of three civil engineering contractors,

through

namely Phambili, L&R Civils and Qubekela

with City of Tshwane engineers. A specialist

Projects. Construction of the Gezina bulk

cathodic protection subconsultant was

pipeline kicked oﬀ with Phase 1 of the

brought on board to design a cathodic

years have seen a number of municipal and

project on 30 November 2009, before the

protection system that would also assist in

communication services installed on the

December construction recess, to allow the

maximising the service life of the project

sidewalks and in the road reserves along

contractor to order pipes (which required

and reduce life-cycle cost.

the route, making it near impossible to ﬁnd

cooperation

Du Noon: these pipe lengths are limited to 12 m, to enable transport via road freight

a 12-week delivery lead time) and valves

Nyeleti Consulting rendered the complete

room for the 500 mm diameter pipeline

(which required a 24-week delivery lead

scope of professional services, including

on the sidewalk. About 95% of pipeline

time). As Phase 1 was drawing to a close,

design, documentation, procurement and

was therefore constructed underneath the

it became evident that due to the eﬀective

construction monitoring in order to build

road surface, which required valve boxes

manner in which the construction work and

the following:

to be designed for traﬃc loads. Laying the

project budget was managed, a substantial

• an 8.3 km of ND500 steel pipeline with a

pipe underneath the road surface meant

saving on the budget would be achieved. This led to the decision by the client to increase the scope of work and Phase 2 was added to the project.

that a road lane was taken out of use for

25 bar pressure rating • 2 concrete-valve chambers with various • ﬁve scour-valve chambers and numerous

In determining the scope of works to be

the duration of laying the pipe in that section. During working times, a further

speciﬁc functions

additional lane was generally also needed for construction vehicles. The pipe trench

air-valve chambers.

also interfered with accesses of houses and

added as Phase 2, care was taken to address operational challenges the client was fac-

Project complexities

ing. Numerous discussions between Nyeleti

What set the Gezina bulk water pipeline

Furthermore, the proposed and adopted

Consulting and the City of Tshwane led to

apart was the complexity of having to

route crossed 10 large east-west arterial

the inclusion of ﬁve concrete-valve cham-

construct the pipeline in the Pretoria CBD

roads and 15 lesser urban roads. Six of

bers that would increase the operational

and other large urban areas. The past 50

the largest arterials were crossed using

oﬃce blocks.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

Trenchless Technology Specialist

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TRENCHLESS TECHNOLOGIES pipe-jacking technology. (Pipe jacking is

of almost the entire long section of the

a trenchless construction methodology

pipeline during the construction phase by

PROFESSIONAL TEAM

whereby a concrete sleeve larger than the

the site-monitoring team. There were even

product pipe is tunnelled underneath the

some instances where the services or con-

road surface after which the product pipe

ditions encountered on-site required the

can be inserted.) Although pipe jacking

pipeline to be rerouted.

• Client: City of Tshwane: Water and Sanita on Division • Civil and structural consultant: Nyele Consul ng • Cathodic protecƟon sub consultant: Corrosion & Technology Consultants • Main contractor: L&R Civils / Phambili / Qubekela Projects JV

is an eﬀective construction technique

Additional challenges to overcome were

to reduce traﬃc disruption, it is also an

working in close proximity of three schools,

expensive technique. The merit for using

the high water table in low-lying locations,

this technique for each crossing had to be

two stream crossings and working in the

weighed up versus the cost of implement-

environmentally

ing this technique.

Natural

sensitive

This

aﬀected parties, thorough planning and sound method statements as the tie-ins all

compelled the consultant to conduct de-

lengthened, minimising the amount of

had to be conducted in limited time spans.

tailed traﬃc-accommodation assessments

construction that had to be done within

One of these tie-ins aﬀected the Steve Biko

and more than one viable traﬃc-accom-

the MNPA. In the same manner, the route

Academic and Tshwane District Hospitals.

modation alternative was presented for

was adapted to cross the streams where

each crossing to the Roads and Stormwater

existing bridge structures existed to which

Objectives achieved

Division for approval.

the pipe could be fastened with brackets.

Completing the Gezina pipeline combined

A further complication was that services

Environmental impact was further mitigat-

the disciplines of civil, structural and traﬃc

were frequently not found to be where

ed by careful rehabilitation of all natural

engineering to develop an outstanding

indicated by as-built drawings and once the

areas and open spaces where construction

solution to improve water supply to many

contractor started to expose services, many

activities occurred.

of Tshwane s suburbs. The outstanding

necessitated

the

Area

Magaliesberg slightly

Interference with parallel and cross traﬃc

Protected

route

(MNPA). being

more were encountered. The locations and

The complexity of the pipeline system

teamwork and regular communication be-

prevalence of these existing services com-

and its functionality alternatives necessi-

tween the client, consultant and contractor

bined with the very ﬂat gradients on many

tated four tie-ins to operational pipelines.

was the recipe to successfully complete this

sections of the route required redesigning

Each of these tie-ins required liaison with

project and overcome challenges.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

+27 (0)86 006 6344 info@trenchless.co.za www.trenchless.co.za

TRENCHLESS TECHNOLOGIES

Pipes jacked up for water pipeline No one can survive without potable water, making the management of water crucial to responsible management of local government.

Self-compacting concrete The Rocla 100D jacking pipe is made from self-compacting

concrete

and

classiﬁed

to SANS 677 specifications. Manufactured through a vertical cast process, self-compacting concrete renders a better surface finish, while the benefit of the vertical cast (VC) process instead of the traditional roller-suspended (RS) process is that a more consistent thickness throughout the width of the product is achieved compared to the RS operator-related effort of compaction. The

process

compaction

around

gives the

improved

reinforcement,

improving its bond and offering greater ease when it comes to filling extremely thin walled sections. In addition, self-compacting concrete can increase safety on the job by eliminating the need for consolidation; it offers improved pumpability and labour efficiencies; shorter construction time making it a cost-effective option; can be placed at a faster rate with no automated vibration and thereby requiring less screeding and enables a quicker concrete vehicle turnaround time assisting contractors in the quicker servicing of a site. Woodhams adds, Rocla had the right pipe with good availability. The product is of an excellent quality and comes at a good price. We are very pleased with the service from Rocla and would definitely use Rocla again when we can.

Phase B Civil engineering and construction group Esor is involved in the Phase B section of the Palmiet/Signal Hill project. Anton Naude, director of the company s Pipe Jacking

The Rocla jacking pipe on-site at the Roodepoort factory

Division

com-

ments, The Rocla product is competitive: jacking pipes

need to be able to last the lifespan of the

AINTAINING AND upgrading

the company s oﬀering and availability.

project, which they will easily do due to the

water-related

and

Luke Woodhams, contracts manager: Pipe

quality of the pipes. These are huge jacking

related technical equipment

Jacking Division for Wepex, comments,

pipes that have a mass per metre of about

is therefore of paramount im-

The Palmiet/Signal Hill project is an

portance to ensure that community health,

18-month project with hard rock, alongside

The upgrades are running under the road

hygiene and safety are secured.

residential and national roads, needing to

from Alberton to Germiston, and it was

pipelines

To this end, precast concrete products

be blasted. The Rocla 100D jacking pipe

essential that we had the right product and

manufacturer Rocla, part of the IS Group,

has a nominal diameter of 2 500 mm and

the right technology in place to eliminate

has been contracted to supply a part of the

outside diameter of 3 000 mm and a proof

traﬃc disruption, says Naude.

1 100 m of jacking pipe for two of the 19 sec-

load of 250 kN per metre. It is a perfect pipe

One of the challenges facing the contrac-

tions (1 x 90 m and 1 x 288 m sections) for

for this project, and will be able to carry

tors on this Rand Water upgrade project is

underground construction to the upgrades

water supplies for human consumption as

that the old pipes are running parallel to

for the Palmiet pumping station to Signal

well as to withstand the immense pressure

newly positioned jacking pipes, and it is

Hill reservoir project being constructed for

of vehicle weight.

imperative that the old piping is not dam-

Rand Water. Two contractors, Wepex and Esor, both sought products from Rocla, as a result of

5 680 kg/m and a mass of 8 518 kg/pipe.

Steel pipes will be inserted into the jacking

aged while the installation of the new Rocla

pipe for extra support and for their anti-

replacement jacking pipe is underway ‒ we

corrosion properties.

are conﬁdent all will be well, he concludes.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

TRENCHLESS TECHNOLOGIES

A strong foundation for infrastructure success

Underground Solutions owns a number of patents in thermoplastic fusion technology, used predominantly in HDD, slip-lining and pipe-bursting operations

Fusion

advances crest in the US MERICAN MANAGING director Andrew Seidel, of

trenchless technology (TT) company Underground Solutions, speaking at the Southern African Plastic

Sanitation

Pipe Manufacturers Association (Sappma) conference

last year, addressed the method of thermal fusing to increase adoption of TT methods. Using PVC in a fused format has led the way for a number of projects because, over a long distance, where there might be a bridge for example, fusion times are cheaper and faster than with ductile iron. These are as strong as the pipe barrel itself, allowing pipes to withstand signiďŹ cant stresses, says Seidel.

American market The use of thermoplastic pipe in a fused or monolithic manner for trenchless installations suits the United States market for a number of reasons. First, America s piping issues are not â&#x20AC;&#x2019; generally â&#x20AC;&#x2019; extending pipelines into new areas. A typical problem in the US, particularly in the last ďŹ ve years, is rehabilitation, says Seidel. While South Africa and its neighbours still have ground to cover, maintenance is a universal issue. In the US, the American Society of Civil Engineers calculates

The Lightweight Concrete Sanitation Unit from ROCLA Is an all concrete structure that can be erected in under 15 minutes. With hard-wearing hardware VXSSOLHG IRU DOO Ă&#x20AC; [WXUHV GRRUV EROWV SLQV SLSLQJ and able to be installed almost anywhere in variable conditions, the Sanitation Unit has developed skills and created jobs across communities in South Africa.

that the repair backlog amounts to about $1 trillion. The sheer size of the market created an opportunity for my company to make its mark in the trenchless technology and trenchless rehabilitation sector. We re seeing an increasing amount of fused pipe (as opposed to bell-and-spigot) being used in open-cut or

ROCLA is Southern Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading manufacturer of pre-cast concrete products for infrastructure, including pipes, culverts, manholes, roadside furniture, retaining walls, stock troughs, poles and other related products.

open-trench installations. 90% of the market in the US is traditional dig and replace, which is disruptive and expensive. This is what the trenchless movement aims to displace. The most

Tel: 011 670 7600 | www.rocla.co.za

prominent method used is horizontal directional drilling (HDD), frequently used for bridging a river or avoiding other expensive infrastructure. Slip-lining and pipe-bursting are also popular, says Seidel.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

,62 FHUWLĂ&#x20AC; HG SABS mark on applicable products

Rocla is a subsidiary of ISG, a leading supplier of innovative infrastructure products to the construction and mining markets in Southern Africa.

SANITATION

Make World Toilet Day count World Toilet Day is an international event celebrated to raise awareness of sanitation as a basic human right. Frances Ringwood gets the UN’s take.

OVEMBER 19 WAS World Toilet Day, an important popu-

raises are of particular importance in

lation. One billion are still

developing countries, with Asia and Africa

health and aid organisations around the

forced to defecate in the open. Young

being the continents with the highest

world to raise awareness about the human

women risk rape because they either have

numbers of people without access to dig-

rights and dignity issues surrounding

to walk long distances in the open to find

nified sanitation.

proper sanitation.

toilets with privacy or are forced to stay

as a platform by major child-

According to UN Water, World Toilet Day

The issues the day

global event used

home from school during their menses.

For example, in South Africa there are 24 000 public schools with less

is a day to take action and raise awareness

This situation is unacceptable, which is

than 8 000 with flushing toilets. Some

about all people who do not have access

why the UN General Assembly last year

schools with over 1 000 learners have no

to a toilet ‒ despite the human right to

designated 19 November as World Toilet

working toilets.

water and sanitation.

Day. It had previously been marked by

Children s right to sanitation is one of the

It s also one of the most important issues

international and civil society organi-

key developmental concerns raised by the

concerned citizens can get behind to

sations with the UN playing more of a

day. UN Water s figures show that every

make a difference in the lives of others, as

generally supportive role. World Toilet

year 760 000 children around the world

the statistics show. Worldwide, 2.5 billion

Day is coordinated by UN Water in col-

under the age of five die from diarrhoea ‒

people do not have access to decent sani-

laboration with governments and other

a disease that can be drastically minimised

tation ‒ that s over a quarter of the world s

relevant stakeholders.

through access to good hygiene.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

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DAMS & RESER VOIRS 6 600 kℓ reservoir roof slab casting Newtown,

Fingo

Village

and

Vukani

Village) experience water outages due to the low-lying areas getting preference, due to the higher pressure, as inadequate water balance measures were in place during peak demand periods. Due to the abnormal drought conditions, which peaked in August 2010, Makana Municipality requested that Bosch Stemele investigate and provide options to increase the supply from the James Kleynhans WTW to Botha s Hill reservoir due to the dams

EASTERN CAPE

supplying Waainek WTW running dry. It was confirmed in November 2010 that the recommendations from the investigations were accepted at a council meeting.

award winner

shines

The project comprised the installation of the following infrastructure: • Phase 1 Construction a 6 600 kℓ

concrete res-

ervoir, 450 mm diameter pipeline and the augmentation of the mechanical and electrical installations at James Kleynhanspower pump station

Towards the end of last year, a project with far-reaching economic implications for the Eastern Cape was awarded the IMESA-CESA Engineering Excellence Award in the

• Phase 2 Augmentation of the James Kleynhans WTW: 20 Mℓ/d ‒ still to be undertaken.

Design and construction

category of water and wastewater. The following article

Construction started in July 2012, imme-

is excerpted from consulting engineer Bosch Stemele’s

and the project being awarded. The

diately upon environmental authorisation contract specified that all unskilled labour

award entry submission.

would be sourced from the communities around the site. In addition, contract speci-

HE EASTERN CAPE academic hub

Background

fications allowed for on-the-job training of

of Grahamstown has been severely

Grahamstown lies in a broad valley at the

unskilled people.

stricken

droughts.

head of the Bloukrans River catchment; the

The reinforced concrete 6 600 kℓ res-

Residents have been suﬀering from

elevation varies from about 500 m above sea

ervoir was designed to be rectangular,

intermittent water supply for at least six years.

level within the valley, to over 640 m at the

allowing for future extensions. The existing

Queuing for water from a truck or trekking

higher lying areas.

and new reservoir has interconnecting

persistent

to communal taps has become the norm for residents in the communities. The James Kleynhans bulk water supply

pipework on the inlet and outlet to ensure

mean annual rainfall of 660 mm. Winters are

that maintenance on either reservoir can

cold and dry, with summer being hot.

be performed without disrupting supply.

project is an essential undertaking of the

Grahamstown s bulk water supply system

The 6 600 kℓ reservoir has the following

Makana Local Municipality, which administers

is complex due to the high elevation differ-

design parameters: size: 24.6 m wide

the town and its surrounds. The project will

ence of the bulk supply and Grahamstown.

x 48.6 m long; depth: 6.15 m; storage:

provide assured supply during droughts of

Bosch Stemele was appointed on 20

48 hours; columns: 350 mm x 350 mm

bulk potable water to about 90 100 people.

November 2006 by Makana Municipality

square columns; joints: 150 mm wide

Water supply will also be more reliable

to investigate the duplication of the bulk

Sikadur Combiflex; pump control: auto-

during downtime and maintenance at the

water pumping main between James

matic telemetry cut-in and cut-out level

Waainek WTW.

Kleynhans water treatment works and

control at the pumps.

Construction consists of a 6 600 kℓ

The area receives summer rainfall with an

Botha s Hill bulk supply reservoir, as was

experiencing

The reinforced-concrete reservoir was built

concrete reservoir, 450 mm diameter rising

Grahamstown

water

using conventional and labour-intensive

main, valve chambers, bulk meter and

shortages during peak conditions. The

construction methods. Foundations were

interconnecting pipework.

high-lying,

excavated by machine. Steel ﬁxing, batching

low-income

areas

(Joza,

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

DAMS & RESER VOIRS

PROJECT CHALLENGES • severely restricted servitude • exis ng services in servitude • limited access due to inaccessible terrain • steep gradients • hard rock with prohibited blas ng • access control to game farms.

PROJECT TEAM

6 600 kℓ reservoir floor, columns and wall

350 mm diameter rising main and connects

and mixing of concrete on-site, placing of

to the existing pipework at the James

concrete with mechanical equipment and

Kleynhans pump station and at the Botha s

wheelbarrows, compaction and ﬁnishing

Hill command reservoir by means of pre-

was all done using local skilled and unskilled

fabricated interconnecting steel specials.

labour resources.

Potable water is pumped 500 m high from

Client: Makana Municipality ConsulƟng engineers: Bosch Stemele Sub-consultants: Toscalab – geotechnical engineers, Terratest – environmental prac oners, Shreqmanagers – health and safety prac oners, Pipe fi ngs & Inspec on Services – quality control, Surplan – Surveyor Main contractors: WK Construc on Subcontractors: Paradigm Projects – cathodic protec on Broadstroke – pipe welding Binyamen Contrac ng Services – steel fixers

The new 450 mm diameter rising main is

the James Kleynhans pump station at the

steep gradients necessitated construction of

generally installed parallel to the existing

water treatment works (10 Mℓ/day capac-

an access road along a farm lane, also outside

ity) to the Botha s

the servitude area. Rehabilitation of the areas

Hill reservoirs (7

aﬀected by the contractor was completed on

Mℓ and 6.6 Mℓ),

the removal of the pipes and once delivery of

some 9 km away.

the pipes to site was achieved.

Challenges and solutions

with the delivery of pipes to the high-

In addition, the terrain posed a problem

The

er-lying areas. The contractor modified an

contractor

experienced

all-terrain dump truck to overcome the transport of pipes to these areas.

delay with respect

The contractor was also delayed with the

to the manufacture

water tightness testing for the newly con-

and

structed reservoir due to the lack of water

steel pipes for in-

delivery

supply from Makana Municipality. This was

corporation in the

due to the Waainek WTW being out of com-

works. The delay

mission. Once the new 450 mm diameter

was due to suppli-

pipeline was commissioned, suﬃcient water

ers

was accessible for tests to be conducted.

commitments

on other contracts and the unavailabil-

Project details

ity of raw material.

The ﬁnal contract value is in the order of

The contractor con-

R65.2 million. Due to savings on the project,

centrated on the

a pump and motor for the James Kleynhans

construction of the

pump station was procured to alleviate the

6 600 kℓ reservoir

problems Makana Municipality was experi-

until the steel pipe

encing in potable water supply.

was delivered. Due to limited

Construction was monitored by a full time, on-site environmental site officer

space within the

and

pipeline servitude,

officer, to ensure compliance with the

the

environmental management plan.

contractor

part-time

environmental

control

encroached

In addition, construction of the James

beyond the allow-

Kleynhans bulk water supply augmen-

able servitude area

tation project created employment and

for pipe storage.

training opportunities. About 75 tempo-

Hilly terrain and

rary local jobs were created.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

DAMS & RESER VOIRS

Specially designed L-shape Prestank sited in Hopetown, Northern Cape

Specialised water infrastructure

supports mines

EYERTON-BASED

Structa

Technology,

member of the Structa Group of Companies, recently

provided

much-needed

water

storage to mining companies throughout

Specialists in the manufacturing of domestic and industrial water storage

South Africa, according to Structa Technology director for Prestank, Rodney Cory. Our 40-year-old Prestank brand has over the years proven itself as a hygienically safe, cost-effective and reliable way to store water for communities, commercial sectors, private sectors and even for personalised storage. Structa is one of the preferred suppliers of water storage tanks to municipal authorities and mines because it is known as a supplier that strives to deliver its water tanks on time, within budget, ad-

Water

Storage

hering to the best quality standards, says Cory. Recent mine sites where Prestanks were fabricated and installed by Structa include: Venetia mine, Kriel Colliery, Sishen iron ore mine, Impala Platinum and Anglo American. Prestanks may be used for various water storage applications: temporary or permanent installations at mines, power stations, building sites, hospitals, water affairs, municipalities, rural communities and agriculture. The Structa Prestanks are fully customisable, high-quality water storage solutions that are manufactured according to SANS guidelines and meet South African hot-dipped galvanising requirements.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

MEYERTON 0861STRUCT (787828) Fax: 016 362 3608 rodney@structa.co.za www.structa.co.za

! " # "

$ %&% ' " ( $ " ) # * %&% ( %+ ,-- . --/ 0 1 % %

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DAMS & RESER VOIRS

Liquid storage solutions for Africa and beyond SBS Water Systems’ sales and marketing manager, Brian Wilson, tells Frances Ringwood about the most recent successes of the company’s durable and modular designed SBS Tanks’ Zincalume liquid storage solution, which is gaining momentum both in South Africa and globally.

Two 3.3M SBS ST31/9 tanks awaiting dispatch water

storage

platinum mine in South Africa s

North

West

province. The have

3.3 been

Mℓ

tanks

delivered

to site and erection, which is scheduled to start mid-January, will take only 35 to 40 days to complete. Another mine-related project we are about the start is also a platinum mine, which is located in

Mpumalanga.

Our

AST YEAR on 30 November, SBS,

support from quote to installation and

customer there required potable water to

which

manufactures

beyond, along with our enviable SABS ISO

supply a nearby local farming community.

and installs the proudly South

designs,

9001:2008 Quality Management Systems

With our many advantages and experience

African SBS Tank, was awarded

certiﬁcation made us a front runner for this

in the industry, SBS was the obvious choice

award, says Wilson.

and this 1.2 Mℓ storage tank will be up and

the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry s prestigious title of Exporter of

Orders for the company s durable, reliable

the Year in the small (exporter) category.

prefabricated modular tanks have been

The event took place at a gala dinner held

increasing rapidly over the last few years, to

Safety ﬁrst

at the Durban International Convention

the extent that the company now has distrib-

A common thread in these two projects is

Centre, where award winners for the me-

utors in the United States, the United Arab

the requirement for strict compliance with

dium and large business categories were

Emirates, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, New

the health and safety policies of the mining

also announced.

Caledonia and New Zealand. And we re look-

industry. SBS s proprietary jacking system

ing to expand further in 2015, adds Wilson.

provides a solution to one key issue: working

We re very proud of having even been

running by early March.

at heights by keeping the company s teams

nominated for this award; the announcement that we had won was a very special

Mining promise

of certiﬁed specialist installers feet planted

moment for us as a company, especially

SBS tanks are suitable for storing potable

ﬁrmly on the ground, thus keeping work

given the short amount of time that we

and process water and even leachate for a

performed above 1.8 metres to a minimum.

have been active in the global marketplace

range of applications including municipal,

This unique system not only aids in rapid

outside of the African continent. In fact,

mining, ﬁre protection, food and beverage

on-site erection but is also considered one

SBS s ﬁrst export order only went into its

and water conservation. While the company

of the safest methods for tank erection and

container near the end of 2013. That means

has already attained a number of new con-

has been accepted by many major mining

this achievement has taken the company

tracts this year, Wilson chose to discuss two

operations worldwide, concludes Wilson.

just one year.

contracts with mining houses to illustrate

With such an innovative, durable and

the rapid installation and safety aspects

high-quality product, along with excellent

achieved during the erection of these tanks.

before- and after-sales service, it s no won-

SBS s modular design (a 3.3 Mℓ tank ﬁts into one 40 foot shipping container) storage tank, which boasts rapid on-site erection

One project we are very excited to be

der SBS Tanks have grown to become a

times, our proven record of exceptional

working right now is an order for two of our

local South African product that s taking the

service that provides product and technical

ﬂagship 3.3 Mℓ tanks for potable and process

world by storm.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

COMPANY NEWS

Celebrating

by the second bay in 1992 and the third bay in 2009, says Buchanan, who it happens was also the ﬁrst editor of a water-sector trade magazine in South Africa.

40 years

Milestones Managing

director

Prentec

Stewart

Buchanan remembers his ﬁrst working experience at the family company. My father told the

Prentec’s MD Stewart Buchanan and his father John Buchanan, founder of Prentec in 1974

director

Glen

Ford on my ﬁrst day that if I didn t pull

weight,

he could ﬁre me, he says, laughing and

remembering

one among many moments over the years coloured by both levity and hard work.

PHOTOGRAPH: DEBBIE BESSELING

One of the ﬁrst clients in Prentec s business

South African provider of water, sewage and industrial effluent treatment technology Prentec recently celebrated its 40th anniversary, writes Frances Ringwood.

was Eskom, under Prentec Contract No. 002. The company built a water-softening plant for one of Eskom s power stations in Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal. Forty years later, Eskom continues to be a client. Stewart Buchanan attributes much of the company s success to longstanding relationships such as these.

Innovation vision Speaking at the event, process director, Adrian Viljoen emphasised the company s growth and skills development, as well as its focus on constant innovation. We can conﬁgure custom solutions, which is crucially

OR A LOCAL water company to

have a water and wastewater treatment

important in today s ever-changing environ-

reach four decades is a mammoth

company where all designs could be done

ment. We are continuously developing to

achievement

vicissi-

in-house;from the process, mechanical, elec-

meet these needs.

tudes and changes the sector has

trical, process control, preassembly, delivery,

undergone during that stretch of time.

erection and operation. I believed if I could

given

the

Commenting on some of the company s latest innovations, Viljoen says,

Prentec celebrated this milestone in providing life-giving water at a celebration held last year at its business premises in Kempton Park, Gauteng. The who s who of the water industry were in attendance.

“Prentec, through strong partnerships, good skills development programmes and solid leadership appointments, has fulfilled that initial vision of becoming a leading South African company in the provision of world-class process engineering solutions.” Stewart Buchanan, MD, Prentec

Prentec founder John

We are brink

commercialising our freeze

desalination

technology.

This

promises to address many of the brine problems associated with

desalination

inland.

Many who

have worked with

Buchanan, now retired, ﬂew in from Midrid

do that, I would have done something good

the company will already know of its impres-

to talk about Prentec s achievements. When

for the country.

sive seawater desalination and brine-water

I started the company in 1974, the objective

I want everyone who knows the company

I had in mind was to establish a local compa-

to recognise it for doing everything in-

Prentec, through strong partnerships,

ny with the capabilities to provide a process

house. By 1980, I realised that we d need to

good skills development programmes and

design for a sewage plant. Prentec in fact

have our own manufacturing facility. It was

solid leadership appointments, has fulﬁlled

takes its name from the phrase, process

in 1981 that I bought 9 000 m2 of land in

that initial vision of becoming a leading

engineering technology.

Chloorkop, Kempton Park, and we started to

South African company in the provision

was

build this complex. In 1985, we started build-

of world-class process engineering solu-

what the company specialised in from the

ing the oﬃce block and factory, which was

tions. Here s to the next 40 years, concludes

beginning. My goal at that time was to

oﬃcially opened in 1989. This was followed

Stewart Buchanan.

Process

the

engineering

technology

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

reclamation achievements.

PANEL DISCUSSION QFS

Herman Smit Managing Director

ow does your company s machinery and services offer a convenient, cost-effective, sustainable solution? HS Our designs

technology for the removal of macroorganisms like algae. A saving of 60% to 70% on the footprint and more

or pre-engineered skid

stable floc formation

technology are localised for

make GEM technology an

cost saving and suitability.

attractive alternative to

Developed by Evoqua Water

dissolved air filtration.

Technologies, the technology

QFS has been

has been implemented

representing Memcor

worldwide and allows QFS to

Ultraﬁltration technology

tap into valuable experience

from 1999. Memcor

and knowledge from our

Ultraﬁltration makes use of

international partners. In

a polyvinylidene ﬂuoride

conjunction with these

hollow ﬁbre membrane with

technology benefits the

ﬁltration from outside to in.

QFS local manufacturing,

The Memcor membrane

commissioning and service

system provides

team provides the benefit to

exceptional final water

our clients of local support.

quality through an integrity testable process. This is

What key technologies does your company offer?

essential for the protection

• screening down to

suspended solids.

40 microns

of the RO membranes from QFS provides the RO skids

• floatation technology

based on pre-engineered

• ultra filtration

designs with benefit to the

• reverse osmosis (RO).

client by manufacturing in South Africa and

What are the benefits of your company s specific technologies? Any

making use of equipment

desalination requires good

ensures service and

quality screening. QFS make

spares available.

available in South Africa. This sustainable concept

use of new polymer screening technology to ensure removal of the particulate matter. QFS also makes use of the next-generation floatation

What specialised services do you offer? Maintaining membrane-based equipment with support

QFS’s desalination technology uses South African labour and parts wherever possible

with the operational and cleaning conditions of the specific membranes.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

FEATURE

We believe customers deserve access to world-class resources, exceptional service, and a commitment to continuous improvement and innovation. Buckman offers an optimal solution for treatment of utility and process water—an extensive portfolio of specialty chemicals, unmatched technical expertise and service, and a network of experienced associates who quickly identify, prevent, and solve problems. Find out how we can help with your water treatment needs.

Commitment makes the best chemistry. In Africa: Hammarsdale Tel: +27 (0) 31 736 8800

•

email: marketingsa@buckman.com

•

buckman.com

PANEL DISCUSSION BUCKMAN ow does your company s machinery and services oﬀer a convenient, cost-eﬀective, sustainable solution? SS Innovation

• energy generation from

has always been part of the

• biological augmentation

Buckman culture and through working in the South African water industry, Buckman has built up a reputation for innovative application of

Stephanus Roux Account Manager

• combined chemistry and

What are the beneﬁts of your company s speciﬁc technologies?

membrane applications

Buckman s cloud-based

saline streams and membrane technology

cellulose acetate membrane systems.

information management

What specialised services do you oﬀer? Buckman s technical

system, the trademarked On-Site

services with regard to RO

combines available information

technology include membrane

in report format. This includes

autopsies, on-site analytical

• nano-chemistry for disinfection

operational information and can

techniques for quick response

or contaminant degradation.

be made available to the client in

to operational challenges

real time.

and the application of the demonstrates both operational

technologies • solar or wind-driven desalination technology

technology and dosing chemical support programmes.

both polyamide and

What key technologies does you company offer?

Green Toolbox , software that

the water industry by getting

Buckman provides key

involved in the unconventional

technologies for water

water treatment sector of

treatment in association with

the petrochemical, utilities

its technology partners. This

and metal industries and has

not only includes speciality

What speciﬁc products and components does your company manufacture/ provide and what are the quality indicators that your clients must know about?

had spectacular successes in

chemistries, but also Micro

Buckman s core business

customer s requirements. This

supporting these industries.

filtration, ultrafiltration and

remains the supply of biocides,

not only ensures customer

Buckman has cut its teeth in

as well as energy savings. The advantages of Buckman s products lie in the accurate application of each product and its close relationships with

Reverse osmosis (RO)

satisfaction but also cost-

applications for desalination,

eﬀective pricing as dosing

water recovery or pollution

regimens are determined by

control have been a focus

stringent laboratory testing,

area for Buckman s products

computer modelling, case

and expertise.

studies and experience.

Innovation remains key as

and environmental legislation

How does your customer engagement deliver client assurance? Buckman s

continues to drive new

commitment to technical

demands for improved

training of its own and its

products and services and

customer s personnel increases

many customers have already

its total value to the client.

ﬁnancial market ﬂuctuations, new process development

benefited from the costeffective membrane-related products and services offered by Buckman. Buckman s chemical programmes impact on all facets of treatment technology including improved equipment performance, less downtime for cleaning and repair actions and

“Innovation remains key as financial market fluctuations, new process development and environmental legislation continues to drive new demands for improved products and services.”

solving capability is a high priority for Buckman, and the Tech Hub , a team of industry

reduced cleaning in place (CIP) costs.

Since the technology is so advanced, what in-house quality assurances does your company oﬀer and how do you ensure these are transferred to the eventual operator? High-level problem-

RO technology. Buckman also

anti-scalants, coagulants and

specialists, is always available

developed monitoring and

ﬂocculants for drinking water

to the customer to engage in

future, Buckman maintains

control systems for chemical

and RO pre-treatment, CIP

problem solving and/or value-

close relationships with

dosing applications for RO

chemicals for RO facilities,

adding projects to beneﬁt the

academia, both locally and

systems. This is the proprietary

defoamers, corrosion inhibitors,

customer s business.

abroad, supporting the

Buckman Eze-Monitor: a multi

organic and inorganic

development of both water

purpose tool that combines

dispersants. Buckman has

chemicals is strictly quality

treatment professionals and

various input signals and

had excellent results with the

controlled at the Hammarsdale

cutting-edge technology.

provide immediate dosing

application of its proprietary

facility and customers are

control or automated

Oxamine biocide for controlling

encouraged to be involved with

CIP initiation.

fungi, algae and bacteria on

this programme.

With an eye on the

The future of the water industry may include:

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

Buckman s wide range of

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

PANEL DISCUSSION Abrie Wessels

VEOLIA WATER TECHNOLOGIES SOUTH AFRICA ow does your company s machinery and services offer a convenient, cost-effective, sustainable solution? AW

With our international focus

and flocculation to achieve a

the secondary

typical rise rate of 30 m/h.

clarifiers.

South Africa. Secondly, we have a division structure

• Hydrotech Our patented

TECHNOLOGY ADVANTAGE What are your key differentiators? Actiflo

Hydrotech disc filters bring the advantage of robust fine filters with low

on innovation, we have a

conventional

solid range of technologies

clarifiers are, as

available for the water

standard, designed

treatment market. I put the

for around 1 m/h

spotlight on the following

rise rate and when

three innovative building

lamella separation

technologies:

plates are added

• Actiflo Our Actiflo Turbo s

the clarification

patented super-high-rate

velocity is

water clarifier uses

increased to 8 m/h

microsand to ballast and

to 10 m/h. This

weigh down the flocs

Western Cape Regional GM

Hydrotech

divisions: 1. design and construction of big water plants 2. design and construction of small water plants 3. operation and maintenance of water plants 4. chemicals for water treatment 5. servicing and consumables for water plants.

Units (NTU) in the clarified water. The effectiveness of the

9001:2008 accredited company

technology is demonstrated

with an established quality

at more than 800 Actiflo

management system. Training

installation sites around the

combined with clear and

world over the past 20 years.

comprehensive operating

many metres away

a typical drinking water

capital cost together with

from the typical 80 m/h for

clarification rate of 80 m/h.

minimal energy losses and

the Actiflo Turbo, providing a

The general advantage is the

are used successfully on

guarantee of less than three

reduction in footprint and

final or tertiary filtration

Nephelometric Turbidity

Actiflo

needs grouped together in five

ASSURANCE ADVANTAGE What in-house quality assurances does your company offer and how are you able to ensure these are transferred to the eventual operator? We are an ISO

is however still

in the water to achieve

that focuses on customer

Spidflow has proven itself

and maintenance manuals are

in the efficient removal of

essential components of the

algae generally measured with

success of new water plant.

chlorophyll-a levels remaining

dissolved

minimal energy loss (typical

OPERATIONAL ADVANTAGE What systems does your company offer to allow for better monitoring and testing of the quality of products and by-products?

air flotation

100 mm water head) together

Well-equipped site

system has

with minimal water loss for

laboratories together with

been proven

backwashing. In addition,

trained process controllers

in efficiency

the technology boasts 8 000

and laboratory technicians

to remove

references internationally.

enable operational monitoring

in the treated water and associated cost as well as

at wastewater treatment

typically achieves in excess of

shorter construction period.

works on the out flow from

99% removal.

• Spidflow Our Spidflow

The Hydrotech disc filter's

Spidflow

differentiation is in the

of water plants and facilitate

particles and

plant supervisors and plant

conventional

SERVICES ADVANTAGE What services does your company offer and how does your customer engagement deliver client assurance? Our

drinking water

Veolia corporate structure

trending and control software

plants. The

is streamlined to focus on

for web-based operational

general

customer service combining

support, and there are

advantage is

our experience and technology

various modules available

in effective

with regional offices well

depending the requirements

coagulation

distributed throughout

of the client.

especially algae in pretreatment of desalination and also

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

engineers to optimise plant performance, and identify plant upsets early for prevention. Veolia also offers our Veolink remote monitor,

INDUSTRY PIPES, PUMPS NEWS & VALVES

Dynamic team puts Dynamic Fluid Control (DFC) says that, by being in the water game, its core company philosophy encompasses maintaining water quality to keep South Africans healthy. Frances Ringwood meets the DFC team to find out more.

Service offering DFC started out as a dedicated wedge gate valve manufacturer. Over the years, the demand for various applications changed and so the company responded by broadening its range, introducing butterfly valves, diaphragm valves, knifegate valves, pinch valves, check and float valves, air release and vacuum

FC valves

MANUFACTURES for

the

water

sector. It is a subsidiary

second being Mineral Processing. While

our

Water

and

break valves, and similar. These valves are, as the company

Eﬄuent

name suggests, dynamic, covering

of Aveng Manufacturing,

Division centres on taking care of

the full range of water sector appli-

part of the Avenge Group. Brenton

people s good health, our Mineral

cations from mines and factories to

Long, managing director, says the

Processing

contributes

water treatment plants and reser-

company is not just in the business

towards taking care of the environ-

voirs. We are an OEM for all water

of supplying its customers with

ment, says Long.

applications,

Division

particularly

the

high-quality valves and pumps, but

In 1886, gold was discovered

medium-pressure range of 40 bar.

is also really in the business of keep-

in Johannesburg and three years

However, if there are requirements

ing people healthy and protecting

later a man by the name of James

in a more high-pressure application,

the environment.

Thompson started a business, supply-

for example 120 bar, we have the

You ll

have

ing construction and infrastructure

seen the UN es-

solutions to this new mining town.

timates that the

That business grew, with some ad-

average

person

ditions, into the Aveng Group over

least

the next 125 years. Aveng employs

20 to 50 litres of

35 000 people worldwide, it is listed

water per day to

in the top 30 companies on the

maintain

good

Johannesburg Stock Exchange and

In vino

it s a proudly South African company

needs

health.

veritas (in wine is

with a BBBEE shareholding of 90%,

the truth), but in

says Long.

aqua sanitas (in

“Imagine if your home’s water has been off for two days. Water is vital to life and here at DFC we see ourselves as being in the business of keeping people healthy.” Brenton Long, MD, DFC

being Water and Eﬄuent and the

DFC

executive

director

Mark

water is sanity);

Hedtrich adds: Aveng is a business

imagine if your

that s dedicated to building infra-

home s

water

structure and DFC is part of the vision

has been oﬀ for

to create good infrastructure for

two days. Water

growth and prosperity.

is vital to life and

In order to provide high-quality

here at DFC we

products for a wide range of appli-

see ourselves as

cations, Aveng sought to partner

being in the busi-

with a South African company with

ness of keeping

a similarly impressive history as well

people healthy,

as original equipment manufacturing

says Long.

(OEM) capabilities.

Company structure

to acquire an entity to enter into

Four years ago, Aveng was looking

DFC

has

supporting water infrastructure. DFC two

and its precursors had been in exist-

divisions for sup-

ence for 65 years at that point and

plying its prod-

had a well-established reputation,

ucts,

says Long.

the

ﬁrst

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

“Aveng is a business that’s dedicated to building infrastructure and DFC is part of the vision to create good infrastructure for growth and prosperity.” Mark Hedtrich, executive director, DFC

PIPES, PUMPS & VALVES

people first capacity to service that market too, says Hedtrich. We have also been servicing the water distribution needs for the power and energy sectors. Coal-fired

power

stations

also

require water to be moved around for steam generation, cooling and other

sections

plants,

adds

of Pat

these

power

Stander,

DFC

executive director.

Partnership advantage The Aveng Group s Aveng Water Division focuses on high precipitation reverse osmosis, which works to mitigate acid mine drainage, desalination and pipelines. Aveng Manufacturing

DFC

and

Aveng

Water, being a part of the same group, allow leverage off the expertise of the other.

Localisation

The Aveng safety motto spells

When it comes to DFC s local manufacturing

capability,

sub-components

are

home without harm, everyone,

all

every day . It is the company s

locally

priority to look after our people,

sourced by as much as 100%. The minerals-processing

side

Aerial view of the DFC premises in Benoni, Gauteng

adds Hedtrich.

the

Achievements

business exports to many parts of the world, each with their own

We ve already achieved many of

localisation requirements. For us to

our goals as a company through

be competitive we need to move

having such a wide service offering

high volumes of product, thus we

and meeting our BBBEE targets

focus on Southern African specifica-

and localisation goals. There is

tions, mostly for South Africa. SADC countries are part of that focus only from time to time, when the company supplies imported parts which are assembled at its factory in South Africa, Finland or the US and then exported to the correct quality standard for its destination in that region. However, when it comes to the water and effluent part of the business, everything can be locally manufactured to satisfy the new legislation in South Africa requiring a minimum of 70% local content, says Long. In addition, DFC adheres to strict

â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have also been servicing the water distribution needs for the power and energy sectors. Coal-fired power stations also require water to be moved around for steam generation, cooling and other sections of these power plants.â&#x20AC;?

health and safety procedures in line

Pat Stander, executive

with the parent company s ethos.

director, DFC

still more we want to do. At the moment, we see these advantages as barriers to our competitors. Another differentiator we see is our ability to comply with local content, which means international competitors need to rethink their approach of just dumping product in South Africa. DFC, as a South African company, is committed to creating jobs and opportunities for South Africa and its people, says Hedtrich. With

operations

America,

Finland and Australia, DFC is in the enviable position of already having a vast global footprint in Africa, and beyond.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

INDUSTRY PIPES, PUMPS NEWS & VALVES

Botswana water scheme

Pump sets being supplied to Botswana’s Water Affairs Department for the North-South Carrier Water Transfer Scheme’s Phase II have surpassed all quoted efficiency requirements during factory testing.

TOP Outside KSB’s Halle factory in Germany ABOVE RIGHT KSB axially split volute casing pumps for the Botswana Water Affairs Department

N AN ENERGY-scarce country

volute-casing pump sets are being

secured from the main contractor

such as Botswana, the im-

installed

CWJV (a joint venture between

provement over and above

KSB South Africa s Fluid Systems

CCC and WBHO) for the mechanical

the already tightly specified

department to pump water from

works for the new Moralane pump

efficiency of the pump sets is im-

comparatively high rainfall areas in

station (including pump sets, pipe

pressive and should translate into

the north of the Southern African

work, valves, HVAC and overhead

higher efficiencies of the scheme

country, to the drier south and

crane) and was based on the Water

and lower energy input require-

capital city Gaborone.

Affairs Department s carefully for-

and

commissioned

ments over the life of the project. Manufactured

Germany

mulated requirements. by

Pumps fit for purpose

We were awarded the contract

Halle

According to KSB Fluid Systems

based on a number of technical

works, the three large axially split

manager Dale Croker, the order was

considerations

KSB

Pumps

and

Valves

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

relating

the

PIPES, PUMPS & VALVES

gets pumped design and manufacture of our

products such as those pro-

pumps, as well as a requirement for

duced by KSB Pumps. We al-

efficiency and the ability to main-

ready quoted for high efficiency

tain a low-suction capability.

and when the pumps were

Given the comparative scarcity

manufactured and tested we

of electricity in the area and re-

exceeded expectations by a

sulting high cost of energy, the

considerable margin. That s an

design

excellent achievement in any-

required

variable-speed

drive-controlled 2300 Kw pumps

one s book, says Croker.

capable of producing a flow rate of 839 litres per second to a generated

Hardware and support

head of 211.9 metres. Apart from

KSB axially split volute casing

the high efficiency of the pump

pumps are designed to be pow-

unit at the design duty, the use of

erful, reliable and durable in the

variable-speed drives also allows

most diverse applications in

In an energy-scarce region such as Botswana, the improvement over and above the already tightly specified efficiency of the pump sets is impressive for the efficient use of the big

order to ensure uninterrupted

pumps across the operating range

water supply wherever they

from current to future water de-

are installed.

mand levels as the population and

For

water

authorities,

the

pumps represent a practical

demand grow.

and economical means to move

Surpassing the grade

water over distances without

Our pumps ability to operate at

fail.The

additional

expertise

low reservoir water levels due to

and consulting offered by KSB Fluid

Africa. In Botswana its pumps are

low net positive suction head re-

Systems provides an all-encom-

used extensively throughout the

quirements specifically engineered

passing and seamless solution to

region and are also in operation

for this project was also a consid-

customers in Southern Africa and

on the first phase of the North-

eration as it negated the need for

further afield across the continent.

South Carrier. Most

recently,

the

company

series pumping and as a result

For this reason, the Fluid Systems

considerably reduces the size and

department is often called upon to

supplied similar pump sets for

complexity of the pump station and

undertake turnkey projects, designs

the Dikgathlong project for the

saves on civil costs, says Croker .

and implementation of full solutions

Botswana Water Affairs Department,

performance

for mechanical and electrical equip-

which is a feeder station to the

tests of KSB s proprietary RDLO

ment related to pumping plants.

North-South Carrier; here again,

horizontal split casing pumps were

Project teams are furthermore able

high efficiencies were achieved.

conducted at the factory s modern

to assist with pump selection for

Similar water projects in South

test facility in the presence of the

any operating range and are able

Africa have also been undertaken

client and the engineer s represent-

to calculate and design pumping

for the Department of Water Affairs

ative and that the figures returned

solutions according to exact re-

and Sanitation, and Rand Water as

exceeded KSB s quoted efficiency

quirements. They will also work with

well as other water authorities.

of 88.8%. The tests actually revealed

consulting engineers to find the

Governments need to make use

peak efficiencies of 90.36%, 90.04%

right and complete solution for any

of reliable pumps that are not a

and 89.68% across the three pump

water or fluid transfer project.

drain on its other resources such

confirms

that

These

results

underscore

the

value of high-quality engineered

ABOVE Pump station prepared for arrival of KSB pumps

as power or manpower. For this

sets, which will translate to significant power savings in future.

TOP Work underway at the Moralane Pump Station

Pumping in the heart of Africa

reason, KSB is often a preferred

KSB has a long record of supplying

supplier wherever water delivery is

pumping

a top priority, concludes Croker.

solutions

throughout

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

PIPES, PUMPS & VALVES

INNOVATIVE, OPTIMISED SOLUTIONS

Driving reliable treatment Sanjith Singh, sales director for motors and drives at Emerson Industrial, shares with Frances Ringwood more detail about some of the company’s most impressive market offerings.

MERSON Industrial Automation

points on ﬂows within the water industry,

technologies guarantee superior energy

(EIA) likes to classify itself as being

says Singh.

eﬃciency to the market, says Singh.

a leader and trendsetter in varia-

Market demand for such products has

The company s AC motors are rated IE4

ble-speed drive (VSD) technology

risen sharply as a result of increasing

on the global premium eﬃciency stand-

from the point of view that it oﬀers a good

demands for energy eﬃciency as well as

ards, meaning that they are market-leading

product at a competitive price, ensuring

the need to attain dif-

reliability

for

our

technology. In addition, when it comes to VSDs, the company has been

customers,

proactive in terms of releasing new

says Singh. Emerson Electrics is a global

technology to the market. In fact, if

company started in America

you look at the onset of the drives

with

divisions,

business, which is managed through

of which EIA is the division

EIA s Control Techniques brand since

several

key

of the business servicing the

the inception of the business many

water, wastewater and eﬄu-

years ago, we ve always been ﬁrst to

ent

release most VSD technology as it s

market.

include

Other

divisions

Emerson

Process

developed, adds Signh.

Management, Emerson Network

Value proposition

Power and Emerson Climate supplies

EIA sees South Africa as a key

products such as VSDs, electric

market to growing its business. The

motors and gearboxes, and other

parent company in the US made the

Technologies.

EIA

automation solutions.

The Unidrive M F300 is an energy-efficient VSD, capable of controlling flow set points

Driven by innovation EIA has a wide range of VSDs suitable for any water sector application. These can include water,

decision to enter the market here back

1981

under the banner of

the

Control

Techniques brand,

wastewater, raw water treatment

and the company

plants, preparation water treat-

has grown from strength to strength

ment plants and eﬄuent. The

since then.

company is capable of proving

Another market diﬀerentiator for EIA is

anything from the smallest to the big-

it oﬀers a standard warranty of two years,

gest drive with an impressive stock-holding

ferent ﬂow rates.

which can be extended to ﬁve years,

capacity, meaning that when clients need

Product development for this solution was

demonstrating EIA s commitment to cus-

an immediate solution, they get it.

driven directly by the needs of engineers

tomer service, says Singh.

Just as an idea of our capability, we have

working in the ﬁeld. In addition, EIA s drives

EIA has a wide range of customers includ-

a product called Unidrive M launched early

conform to the highest European standards

ing end users, original equipment manu-

FY2014 in South Africa. We have diﬀerent

including the International Electrotechnical

facturers, distributors, resellers and system

ranges within the Unidrive M family of

Commission (IEC).

integrators. We have many reasons why we

products and we have the capability within the range to deal with process projects,

consider EIA a market leader but perhaps

Full automation solutions

one of the main reasons is our after-sales

also called process vertical. Within that

The company boasts phenomenal break-

service. EIAs engineers are hired based on

family of products we have a power drive

throughs in product development and that

their dedication and we can guarantee

called the F300 and that is a drive which

goes not only for its VSDs but also Emerson

that if a mine in Guinea, for example, has a

features dedicated pump control and

Industrial Automation s AC motors. For

problem with its pumps on Boxing Day, our

proportional integral derivative (PID). The

example, we have proprietary class-lead-

people are prepared to ﬂy out there and

PID is an eﬃcient way of controlling set

ing AC motors called the Dyneo. These

solve the problem, concludes Singh.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

INDUSTRY PIPES, PUMPS NEWS & VALVES

Making a splash in The aeration process at the Stellenbosch municipal water treatment plant in the Western Cape has been dramatically improved after 10 world-class modular compact (MC) industrial gear (IG) units supplied by leading drive specialist SEW-EURODRIVE were installed by Inenzo Water.

SEWEURODRIVE assembly plants and branches in 46 countries are staffed by the specialists and experts of each respective country

NE OF THE initial and

installed, it can lead to failure and

we must ensure that we offer clients

most critical stages of

damage to the propeller and the