WATER SECURIT Y
Can your business operate
WITHOUT WATER?
Over the past two years, South African businesses have had to navigate the Covid-19 outbreak as well as riots and looting. Regardless of their industry or geography, companies now place a high value on business continuity. Decision-makers have had to readjust and reframe how they approach unforeseen events. Limit water risk Chester Foster, GM, SBS Group
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roperty developers, business owners, managers, as well as health and safety officers need to ensure that sufficient resources – including human resources – are allocated and effectively managed to reduce the risks posed by fire and water interruptions, regardless of the cause. To do this, an effective and sufficient backup water supply must be implemented to keep operations running when water is unavailable. Businesses also need to install a fixed fire protection solution – complete with water storage tanks – to protect their assets. To remain sustainable and manage the impact of escalating water costs, business owners also need to implement measures to reduce their dependence on municipal infrastructure and water consumption. According to a report by the CSIR, South Africa’s industrial businesses use 2.5 billion litres of water per year, making up more than 13.3% of total water use. Gauteng, closely followed by the Western Cape, is in the lead with the highest water consumption, followed by KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga.
“Water scarcity is becoming one of the most critical risks threatening social and economic development throughout the world. Access to appropriate quality and quantities of water can either impede or enable economic growth and affects the supply chain of most companies – not only those for which water is a primary input or production requirement. South African companies cannot depend solely on municipal water supplies, and need to ensure they have a backup plan,”explains Chester Foster, GM, SBS Group. Business leaders must consider the many factors that have intensified the looming water shortage, including recurrent droughts, urbanisation, population growth, inadequate supply solutions and deteriorating municipal infrastructure. “Consider risk exposure – water interruptions due to maintenance, the threat of water restrictions, as well as fire and arson risks – and then establish what the value of an installation of backup water storage and fixed fire protection solutions will mean to your business,” adds Foster. Other considerations to limit risk include the implementation of a rainwater harvesting solution and investigating access to groundwater supplies to provide backup water. Additional water supply sources are mainly groundwater, desalinated seawater in coastal areas, and
wastewater reuse for the distribution of new supply between regions. “SBS water and liquid storage solutions can be used for all of these applications. We have a credible history of successful applications across the last quarter of a century and have developed a comprehensive range of liquid storage solutions for any size operation, including fire sumps for fixed fire protection solutions to ensure we cover all sectors of industry,” Foster concludes.
www.sbstanks.com
SBS GROUP The SBS Group is a manufacturer of the SBS Tanks range of backup water and fixed fire sump storage solutions. SBS works with key players in the water security sector to maximise return on water storage investment infrastructure and limit water security and fire risk exposure. Get in touch today – visit www.sbstanks.com for more information or call 086 048 2657.
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