PANEL DISCUSSION • INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENT & MINE WATER
Trends and issues facing the water treatment industry Members of water treatment company Watericon give their perspective on waste reuse and the discharge of wastewater. Boikanyego Pako Khutsoane (BP) Process Engineer
What is the status quo with regard to mine water in South Africa? BP There are a number of old, dilapidated gold mines in the Witwatersrand area where there are rising water levels in the mines and acid water has accumulated. This has started to decant into the Springs, Krugersdorp and central Germiston areas. The Witwatersrand holds the second largest amount of acid mine drainage (AMD) in the world. The responsibility to deal with the AMD of these mines has fallen on the Department of Water and Sanitation. Neutralisation is used when treating a large volume of AMD and around 200 Mℓ of water is treated a day. If that water could be recovered, it would assist Rand Water with water supply. In Mpumalanga, there is ash water with a high pH value. In the coal mine areas,
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there are evaporation dams with crystal clear blue water that is toxic. Companies like Sasol and Eskom are extremely progressive in that they are recovering this water and reusing it. Desalination and evaporation technologies are used. In Limpopo and the North West (the platinum belt), the treatment of their water is similar to the treatment of ash water in Mpumalanga. Are mine water and industrial effluent being treated or dumped? BP There is legislation to prevent the dumping of untreated water. Some municipalities have by-laws aimed at the discharge of industrial effluent. The legislation and by-laws should be enforced by the Green Scorpions – a network of environmental compliance and enforcement officials from national, provincial and municipal government.
Chris Ashmore (CA) General Manager
Watericon does get calls from companies that have had to pay fines and are asking for assistance in complying with legislation. But I do not believe that the implementation, monitoring and enforcement of the legislation and by-laws are as effective as they could be. However, I do believe that large corporates are trying to be responsible and are treating their water to disposable limits. Is there a cost benefit to outsourcing wastewater treatment operations and maintenance? BP There is definitely a long-term benefit in using reputable companies that have a track record of water treatment. Watericon has been called to a few sites to fix water issues where a significant amount of money has
