Water&Sanitation Africa March/April

APE Pumps and sister entity

have been

developing, manufacturing and refurbishing pumps for over seven decades –and many of these pumps are placed throughout the African continent.

EFFICIENT AND CLEAN SOLUTIONS FOR THE COMPLETE WATER CYCLE.

Efficient and innovative: Pumps and Valves from KSB

Water means life. KSB provides reliable and efficient systems for extracting and transporting water and disposing of waste water around the world. KSB helps ensure that people have access to water wherever they are.

Our team of expert engineers have years of experience delivering complex water and waste water turnkey solutions. Find out more about KSB and our efficient solutions now. www.ksb.com/en-za

KSB Pumps and Valves (Pty) Ltd

Tel: +27-11-876-5600

www.ksb.com/en-za

Level 1 B-BBEE Supplier

Editor Kirsten Kelly kirsten.kelly@3smedia.co.za

Managing Editor Alastair Currie

Editorial Coordinator Ziyanda Majodina

Head of Design Beren Bauermeister

Chief Sub-editor Tristan Snijders

Contributors Hlengiwe Cele, Lester Goldman, Petro Kotzé, Mariah Malatji, Dan Naidoo, Sarah Ravhudzulo, Mbali Sibiya

Production & Client Liaison Manager Antois-Leigh Nepgen

Distribution Manager Nomsa Masina

Distribution Coordinator Asha Pursotham

Group Sales Manager Chilomia Van Wijk

Bookkeeper Tonya Hebenton

Advertising Sales Hanlie Fintelman

c +27 (0)67 756 3132

Hanlie.Fintelman@3smedia.co.za

The Budget Speech, SONA and water

If you are wondering where water sits on national government’s priority list, then consider this: out of the 4 878 words in the Budget Speech and 8 319 words in the State of the Nation Address (SONA) – water was mentioned only 12 and 17 times, respectively.

Publisher Jacques Breytenbach

3S Media

Production Park, 83 Heidelberg Road, City Deep Johannesburg South, 2136 PO Box 92026, Norwood 2117

Tel: +27 (0)11 233 2600 www.3smedia.co.za

ISSN: 1990 - 8857

Annual subscription: R330 (SA rate) subs@3smedia.co.za

Copyright 2023. All rights reserved. All material herein is copyright protected. The views of contributors do not necessarily reflect those of WISA

WISA’s Vision Inspiring passion for water

WISA Contacts:

HEAD OFFICE

Tel: 086 111 9472(WISA)

Fax: +27 (0)11 315 1258

Physical address: 1st Floor, Building 5, Constantia Park, 546 16th Road, Randjiespark Ext 7, Midrand

Website: www.wisa.org.za

BRANCHES

Central Branch (Free State, Northern Cape, North West)

Chairperson: Dr Leana Esterhuizen

Company: Central University of Technology

Tel: +27 (0)51 507 3850

Email: lesterhu@cut.ac.za

Eastern Cape:

Branch Contact: Dan Abrahams

Company: Aurecon

Tel: +27 (0)41 503 3929

Cell: +27 (0) 81 289 1624

Email: Dan.Abraham@aurecongroup.com

Gauteng

Branch Lead: Zoe Gebhardt

Cell: +27 (0)82 3580876

Email: zoe.gebhardt@gmail.com

KwaZulu-Natal Chairperson: Lindelani Sibiya

Company: Umgeni Water

Cell: +27 (0)82 928 1081

Email: lindelani.sibiya@umgeni.co.za

Limpopo

Chairperson: Mpho Chokolo

Company: Lepelle Northern Water

Cell: +27 (0)72 310 7576

Email: mphoc@lepelle.co.za

Mpumalanga

Chairperson: Lihle Mbatha (Acting)

Company: Inkomati-Usuthu Catchment Management Agency

Tel: +27 (0)13 753 9000

Email: mbathat@iucma.co.za

Western Cape

Chairperson: Natasia van Binsbergen

Company: AL Abbott & Associates

Tel: +27 (0)21 448 6340

Cell: +27 (0)83 326 3887

Email: natasia@alabbott.co.za

Namibia

Please contact the WISA Head Office at admin@wisa.org.za for more information

Understandably, large parts of the SONA and Budget Speech were dedicated towards addressing the ongoing electricity crisis. But more focus and energy (excuse the pun) need to be directed towards severe water shortages and spiking health issues associated with failing sanitation infrastructure.

The word ‘sanitation’ was mentioned only once in the Budget Speech and twice during SONA 2023.

The lack of importance placed on sanitation is reflected by the recent General Household Survey by Statistics SA, where 11.3% or just under 7 million people do not have access to piped or tap water in their dwellings. Additionally, only 64.8% of households have flush toilets that are connected to a public sewer system or septic or conservancy tanks. Another 13.4% still largely rely on pit toilets.

But there is still some positive news to come out of these speeches.

The good news

The backlog of water licence applications has been cleared, and new licences are now being issued within 90 days.

Later this year, a law will be tabled to establish an infrastructure agency to leverage the assets in the water sector for increased investment in water resource infrastructure.

A total of R132.5 billion has been allocated to the water and sanitation sector over the next three years.

Around two million indigent households receive free basic water.

Government has recognised the need to lessen the impact that load-shedding has on water infrastructure. The national state of disaster is aimed to respond to the electricity crisis and its effects, and will assist in exempting critical

infrastructure such as water treatment plants and wastewater treatment plants from load-shedding.

The Sanitation Appropriate for Education (SAFE) Initiative, together with government’s Accelerated School Infrastructure Delivery Initiative, has built 55 000 appropriate toilets with resources from the public and private sector.

The Department of Water and Sanitation is leading the process of investing in major infrastructure projects across the country. Some of the ‘shovelready’ water and/or sanitation projects approved through the Budget Facility for Infrastructure include:

• The Sol Plaatje Municipality will repair aspects of the Riverton Water Supply Scheme, which is the only water source and supply system to Kimberley.

• Access roads for the Mzimvubu Water Project are nearing completion. The construction of the Ntabelanga Dam will begin later this year. Additional funding during the next financial year may be required to ramp up implementation.

• Site establishment for the Clanwilliam Dam project is completed. All surface works and 15% of all concrete works will be completed by the end of this year.

Some of the other water projects of national importance that are either underway or will begin are the long-delayed Lesotho Highlands Phase II and major projects to increase the capacity of the Clanwilliam Dam, Hazelmere Dam and the Tzaneen Dam.

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, contact Hanlie Fintelman on +27 (0)67 756 3132, or email Hanlie.Fintelman@3smedia.co.za.

You said it in WASA

The opinions and statements shared by thought leaders in the water industry to Water&Sanitation Africa.

“There is nothing more important to life on this planet (that has a limited supply) than water. Water is our most valuable resource. It is used for drinking, cooking and the manufacture of almost everything from paper to medicine, to underpinning agriculture and generating electricity,”

Miles Murray, director: Business Development, Veolia Services Southern Africa

PAGE

“Good governance is a prerequisite for managing too much, too little and too polluted water. Good municipal governance can improve water services in South Africa by ensuring that resources are allocated efficiently, services are delivered effectively, and citizens are involved in decision-making processes.”

PAGE

“According to the UN, 2.2 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and 4.2 billion people lack access to safely managed sanitation services. In a country with a history of inequality, SDG 6 has huge significance. But before any change can be accelerated towards achieving this goal, we need to mitigate the impact of load-shedding on our sector and prioritise sanitation.”

Dan Naidoo, chairman, WISA

“WISA provides water professionals with a network of likeminded individuals, people who are all passionate about making a difference in the sector and ensuring that our most precious finite resource is preserved. In addition to that, we offer event and training opportunities where registered professionals can earn their required CPD points.”

“If well maintained, APE and Mather+Platt’s pumps will last a lifetime – across Africa, there are hundreds of working examples. APE Pumps has never discontinued a pump model since inception in 1952, so parts are always available.” John Montgomery, GM, APE Pumps and Mather+Platt

PAGE

Melissa Cousins, operations manager, WISA

Dr Lester Goldman, CEO, WISA

“We need to turn South Africa into a nation of water custodians. We are a water-stressed country. Even though we have a fair amount of annual rainfall, it’s dispersed very unevenly. Many major urban areas rely on piping water over long distances or creating elaborate dam systems. Yet South Africans are aboveaverage consumers of water. We use a lot, but we don’t take much care of water. When we focus on involving local communities and showing them how they can look after water, we can create a water-aware culture that will lead to more responsible usage. This approach can also support municipal efforts to reduce non-revenue water through better reporting of leaks and water theft.”

Chetan Mistry, strategy and marketing manager, Xylem Africa

“Currently, South Africans are focused on the energy crisis. But it is important to remember that energy and water are intricately connected. Most energy production or conversion involves water in its processes. Over the past 100 years, global water use has increased nearly eight times. This is due to a combination of population growth, economic development and changing consumption patterns. Water use has been growing at 2.5 times the rate of population increase. In just seven years, it is estimated that only 60% of the world’s water demand can be met, while South Africa is the 30th driest country in the world, with a history of droughts.”

Vikash Rampathi, segment lead: Marketing, Schneider Electric

“I have witnessed a positive shift with how mines and industry view water. There is a huge focus on using the least amount of water possible and creating the least amount of waste. They are also ensuring that their surrounding communities receive sufficient water that is of good quality.”

Peter Shepherd, principal hydrologist, SRK Consulting

“Conservation of water is one of the basic principles of a green building. Green buildings save water by integrating waterefficient technologies in their design and construction or by retrofitting these fixtures and technologies.”

Dash Coville, technical manager:

Special Projects, GBCSA

“The Southern African piping industry has undergone many changes. Original, larger traditional manufacturers in the plastic pipe industry, or founding members, have been slow in repositioning and adapting their operations to meet the rapidly changing market dynamics. They have been further hampered by their costly corporate structures that reduced their competitiveness. Other factors influencing the industry has been easy access to low-cost manufacturing equipment, which lowers the barrier to entry and encourages leaner

“Though there is a popular narrative that groundwater is readily available in sufficient quantities, it still needs to be carefully regulated. If not, we might be overabstracting from deeper groundwater resources, which might not necessarily be renewable. In the long term, it boils down to issues of water security, and the various challenges the state faces to achieve this. We need to assist government. And this groundwater app is a fine example of what the Water Research Commission (WRC) constantly tries to achieve.”

Yazeed van Wyk, research manager: Groundwater Hydrology, WRC

“A roads department will generally view stormwater as a liability that must be directed off the road surfaces as quickly as possible because it can be hazardous. For water and wastewater departments, stormwater can also be a liability, as it is a major source of contamination to drinking water sources; however, that same water falling on the roads, if properly managed, can be a resource that recharges groundwater sources. No water should ever be considered a waste.”

Dr Kirsty Carden, associate professor: Department of Civil Engineering and interim director: Future Water Research Institute, University of Cape Town

newcomers to enter.”

Don Coleman, managing director, Sizabantu Piping Systems

Resourcing the world –A COMMITMENT TO SDG 6

The UN’s 17 SDGs have one ambitious target – to end extreme poverty and achieve sustainable development worldwide by 2030. Not only is achieving SDG 6 – ‘Clean water and sanitation for all’ – essential for the water and sanitation sector, but it also has a major positive impact on all other 16 SDGs.

“There is nothing more important to life on this planet (that has a limited supply) than water. Water is our most valuable resource. It is used for drinking, cooking and the manufacture of almost everything from paper to medicine, to underpinning agriculture and generating electricity,” says Miles Murray, director: Business Development, Veolia Services Southern Africa.

However, many of the water sources are under severe stress. The UN estimates that two billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity by 2025. A further two-thirds of the world’s population will be facing water shortages. In addition to losing access to these water resources, water demand is rapidly rising. It is projected to increase 55% by 2050 – this includes a 400% rise in demand to maintain manufacturing processes.

This unsettling situation is compounded further by climate change. As worldwide weather and water patterns continue to

be altered, there are more frequent water shortages, droughts and flooding.

Innovation

“Without intervention, the future of our water resources is bleak. Urgent and decisive action is needed today. At Veolia Southern Africa, we have always believed that innovation advances water sustainability and improves resilience. Veolia uses its 160-years history to help achieve SDG 6,” adds Murray.

Desalination: These technologies and processes have improved water security for tens of thousands of people by turning

Veolia Services

Southern Africa has aligned its business to help its customers support the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

to the only consistently available water source – the ocean.

Veolia designs, constructs, commissions and operates large-scale seawater desalination plants to meet each community’s unique water needs. Desalinated seawater can also be used by companies for industrial processes. Desalination increases the availability of freshwater in areas where it is scarce.

“We have had several local seawater desalination plant successes. A few of our desalination plants are in Knysna, Lambert’s Bay, Plettenberg Bay and Mossel Bay in the Western Cape, as well as in Cannon Rocks in the Eastern Cape,” states Murray.

Water reuse: Water reuse can play a crucial role in achieving SDG 6 by contributing to increased water availability, improved sanitation, sustainable water management and climate change adaptation.

According to Murray, the famed Durban Water Recycling Project was commissioned in 2001, where Veolia was awarded a 20-year operations and maintenance contract. It has recently been renewed. “Presently, the plant treats domestic and industrial wastewater to near potable standards for sale to industrial customers for direct use in their processes. It is South Africa’s first water reuse plant and one of the first water-related public-private partnerships of its kind.”

Wastewater treatment: The mining and metals industry is among the most waterintensive industrial sectors in the world. The average South African gold mine uses approximately one tonne of water for every tonne of rock broken. This is more than 4 000 litres of water every second. Due to these significant consumption quantities, limited sources of underground water, the high cost of surface water supplies and environmental problems related to the already expensive effluents, the mining

industry is under massive pressure to use water sparingly.

“We help customers reduce their water needs while enabling productivity gains by establishing a circular economy. Every process unit of a metals plant – raw materials, operational units (like furnaces and kilns), discharge units and refineries – processes water and creates wastewater. This wastewater can either be reused, repurposed or must be treated to a certain standard before it is discharged,” states Murray.

By doing this, Veolia helps mining companies and other industries reduce their effects on the environment. Treating industrial effluent before discharge into water bodies reduces the pollutants released. Water efficiency: Close to 41% of potable water in South Africa is lost or unaccounted for due to leaks, theft and inaccurate metering systems. Addressing this problem will reduce water losses and can help South Africa attain SDG 6. Veolia can help municipalities reduce the loss of revenue through the targeted renewal and optimisation of all meters and permanent remote monitoring of water losses.

Veolia can also minimise highcost surface water ‘municipal feed’ supply to process units through chemical and hydrodynamic water conditioning proficiency.

Conclusion

“Veolia Services Southern Africa is truly committed to achieving the SDGs and we are one of the few companies that does not approach them from a narrow perspective. We closely assess our up- and downstream impacts. For instance, we evaluate our supply chain and make sure that our procurement in sustainable. We view water as ‘blue gold’ and are committed and will continue to contribute to all SDGs wherever water is involved,” concludes Murray.

SDG 6 TARGETS

SDG 6 is divided into eight targets that reflect the water cycle:

6.1 Drinking water – achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all

6.2 Sanitation hygiene –achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations

6.3 Wastewater and water quality – improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimising release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally

6.4 Water use and scarcity –substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity

6.5 Water management –implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate

6.6 Ecosystems – protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes

6 a International cooperation – expand international cooperation and capacitybuilding support

6 b Community participation –support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management

IMPROVED MUNICIPAL GOVERNANCE

This World Water Day is focused on accelerating change to solve the water and sanitation crisis. Locally, an improvement in municipal governance will help South Africa to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) –Clean water and sanitation for all.

By Lester Goldman, CEO, WISA

will accelerate change

Poor municipal governance only promotes inequitable access to water and sanitation. It is the cause of poor service delivery, corruption and mismanagement of resources.

One of the main objectives of the Water Services Act (No. 108 of 1997) is to provide access to basic water supply and basic sanitation. The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) is the custodian of South Africa’s water resources and water services, and is designated as the main regulating body. However, in terms of delivery, municipalities have service provision as a core function, and it is simply impossible to achieve SDG 6 without functioning municipalities.

While there are certainly pockets of excellence, the poor state of many municipalities is reflected in the dismal results from last year’s Green Drop Report. Of the 850 plants audited nationwide, fewer than 3% (22 wastewater treatment plants) were accredited with Green Drop status.

However, WISA believes that the report will incentivise improved wastewater treatment performance and provide an important means to measure the performance of wastewater treatment plants, thereby providing the DWS and the sector at large with the information needed to plan for and implement improvement.

We believe that the Blue Drop and No Drop results will also be disappointing, but will provide a benchmark for municipalities to improve their performance and start accelerating change.

Good governance is a prerequisite for managing too much, too little and too

polluted water. Good municipal governance can improve water services in South Africa by ensuring that resources are allocated efficiently, services are delivered effectively, and citizens are involved in decision-making processes.

Good news

That improvement requires the collaboration of various stakeholders and WISA continues to form partnerships. WISA will work closer with the South African Local Government Association (Salga) and municipalities, and continues to call on its members to assist wherever possible.

Fortunately, Draft Regulation 813 will be gazetted soon, and this can bring about positive change. Regulation 813 will assist in ensuring that only qualified process controllers work on water and wastewater treatment plants.

Let’s be realistic about accelerating change

While the World Water Day theme – ‘Accelerating Change’ – is needed to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6), the water sector is currently in survival mode.

By Dan Naidoo, chairman, WISA

Professionals in the water sector must be multitaskers. While we focus on providing water and sanitation services in a very difficult environment –grappling with systemic issues like loadshedding, vandalism and municipal governance – we cannot forget about SDG 6. But it is difficult to make progress with the challenges we face.

Water and energy are joined at the hip. The energy crisis has propelled the water sector into crisis. Water and sanitation providers are currently focused on sustaining operations during power outages. Investment that should be directed towards SDG 6 is now going towards energy requirements during power outages. We cannot simply put SDG 6 on the back burner, but we need to acknowledge that significant resources in terms of funding, skills and time have been redirected towards operations to cope with load-shedding.

And sanitation

Historically, water has dominated the discussion, and sanitation has been given a backseat. Progress on sanitation, the poor cousin to water services management, is severely

lagging. Poor sanitation leads to the contamination of water sources, food and living spaces, with harmful pathogens, parasites and other disease-causing organisms. Sanitation must be prioritised. The sector is still water provision/project biased. Resources need to be equitably distributed between water and sanitation. Before any acceleration occurs, we need to make an equal commitment to achieving the sanitation components of SDG 6. Despite the available sanitation technologies, there is very little uptake. Even though water is a limited resource, we are still favouring toilets that flush copious amounts of potable water down the drain every day. There

are far more water projects in progress at any point in time than sanitation projects, and yet sanitation has a direct impact on water quality and the quality of life.

According to the UN, 2.2 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and 4.2 billion people lack access to safely managed sanitation services. In a country with a history of inequality, SDG 6 has huge significance. But in accelerating change towards achieving this goal, we need to mitigate the impact of load-shedding on our sector and prioritise sanitation commitments in parallel with equal vigour.

Before we accelerate, what is slowing us down?

OVER A DECADE AT WISA

What does WISA mean to you?

MC I regard my WISA colleagues and the members I have interacted with over the years as family. I feel privileged to be a part of the water sector, even though it may only be in a small way.

Why should water and sanitation professionals join WISA?

WISA provides water professionals with a network of like-minded individuals, people who are all passionate about making a difference in the sector and ensuring that our most precious finite

training opportunities where registered professionals can earn their required CPD points. WISA ensures all courses and events have triple accreditation, through ECSA, SACNASP and WISA. This means that registered professional engineers, scientists and process controllers can claim our CPD points. We also have some great membership benefits – from our free vacancy listings for company members, to our tender database and online library, which holds past conference papers and webinar recordings that can be accessed anytime.

How do strategic partnerships benefit WISA members?

Strategic partnerships are really important to WISA. WISA is a voluntary association, and we greatly rely on our partnerships with other associations, both voluntary and statutory, to be able to reach all corners of the water sector. It also enables us to be able to provide more benefits to our members, as well as ensuring that our partners receive benefits either through access to our members or through WISA’s growing reputation within government, SOEs and the sector.

What sets WISA apart from other training providers?

WISA training has really grown in the last few years. Looking at any other professional body, it is clear that training is an integral part of their operations, and we realised that not only is it an opportunity that we are missing but we owe it to our members, and the sector, to ensure that water sector professionals have access to credible accredited CPD training.

WISA has a Quality Assurance Committee in place that evaluates all training courses before putting them out in the market. We are always striving to improve our training courses and course offerings; in order to do this, we need members with the required knowledge and expertise to join WISA as training providers. In addition to this, we need organisations

Employed by WISA since 2005, Melissa Cousins has worn many hats, but her primary job has always been to help WISA members.

Melissa Cousins, operations manager, WISA

in the sector to acknowledge WISA training as highly credible and to ensure WISA is registered as their preferred training provider. Through this, we can slowly but surely clean up training in the water sector and weed out fly-by-night training companies.

What training courses do you currently offer?

WISA currently has a number of training courses available. Many are hosted online, some in person and we have some e-learning courses that you can also access and complete in your own time, at your own pace and still earn your CPD point.

We have different courses, aimed at different skill levels and different positions in an organisation. Our technical courses include: Water Governance, presented by Carin Bosman; Sustainable Operation and Maintenance of Small Water Treatment Plants, presented by

Chris Swartz; and various Wastewater and Water Treatment courses presented by Dewald van Staden. Dewald also hosts a course on the Introduction to Water and Wastewater, which is specifically aimed at people who are new to the sector and perhaps work in sales, marketing or even finance, so that they can also get an understanding of the water and wastewater treatment processes, which may assist them in being able to do their jobs better. Some of our soft-skills courses include Leading Yourself, presented by Professor Hamanth Kasan, a stalwart of the sector; we also have the ever-popular Fundamentals of Modern Leadership, hosted by Zifundise Training, which specialises in various soft and administrative skills training. These presenters are all longstanding members of WISA, whose reputations as experts in the sector precede them.

If you could grant one wish for the water and sanitation sector, what would it be?

For everyone in the sector to have the passion to fulfil their roles.

What life lessons have you learned along the way?

Ensure your personal values align with that of your organisation. Ethics and fairness are really important to me and these align with WISA’s values and culture. Always keep learning, whether it is related to your job, personal development or even hobbies. There is always more to learn, and we can never know enough. See the whole picture – being detail oriented sometimes leads me to focusing on all the little things, but we need to remember to look at the whole picture because sometimes those little details can completely change the end result and we won’t see it until it is too late.

MEET THE WISA KZN COMMITTEE

The WISA KZN Committee comprises like-minded water sector professionals and stakeholders who are currently active volunteers of WISA and the Southern African water sector.

By Mbali Sibiya

The members comprise utility professionals, municipality employees, higher education and private sector personnel who have all come together with the goal of improving the water status quo in KwaZulu-Natal.

With the vision to ‘Inspire passion for water by catalysing collaborations and leading water stewardship to create community impact in KwaZulu-Natal’, the KZN Committee has formulated a plan for activities that will be utilised to facilitate water education and innovation. The KZN Committee will forge collaborations between all water and sanitation stakeholders in the province and create an impact in communities, particularly those that lack or have limited access to potable water and dignified sanitation services.

The WISA 2024 Biennial Conference will be hosted in KwaZulu-Natal and the committee is planning a one-day seminar, titled ‘Water Sustainability – The role of youth and water professionals in ensuring water sustainability’. The seminar will be held at Mangosuthu University of Technology to discuss and unpack the UN 2023 Water Conference themes and how they translate to youth and water professionals as well as the roles they play in contributing to sustainable access to water supply for all.

Meet the current KZN Committee

The current committee has taken over from a dynamic group who have had an impactful term within various communities in the province during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mbali is an employee of Umgeni Water and has been working in the water sector for the past 12 years in potable water treatment, water quality, chemical process control and treatment process management. She is a motivated water professional whose interests lie in contributing to the transformation and advancement of the water sector, particularly the advancement of the water treatment process currently used in South Africa and other African countries. Mbali has a chemical engineering background, specialising in environment and water resources management. She considers herself an advocate for the attainment of SDG 6, with a passion for ensuring sustainability in the water sector and building resilience of water resources and infrastructure in order to ensure future generations have a sustainable supply of potable water. Mbali aims to use this term to raise awareness on water issues and advocate for sufficient government and private sector support for water sector innovations.

Jacolette is a registered professional scientist who holds an MSc and an LLM in Environmental Law. With 22 years of professional experience in the environmental sector, Jacolette has been responsible for various strategic projects such as the Integrated Environmental Management Programme for municipalities as well as Provincial State of the Environment Reporting. Due to her training as an ecologist/ zoologist, she provides the specialist skill of wetland and ecological assessments. In line with the newer developments in the environmental field, she has obtained valuable experience in compiling biodiversity offset documents and negotiating these aspects with relevant government departments and related authorities.

COMMITTEE LEAD: MBALI SIBIYA

COMMITTEE VICE LEAD: JACOLETTE ADAM

FINANCE LEAD: DR PREYAN ARUMUGAM-NANOOLAL

MARKETING LEAD: GCWALISILE KUNENE COORDINATION LEAD: VELILE CHILI

Preyan is a senior research scientist at the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Research and Development Centre at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She holds a PhD in engineering that specialises in next-generation sanitation technology evaluation and design, and performance monitoring of decentralised wastewater treatment systems. She is passionate about sparking innovation in the sanitation space and driving the sanitation economy to allow all people to have access to safely managed sanitation services. As a promoted Young Water Professional (by age), Preyan plans to use her term on the KZN Committee to empower existing and potential entrepreneurs with opportunities (especially financial leads) to effect change within the water sector. Often, good ideas are lost because of a lack of financial start-ups.

With a passion for water and sanitation, Velile has a desire to continuously improve the drinking water supply and reduce the impact on the environment caused by discharging effluents. The water industry offers a diverse and pleasant working environment and being part of the KZN Committee will grant an opportunity to meet other professionals from different disciplines where various discussions can emerge, such as those tackling emerging technologies and innovative solutions for water management. This will ensure a sustainable water supply for our country, particularly in rural communities.

A professionally registered civil engineer (PrEng) with ECSA, Gcwalisile has 14 years of bulk civil infrastructure design, construction management and engineering management experience. She holds a PG Dip in Management from UKZN, and completed her fellowship admission course with the Association of Arbitrators (Southern Africa) NPC. She has an interest in developing in the area of management of construction-related and professional services contracts, claims and dispute resolution processes, and construction law. In this term of office, she aims to highlight the need for proper dialogue, transparency and fairness between infrastructure implementing agents and communities during infrastructure implementation. This will mitigate the ever-looming threat of project disruptions, which lead to delayed service delivery and higher project implementation costs. These disruptions are a real threat to infrastructure implementation and the realisation of SDG 6.

+ CONSERVE

Micropilot FMR20: Level radar with the process indicator RIA15 simplifies remote commissioning

Promag W 400: Versatile, weight-optimized electromagnetic flowmeter fits perfectly all standard applications.

Memograph M RSG45: Advanced data manager takes compliant, safe and secure operations control to a higher level.

Wetlands are some of the most productive ecosystems on earth, playing a vital role in the water cycle and providing a wide range of benefits to humans and wildlife. However, they are increasingly under threat due to pollution, habitat loss and other human activities.

Defined as areas where water covers the soil or is present at or near the surface of the soil for all or part of the year, wetlands can be found in a variety of settings – from coastal estuaries and salt marshes to inland freshwater swamps and bogs. They provide numerous benefits to humans and the environment, including water purification, flood control, carbon sequestration and habitat for wildlife. Unfortunately, wetlands are also highly vulnerable to pollution, which can have a significant impact on the health of these ecosystems. Polluted water can alter the balance of nutrients, reduce oxygen levels and create toxic conditions for aquatic life. In addition, pollution can destroy wetland vegetation and harm the surrounding habitats.

Wetland visit

The YWP Limpopo Chapter was motivated to visit a local wetland due

DRIVING WETLANDS EDUCATION

On Wetlands Day, the Young Water Professionals Limpopo Chapter partnered with Lepelle Northern Water and visited a local wetland to witness the devastating effects of pollution in the area. By Mariah

Malatji, chairperson, YWP Limpopo

to the high levels of pollution in the area. This was used as an opportunity to raise awareness about wetlands and their importance, especially in the face of increasing pollution.

During the visit, community members were shocked to see the extent of pollution in the area. The author addressed the need for wetland action orientation activities

so that we become the change we want to see in our environment. There are plans to create wetlandscleaning awareness in communities and encourage protection and restoration, emphasising the impact of wetlands on water quality and the surrounding environment. It is important that there are sustainable practices that can help reduce pollution and protect wetland ecosystems – preserving these valuable resources for future generations.

The raising of the Clanwilliam Dam wall is a key priority project

GERMISTON-BASED PUMP MANUFACTURER

supplies large parts of Africa

APE Pumps and sister entity Mather+Platt have been designing, developing, manufacturing and refurbishing pumps for over seven decades – and many of these pumps are placed throughout the African continent.

In addition to supplying the Middle East, APE’s network spans many African countries. Here are a few of the company’s water projects:

ZAMBIA

APE Pumps has Zambian offices, as well pump repair and refurbishment facilities, in Kitwe, in close proximity to mines in the area. The entity supplies and maintains mine dewatering pumps to the very wet Zambian Copperbelt, most notably at the Mopani Copper

We have always invested in our people first and foremost, which has paid major dividends for us over the years, resulting in the formation of long-term customer relationships and enabling us to progressively expand our footprint across South Africa, as well as further afield in Africa,” says John Montgomery, GM, APE Pumps and Mather+Platt.

He adds that most work done by the Group (APE Pumps and Mather+Platt) in Africa comes from mining companies or from projects funded by development finance institutions like the World Bank or European Investment Bank. “And in nearly all projects across South African borders, APE Pumps is contracted to provide the mechanical, electrical and civil components as an integrated turnkey solution.”

Mines. Over the years, APE Pumps has entered into vendor-held stock contracts with Mopani for servicing the dewatering pumps. This includes maintaining the stock levels of dewatering pumps and pump spares at the mines, as well as providing maintenance and replacement of the assets when necessary.

Work has also been done at the Lusaka Water Supply & Sanitation board. This includes the overhaul of the Iolanda WTW that delivers a substantial amount of potable water to Lusaka. In addition to the civil works, APE Pumps did all of the electrical and mechanical work, as well as supplied and installed the New River Intake

Pump Station (with APE vertical turbine pumps) and overhauled other pumps and plants.

MALAWI

A lot of work has also been done over the years to assist Blantyre Water Board in improving its water security.

At the Mzuzu Water Treatment Plant, APE Pumps supplied and installed intake pipe work and valves, as well as two high-level storage tanks and stands. It has also worked on numerous pump stations, while supplying and installing pipe work (50-600 NB), water dosing equipment and all the electrical, mechanical and instrumentation control systems for the complete treatment works.

APE Pumps installed 35 km of 700 NB pipework at 70 bar working pressure. All air-valve chambers, crossover tees and auxiliary equipment were installed, along with cathodic protection on duplication of pipelines.

It has also supplied spare parts for Mather+Platt pumps and supplied a complete pump set with a three-stage PSV 80LF4 pump.

Other work includes the rehabilitation and completion at the Walker’s Ferry raw water intake and high-lift pumping station, with the installation and completion of part of the existing mechanical equipment with the new supply, as well as the installation and commissioning of electrical

Equipment supplied and installed by APE Pumps at the Blantyre Water Board

John Montgomery, GM, APE Pumps and Mather+Platt

Turnkey solution

This is done through the APE Projects Division that manages and implements the design, installation and commissioning for variablespeed drives (VSDs), low- and medium-voltage switchgear, motors, transformers, valves, distribution boards, cabling, pipe work and pipelines, as well as, of course, pumps. This division takes responsibility for mechanical, electrical and civil works, and is currently graded as an 8 ME contractor by the Construction Industry Development Board. APE’s pumps are only guaranteed if the project team completes the installation.

“With every installation, we have specially trained people that check the vibration, alignment and condition of the pumps, and this is

equipment. At Walker’s Ferry, situated alongside the Shire River some 60 km from Blantyre, water is pumped through a water treatment plant to two high-lift pump stations. After transferring water to the purification plant, APE had to work on two further pump stations that each house three operational pumps in parallel (depending on water level requirements) and one on standby. These pump stations pump the water at 750 m3/h and 500 m head to Chileka over a distance of around 26 km.

From there, pipelines carry the water a further 13 km to feed reservoirs to supply the city of Blantyre. These two pipelines were also refurbished during the project works. The

offered as a free service to our clients,” states Montgomery.

“What customers especially enjoy about our service is that they can walk through the design, manufacturing and commissioning process with us,” he continues. “This also includes training for the client’s technical personnel.”

As an accredited MERSETA trainer, APE Pumps prepares apprentices

The scope of works at Walker’s Ferry, Malawi, was extensive. Critical infrastructure works included the supply and installation of common header delivery pipes (800 NB), and the installation and commissioning of six new raw water pump sets, each with a capacity of 1 350 m3/h and a head of 35 m

scope of works at Walker’s Ferry was extensive. Critical infrastructure works included the supply and installation of common header delivery pipes (800 NB), and the installation and commissioning of six new raw water pump sets, each with a capacity of 1 350 m3/h and a head of 35 m.

The Chileka pumping station received an emergency supply of spares for the existing Mather+Platt, size 9” x 11” HP pump sets. A year later, APE upgraded the entire Chileka pumping station with new high-pressure pump sets, and completed the electrical and civil works. Eight new 750 m3/h in-house manufactured pump sets, including connection pipework to the new suction

for qualifications as boilermakers, fitters and turners, as well as patternand mouldmakers.

Patternmakers and quality

The Group is not dependent on imports from overseas territories. Every component needed is made in South Africa. This creates quicker turnaround times for delivery and better customer service. Whatever the age or date

and delivery headers, were installed. Among the conditions of the contract was to maintain uninterrupted water supply to the city of Blantyre during all stages of construction. The minimum threshold stipulated was a 70% supply, which was consistently met and there wasn’t a single day without water during the entire course of the project. That equates to between 2 700 m3/h and 3 000 m3/h throughout the approximately 18-month construction programme. At peak, APE had 189 people on-site.

At the Zomba Water Treatment Plant, APE Pumps provided a turnkey service by providing mechanical and electrical upgrades, as well as

installing a new intake structure and pressure-reducing station.

ESWATINI

APE Pumps supplied Royal Eswatini Sugar Simunye (one of the biggest companies in the country) with a complete drought-relief pump station, with high-flow pumps, a pipeline, as well as all electrical controls and engineering design. The company also refurbished 1 200 NB and 1 500 NB Larner-Johnson valves.

MOZAMBIQUE

APE built a pontoon pump station with specialised pumps for salt water for Kenmare Resources. The pumps were made from super duplex steel and had specialised coatings.

APE Pumps

installed and completed part of the existing mechanical equipment with the new supply and installation and commissioning of electrical equipment at Walker’s Ferry in Malawi

of installation, APE has the ability to design, fabricate and retrofit.

“A major distinction is that we are an OEM and have one of the few pattern shops left in Africa, where our specialist artisans produce wooden patterns in the age-old tradition, alongside the latest trends in 3D printing. Our unsurpassed skill in patternmaking enables us to produce specialised patterns for our components on a breakdown basis,” explains Montgomery.

When pumps are cast at the foundry, the precise tolerances that

need to be achieved can be as exact as 1/1 000 mm but, before this process, work first begins in the pattern shop. This is where the casting models are handmade to technical specifications. In most instances, they are crafted in wood. Metal castings are still common, but more suited to mass production applications, whereas the wooden versions are intended for lower product volumes and unique, custombuilt requirements.

A key factor that defines the Group’s commitment to the industries it serves is that a blueprint exists for every pump model it has manufactured.

“That includes legacy products we inherited as a Group prior to our formation in 1952. A classic example is an approximately 100-year-old pump – imported from the UK – that we remanufactured for Rand

Water based on the original drawings,” Montgomery explains, adding that Mather+Platt’s original lineage can be traced back to Great Britain’s First Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century.

By using a 3D scanner, the Group also has the capabilities to replicate any pump where the original OEM is no longer trading, even where the drawings no longer exist. APE has the capability to supply products from start to finish (all in-house) – from design phase, to the patterns, fabrication, machining, assembly, installation, commissioning and alignments.

The company recently scanned an entire pump station, where the model of the pump that was to be installed was attached to the 3D scanner. This put the pump in a virtual world and allowed APE to make sure the flanges were matching and fit perfectly into the casing. The scanner also helped to plan how the pump would be installed. It is valued by clients who do not have up-to-date plans of their pump stations.

APE Pumps has also supplied Royal Eswatini Sugar Simunye with a complete drought relief pump station, with high-flow pumps, a pipeline, as well as all electrical controls and engineering design

APE’s skill in patternmaking enables the production of specialised patterns for components on a breakdown basis

All processes are ISO 9001 accredited to ensure strict adherence to quality. “High-pressure environments like bulk water transfer depend on exact tolerances and there’s no margin for error,” adds Montgomery.

Service level agreements

There are service level agreements (SLAs) in place between APE Pumps and most of its clients in Africa. This essentially means that APE Pumps and Mather+Platt are contracted to service and support their installed systems. “Operation and maintenance type work has definitely been a growing area in the past decade, and we see this trend continuing, especially in other African countries,” explains Montgomery.

When fitted with telematics, APE Pumps can monitor and control pump health and performance remotely, further improving service levels in Africa

“We have some SLAs where we will maintain and bring an APE pump back to its OEM specification at 60% of the pump’s current cost. There are some SLAs where APE keeps stock of brand-new units for a client so that we can implement a service exchange. The client will provide APE with an old pump to bring to OEM specifications and APE will give the client the new pump. Many companies are no longer

keeping critical spares in stock, so we do this for them,” he continues.

The Group conducts manufacturerwarranted repairs, and supplies new OEM pumps and valves. Whether it’s an off-the-shelf product, an OEM custom design or a retrofit, all work comes with a warranty.

ABOUT APE PUMPS

APE Pumps (Amalgamated Pump Engineers) has been an innovator in the field of fluid transfer solutions aligned with its sister company, Mather+Platt, which traces its own heritage back to England in 1845. Mather+Platt manufactures horizontal multistage pumps designed for highpressure applications and split-case pumps chiefly for high volumes. In turn, APE Pumps specialises in the design and manufacture of vertical industrial turbine pumps, split-case and end-suction pumps for most industries. Both companies are owned by WPIL Limited, based in India, which has manufacturing operations in its home country, as well as Australia, France, Italy, Switzerland, Thailand, the UK, Zambia and South Africa through its Group companies.

When fitted with telematics, APE Pumps can monitor and control pump health and performance remotely, further improving service levels in Africa. “Bearing temperatures, output, vibrations and energy consumption are a few of the parameters that we monitor. This allows APE to identify any pump issues in advance, make sure the pump is operating on the right curve and conduct more preventative maintenance. Many of the SLAs includes the training of a client’s staff. We always encourage our clients to visit our premises and learn how pumps are maintained, stripped and serviced.

“If well maintained, APE and Mather+Platt’s pumps will last a lifetime – across Africa, there are hundreds of working examples. APE Pumps has never discontinued a pump model since inception in 1952, so parts are always available,” Montgomery concludes. www.apepumps.co.za

Solving water for everyone

Addressing non-revenue water and creating a country full of water custodians

This year’s World Water Day theme is ‘Accelerating Change’. What change in the water sector would you like to see in South Africa?

CM The South African water sector faces a number of serious challenges. However, they can all be addressed through collaborative effort and technology. We can create two big wins in a very short time:

1) Address non-revenue water, which is piped water that doesn’t generate financial returns because of leaks or theft. At least 40% of municipal water ends up as non-revenue water, which means towns and cities are losing tremendous amounts of revenue. They can recoup much of that

money through leak detection and strategic infrastructure upgrades.

2) Turn South Africa into a nation of water custodians. We are a water-stressed country. Even though we have a fair amount of annual rainfall, it’s dispersed very unevenly. Many major urban areas rely on piping water over long distances or creating elaborate dam systems. Yet South Africans are aboveaverage consumers of water. We use a lot, but we don’t take much care of water. When we focus on involving local communities and showing them how they can look after water, we can create a water-aware culture that will

lead to more responsible usage. This approach can also support municipal efforts to reduce non-revenue water through better reporting of leaks and water theft.

What are the barriers to making this change?

Municipalities have tight budgets and can struggle to invest in revitalising water infrastructure. Many of them lack specific skills in the water sector, and they operate old infrastructure that has become very inefficient. The main barrier for communities to become custodians of their water is outreach. As a country, we can do more to approach local communities

are two changes that Chetan Mistry, strategy and marketing manager at Xylem Africa, would like to see accelerated.

Chetan Mistry, strategy and marketing manager, Xylem Africa

The sonic ball leak detection solution helps to discover and address existing and potential leaks

and work with them to show how they benefit when they look after water. That includes municipal water but also natural sources such as rivers and wetlands.

How can Xylem assist in bringing about this and accelerating this change?

Xylem regards water as a crucial resource. Whether we engage through our expertise, product solutions or social investments, we always aim to improve water management and availability to surrounding communities.

Our sonic ball leak detection solution has helped many customers discover and address existing and potential leaks – even incredibly tiny ones that would go undetected. These leaks can be found without disrupting or shutting down water pipelines. We are also world leaders in providing highly efficient pump systems and environmentally friendly wastewater solutions.

Furthermore, we support the education of budding water professionals at universities through the Xylem Trust. For community engagements and water education, Xylem channels much of that effort through Watermark, our corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme. We host frequent community events, such as area clean-ups or sponsor vital infrastructure such as water towers, rainwater capture tanks and water recycling.

We also have an ongoing partnership with Manchester City Football Club, promoting better water usage and ownership across Africa.

What are some of Xylem’s plans for the year ahead?

A key focus for us in 2023 is to help public utilities strategically upgrade their systems and tackle problems such as non-revenue water. This strategy includes providing more digital solutions for greater operational efficiencies and minimal water losses. Additionally, we continue to work with major water consumers in the

manufacturing, mining and agriculture sectors, and help businesses optimise water and energy for a sustainable future.

Xylem is very focused on developing our presence across Africa through local investment, business relationships and partnerships, and our social investment work. Some highlights we can announce are plans to continue localising our North African operations in Egypt and Morocco, translating to a more efficient supply chain that services the region.

Sustainability remains a core focus of all our activities. Wherever we can – be it working with customers, supporting partners or engaging with communities – Xylem engages in projects and partnerships across Africa to help raise water awareness and make water and sanitation more accessible to all communities.

Can you elaborate on Xylem’s Watermark programme?

Xylem Watermark is our CSR programme and a key pillar of our sustainability strategy. Watermark primarily functions through an army of volunteers formed by Xylem employees and people from our partners, as well as partnering NGOs. Using Watermark, we can engage with different water challenges at various levels.

Through Watermark, Xylem helped to fix and replace water infrastructure at severely affected communities and schools after the floods that devastated KwaZulu-Natal. Our volunteers hosted beach clean-ups in Cape Town and, during the pandemic, worked with communities to install water and hygiene stations.

We also supported the development and publishing of Splash, a unique children’s book designed for local audiences that teaches kids about becoming water champions.

By partnering with NGOs, Watermark often co-hosts events around water education. If a Xylem employee or partner wants to support a worthy water-related cause, they can channel those efforts through Watermark.

Xylem is serious about making every drop count and solving water for everyone.

Xylem Watermark supported the development and publishing of Splash, a unique children’s book designed for local audiences that teaches kids about becoming water champions

Let’s make water smart

Vikash Rampathi, segment lead: Marketing at Schneider Electric, talks with WASA about the role that technology can play in alleviating some of the pressure on South Africa’s ageing water infrastructure.

The theme for this year’s World Water Day is ‘Accelerating Change’. Why must we change our approach to using and managing water?

VR Currently, South Africans are focused on the energy crisis. But it is important to remember that energy and water are intricately connected. Most energy production or conversion involves water in its processes.

Over the past 100 years, global water use has increased nearly eight times. This is due to a combination of population growth, economic development and changing consumption patterns. Water

use has been growing at 2.5 times the rate of population increase. In just seven years, it is estimated that only 60% of the world’s water demand can be met, while South Africa is the 30th driest country in the world, with a history of droughts.

What change needs to occur in the water sector?

I believe that three pain points need to be addressed:

1. We need urgent investment in the water sector to supply people with this basic and critical resource. The African Development Bank estimates that US$64 billion (R1.16 trillion) should be invested each year to meet the 2025 Africa Water Vision. Current water and sanitation sector investment in Africa stands at between $10 billion (R1.82 trillion) and $19 billion (R3.46 trillion). According to South Africa’s National Water and Sanitation Master Plan, there needs to be an investment of R33 billion a year for 10 years to achieve water security for the country. This was published in 2020, and the gap has widened since then. The sooner we close this funding gap, the more feasible this vision will become.

2. Large distributed and ageing water and sanitation infrastructure (that is not unique to South Africa) must be maintained, upgraded and optimised where possible. The technology is available today for us to make informed decisions around the prioritisation of tasks that will have the greatest impact.

3. Energy and resource conservation

(and protection) is key – this is applicable to utilities, municipalities and consumers. Water treatment and distribution has to become more efficient and sustainable.

What can Schneider Electric do to implement and accelerate these changes?

Our offering revolves around water and energy conservation. Schneider Electric assists our clients in managing their energy and resources responsibly. Water and wastewater treatment are energy-intensive processes where Schneider Electric offers an all-encompassing solution. Energy management, reducing consumption and improved visibility of operations can be done through sensors, intelligent motor protection, variable-frequency drives and advanced process controllers. We are experts in asset management systems. It is expensive to maintain these plants, but technology can be used to predict when failures will occur and measures can be put in place to prevent these failures. Actions can also be taken to prolong the life cycle of water and wastewater treatment assets.

Vikash Rampathi, segment lead: Marketing, Schneider Electric

What are the barriers to installing technology to reduce non-revenue water and improve asset management?

Inadequate funding hinders investment in these types of technologies. Another barrier is that project processes can be onerous when things go wrong. Water treatment and distribution is a specialised field.

- OEMs need to bring their solutions forward with the client’s best interests at heart – providing our asset owners with information around fit-for-purpose, impactful solutions.

- The chosen solution needs to be specified correctly (in terms of capability, integration and the fit into the overall system architecture) by an engineering consultant that specialises in this field.

- The procurement process must call for,

and only award to, specialised installers and integrators – having a proven track record and being certified by the OEM to install a certain solution.

Water services authorities in South Africa vary in size, available budgets and expertise and skills. Does Schneider Electric provide more basic solutions?

Our solutions are split into three layers that make up our ecosystem, which we call EcoStruxure:

• Connected Products

• Edge Control Layer

• Apps and Analytics. This ecosystem enables us to cater for any budget and any requirement – no matter how basic or advanced. We always advise our clients to start practically with

the basics, while keeping their future requirements in mind. Connectable products can be installed easily to solve a problem today while our clients know that their solution is future-ready.

What does Schneider Electric’s recent acquisition of Aveva software mean for the water sector?

Aveva provides leading industrial software solutions. A very exciting example of Aveva’s innovative solutions is its Unified Operations Centre (UOC), which enables water utilities to combine the monitoring of multiple complex water management platforms into one integrated, contextdriven operations management interface. We are incredibly excited about this acquisition and the value it will provide to our customers within the water sector.

The World Water Day theme for 2023 is ‘Accelerating Change’. What change in the water sector would you like to see in South Africa?

PS There are five changes that I want to see:

1) There needs to be a greater sanitation focus. Sanitation and sewage works that do not operate to full compliance levels inevitably pollute our water sources. This has huge ramifications – from the rising expense of water treatment to the damage to our environment, as well as health risks. Water hyacinth is found in many of our dams and wetlands, and it is well known that this invading plant thrives in polluted water with high nutrient loads.

2) The Working for Water programme of the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) seems to have lost momentum and I would like to see its resuscitation. This programme was successful in removing alien invasive plants that pose a threat to water security.

3) The use of raw water must be minimised through water reuse and water conservation initiatives. This should include reducing non-revenue water in municipalities and water utilities through repairing and fixing leaks.

5 wishes for the water sector

4) Detailed studies should be conducted to understand how much water is available, how much water is used, as well as water losses within different basins. These studies help us to understand, prioritise and plan for water security.

5) The DWS needs more resources for its Compliance, Monitoring and Enforcement Division. People, companies and government entities that compromise the quality and quantity of our water must face consequences.

What are the barriers to this change? Budgeting and skills shortages. I think that some of the water and wastewater treatment works could be run as PPPs, with funding from the private sector. There are municipalities that are lacking the skills and experience to run water and sanitation departments.

I have also met a lot of qualified, experienced and passionate water

professionals within the public sector but they often lack the authority to implement policy, projects and programmes that are needed to improve the sector.

I would like to see hydrologists included in more water policies and projects, and for the sector to tap into the extensive knowledge of our professors.

As a hydrologist, have you observed any changes in the way hydrologists think about/tackle water?

There is a massive emphasis on climate change. For example, if there is a 10% reduction in rainfall within an area, the vegetation will change, which will influence run-off into rivers. Hydrologists are now constantly trying to understand the impact of climate change within a catchment area.

Is there any reason to be optimistic about the water and sanitation sector in South Africa?

I have witnessed a positive shift with how mines and industry view water. There is a huge focus on using the least amount of water possible and creating the least amount of waste. They are also ensuring that their surrounding communities receive sufficient water that is of good quality.

Peter Shepherd, principal hydrologist at SRK Consulting, talks to WASA about changes that need to happen within the water sector.

Peter Shepherd, principal hydrologist at SRK Consulting

Wetlands help to treat our water while providing great ecological and hydrological importance

Pump testing a borehole in our dry country to determine the sustainable abstraction of water

All-in-one, adaptable flow meter

For over a century, Krohne has been producing variable area (VA) flow meters. The company’s latest product is the H250 M40, a standard VA flow meter for the process and OEM industry.

Combining the mechanical flow measurement of liquids or gases with communication capabilities, the H250 M40 is modularly extendable. Additional electronic modules can be added or replaced at any time without process interruption. In this way, its functionality adapts to new requirements – from analogue flow measurement without auxiliary power to digital integration into a fieldbus system.

Certain variants of the flow meter with limit switch or analogue output are suitable for use in safety instrumented systems. Electronic device diagnostics and additional application diagnostics are available to increase application reliability. For instance, it can report on the detection of a float blockage due to impurities or pressure surges and the reporting of pulsating flow or gas compression oscillations of the float.

Robust design

The H250 M40 is explosion-proof, and available in various materials. The allmetal flow meter can be also used in applications with high pressures (up to 1 000 bar), temperatures (-196°C to 400°C) or aggressive media. There is also a special version for use in hygienic applications.

The measuring principle allows for a robust, closed-tube design without sensor feedthrough, as the height of the float is transferred to the indicator by way of a magnetic coupling. This enables high-pressure versions that can withstand up to 900 bar. All wetted, pressurised parts are made as standard of 1.4404/316L and 1.4401/316 dual-certified stainless steel and meet the requirements of the NACE MR0175/MR0103 standard.

To guarantee the longevity of the device, even with chemically harsh products, it is possible to use special materials such as Hastelloy®, titanium, Monel®, 6Mo and Inconel® in production. In addition, the

H250C M40 is also available with a PTFE liner for applications involving aggressive acids and bases.

With the indicator housing made of stainless steel, the H250 M40R withstands attacks from salt fogs and contaminated precipitates. It can be reliably used in corrosive atmospheres and is perfectly suited for use in spray water zones, such as in the food and beverage industries. Unique to date: the indestructible stainless-steel housing is also available on request in an explosion-proof version for use in hazardous areas.

As a high-temperature variant, the H250 M40HT measuring device is suitable both for very high product temperatures up to 400°C, as well as cryogenic applications down to -200°C. The increased distance between the measuring tube and the display makes it easier to insulate the measuring tube.

Typically, VA flow meters are installed vertically in rising pipes and the product must flow through them from the bottom up. This can lead to considerable expense. The H250 M40 measuring device on the other hand offers you freedom in terms of design as unique versions can be used for horizontal or even descending pipes.

Krohne H250 M40 flow meter

Thanks to its flexibility, the H250 M40 can be adapted to any application

Testing for

The AMCO AEPA-1 supplied standards are recognised as a primary standard by the USEPA. The standards are reusable and stable with a long shelf life. The sensitivity of the instrument should permit detection of a turbidity difference of 0.02 NTU or less in waters having turbidities less than 1 unit.

Free and total chlorine portable photometer (HI97711C)

The Hanna Instruments Blue Drop Kit comprises:

• HI98703-02 – portable turbidity meter

• HI97711C – free and total chlorine photometer kit

• HI93701-01 – free chlorine reagents (100 tests)

• HI93711-01 – total chlorine reagents (100 tests)

• HI98195 – multiparameter portable meter that measures pH, ORP, EC/TDS, resistivity, salinity, seawater and temperature.

Portable turbidity meter (HI98703-02)

Turbidity is one of the most important parameters used to determine the quality of drinking water. Once considered as a mostly aesthetic characteristic of drinking water, significant evidence exists that controlling turbidity is a competent safeguard against pathogens. In natural

water, turbidity measurements are taken to gauge general water quality and its compatibility in applications involving aquatic organisms. The monitoring and treatment of wastewater was once solely based on the control of turbidity. Currently, the measurement of turbidity at the end of the wastewater treatment process is necessary to verify that the values are within regulatory standards.

The HI98703 precision turbidity portable meter is specially designed for water quality measurements, providing reliable and accurate readings, especially in the low turbidity range. The instrument is based on an optical system that guarantees accurate results, assures longterm stability, and minimises stray light and colour interferences.

Periodic calibration with the supplied standards compensates for any variations in intensity of the tungsten lamp. The 25 mm round cuvettes composed of special optical glass guarantee the repeatability of turbidity measurements.

As one of the most common forms of disinfectants used, chlorine improves water quality by destroying diseaseproducing microorganisms and by reacting with other organic and inorganic substances. Chlorine levels must be actively monitored to ensure sufficient chlorine is present for disinfection, as well as to control adverse effects such as taste, odour and potential reactions with organic matter to form harmful disinfection by products. Chlorine is used by many due to its disinfection, oxidation and bleaching properties. It is used in swimming pools, drinking water and food processing to disinfect and keep bacteria from growing. The optical system offers superior performance in accuracy and repeatability, and only needs a short amount of time to perform a measurement. Its compact, waterproof meter is user-friendly with a tutorial mode that walks the user graphically, step by step, through

Safe water is not harmful. Commonly used to describe drinking water, safe water can also apply to water for swimming or other uses. To be safe, the water must have low concentrations of harmful contaminants. The Blue Drop Kit helps to determine if water is safe.

The applicable range is 0-40 nephelometric turbidity units (NTU)

HI97711C is a kit supplied with CALCheck standards, in a carry case

The HI97711 free and total chlorine photometer is designed to measure low levels of free and total chlorine in water up to 5.00 mg/ℓ (ppm)

performing a measurement. The HI97711 is completely waterproof, including the cuvette holder that is designed with ridges to protect the optical path from getting scratched by the cuvette.

Multiparameter portable meter (HI98195) – pH, ORP, EC/TDS, resistivity, salinity, seawater and temperature

The HI98195 monitors up to 10 different water quality parameters (five measured and five calculated). The microprocessorbased, multisensor probe allows for the measurement of key parameters including pH, ORP, conductivity and temperature. The probe transmits readings digitally to the meter, where data points can be displayed and logged. The complete system is simple to set up and easy to use. The HI98195 is supplied with all necessary accessories and packaged in a durable carrying case, designed to provide years of use. The inside compartment of the carrying case is thermoformed to securely hold and protect all the components. Enclosed in an IP67-rated waterproof casing, the meter can withstand

Head Office –Johannesburg 6 Vernon Road, Morningside, Bedfordview T: 011 615 6076

E: hanna@hanna.co.za

immersion in water at a depth of 1 m for up to 30 minutes. The probe features an IP68 rating for continuous immersion in water. Sensor replacement is quick and easy, with field-replaceable, screw-type connectors that are colour-coded for easy sensor port identification. The probe and meter automatically recognise the sensors that are connected. Any ports not used on the probe will not have the parameter displayed or be configurable. Its rugged, waterproof design makes it ideal for field use.

The pH of water is a measure of how acidic/basic water is. The range goes from 0 to 14, with 7 being neutral. A pH of less than 7 indicates acidity, whereas a pH of greater than 7 indicates a base. The pH of water is a very important measurement concerning water quality. The pH of most drinking water lies within the range of 6.5 to 8.5.

Electrical conductivity (EC) of water refers to how water is able to conduct electricity. Generally, dissolved solids in water determine the electrical conductivity. EC is the measurement of the ionic process of a solution that enables it to transmit current. According to WHO standards, EC value should not exceed 400 μS/cm. It is important to understand

that the electrical conductivity of water should be measured for a variety of different reasons. EC in drinking water should be less than 1 mS/cm. When working in the pharmaceutical industry, the EC of water will need to be even lower and should be less than 1 uS/cm. Because seawater has an ample amount of salt and other chemicals within it, the measurements of this water will typically come in at 45-72 mS/cm. Water with a salinity of 0-17 ppt is called brackish water that is commonly found in estuaries and marshes. Some estuaries have a salinity of up to 30 ppt. Seawater is on average 35 ppt but can go up to 40 ppt.

Ultrapure water has an exceedingly high resistivity reading of 20 million ohms, which essentially means that there are no dissolved solids or contaminants in the water. With this reading, one can be confident that the water is pure and safe to drink.

www.hanna.co.za

Cape Town Branch Unit B, 18 Belville Business Park, Belville, Cape Town T: 021 946 1722

E: ct@hanna.co.za

Durban Branch Unit 3, Emerald Block, Abrey Eco Park, 5 Abrey Road, Kloof T: 031 701 2711

E: durban@hanna.co.za

Eastern Cape Branch

Southern Life Gardens, First Floor, Block C, 70- 2nd Avenue, Newton Park, Port Elizabeth T: 041 450 5685

E: pe@hanna.co.za

The Blue Drop Kit is available for R60 100 (excl. VAT), while stocks last!

HI93701-01 and HI93711-01 total chlorine powder reagents (100 tests) are used with this photometer

The HI98195 is enclosed in an IP67rated waterproof casing

The HI98195 is a waterproof portable logging multiparameter meter

PRESSURE MANAGEMENT FOR OZONE WATER TREATMENT

The treatment of water to potable standards is a complex process that often requires the addition of ozone to assist in the elimination of contaminants, such as bacteria, viruses and metals. This must be done under strict safety conditions, as ozone can be reactive and corrosive.

VEGA’s pressure transducers play an important role in safe ozone generation, as well as in the production of potable water. The VEGABAR 82 was used with the ozone treatment of water from the BadenWürttemberg supply system in Germany.

The Baden-Württemberg system is one of the largest and most traditionally far-reaching water supplies. Around 250 cities and municipalities are supplied with about 90 million cubic metres of drinking water each year. Water is transported from the Danube valley at the city of Ulm via the Remstal river valley to Stuttgart, where it is then treated. This is done via a raw water pump that draws water directly from the river, as well as a pressure pipe from the pumping station to the waterworks and the treatment facilities.

In peak times, up to 2 300 litres of river water per second can be converted to drinking water. Highly active oxygen (ozone) for oxidation and disinfection is added during the water treatment process. To ensure that pressure measurement in the ozone collection pipe and at other important measuring points is absolutely

safe and reliable, the engineering department decided to use VEGABAR 82.

VEGABAR 82

The VEGABAR 82 is the pressure transmitter with a ceramic CERTEC® measuring cell and a ‘second line of defence’. This is an additional process separation by means of a gas-tight feedthrough above the process connection. Although the measuring cell is permanently resistant to ozone, the second line of defence provides an extra layer of protection against the leakage of ozone from the pipeline through the pressure transmitter.

In the VEGABAR 82 process pressure transmitter, the process temperature is measured directly behind the diaphragm of the ceramic measuring cell. Even very fast temperature changes caused

by changing media are detected instantaneously and electronically compensated. The user can thus be sure that the sensor is always delivering the correct measured value.

The key element of pressure instrumentation from VEGA is the ceramic capacitive pressure measuring cell CERTEC®. It is more precise than monolithic ceramic measuring cells and boasts a significantly higher overload resistance. Moreover, it is characterised by industry-leading, long-term stability and high-temperature resistance. To ensure the highest quality, VEGA develops and manufactures all the core technologies of its instruments in-house. This even applies to the CERTEC® measuring cells, which are produced under class 100 cleanroom conditions.

HOW IS OZONE FORMED?

Ozone oxidises dissolved and particulate organic matter and kills or inactivates existing microorganisms.

It is always formed when some form of energy decomposes molecular oxygen (O2) into individual oxygen atoms (O), which then react with O2 to form ozone (O3). This can occur through UV radiation, lightning strikes and also high-voltage electrical discharges. Because of its high reactivity, ozone is produced, transported and added to the water on the spot and in compliance with strict safety regulations.

The actual production process takes place in pressurised reactors, where electrical energy is applied to convert oxygen into ozone. Then, the resulting gas mixture flows into an ozone collecting pipe. The maximum ozone concentration is about 180 g/Nm³ at an operating pressure of 1.3 bar.

Injectors feed the ozone into the water, while mixers distribute the tiny ozone bubbles evenly throughout the water volume. The water remains in large containers for a few minutes, during which time oxidation and disinfection take place.

VEGABAR 82

Ozone generators

Achieving the IMPOSSIBLE

Repairing Tongaat WTW in 105 days

The Tongaat Water Treatment Works (TWTW) was one of the hardest hit pieces of water and sanitation infrastructure in last year’s April floods in KwaZulu-Natal. It resulted in water supply issues for nearly 90 000 people.

During the floods, the Tongaat Dam overtopped, causing substantial damage to the TWTW downstream,” says Bhavna Soni, deputy head: eThekwini Water and Sanitation (EWS), eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality.

The access road to the TWTW (on land owned by Tongaat Hulett) was washed away and no repairs or even a comprehensive assessment of the damage to the treatment works could be done until a new road was built. Other damage included:

• The motor control centre (MCC) was located underground within the pump house, and both were submerged in nearly 4 m of water – destroying all electrical equipment and damaging mechanical systems like the pumps, motors, instrumentation and control systems.

• A lot of silt and rocks were found in the clarifiers and some of them were severely damaged.

• The head of works channel was significantly damaged and founding material washed away. This channel settled and required significant repairs, including being jacked back into position.

• The floods also caused substantial erosion, resulting in the

Before: The motor control centre (MCC) was located underground within the pump house, and both were submerged in nearly 4 m of water

After: 15 km of cabling was installed

undermining of the chemical and chlorine building foundations.

• Most interconnecting pipework, cabling and ducting on-site was damaged.

Tongaat Hulett assisted with rebuilding the road and repairing the raw water steel pipeline – which was completed in just over a month. The pipeline reinstatement followed the road repair.

Finding alternative water sources for the area was EWS’s first priority. Three projects were expedited to bring relief:

1. Fast-track the tie-in of the Mamba Ridge pipeline from the Hazelmere Waterworks to the Mamba Ridge Reservoir. Once completed, this resulted in directing 2 Mℓ/day of water from the Hazelmere Water Treatment Plant to some parts of oThongathi.

2. Supplying water from the Belvedere Reservoir (cross connection to Hazelmere System).

3. Laying a water main to the Tongaat South Reservoir from the Nyaninga Reservoir, using eThekwini Municipality’s in-house construction team as far as possible in order to bypass the lengthy procurement process.

PROFESSIONAL TEAM

Client: eThekwini Municipality

Consultant: Naidu Consulting / MSW Consulting JV

Contractor: Icon Construction

Professional team

Section 36 of the Municipal Supply Chain Management Regulations was invoked to speed up the procurement process and acquire funding. Section 36 falls within the Municipal Finance Management Act (No. 56 of 2003), to select who will carry out a particular contract.

eThekwini used a quotation process to appoint a Naidu Consulting/MSW Consulting joint venture as the consultant, Icon Construction as the contractor, and PCI Africa as a subcontractor for the mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, automation and control work.

The Naidu Consulting/MSW JV did the initial damage assessments and produced multiple options to ensure

the restoration of the water supply to the Tongaat area. “We also did a full assessment to determine a baseline for the work that needed to be undertaken to restore the plant to operation, including assessing various approaches to the remediation woks and produced the applicable emergency tender documentation for this contract,” states Devesh Ramghulam, technologist, Naidu Consulting.

105 days

“The repair of the TWTW was completed within the agreed upon 15 weeks or 105 days (from 13 July to 27 October 2022). To put this into perspective, 9 to 12 months would have been an ordinary contract period for this volume of work. The TWTW repair project ran on the tightest schedule Icon Construction has ever had. Fortunately, we had an extremely competent professional team that worked on the project,” says Peter Hope, commercial manager, Icon Construction. All investigative work from the Naidu Consulting/MSW Consulting JV was completed days after the flood. Ramghulam adds that everyone (client, consulting engineers, contractor and subcontractors) was available 24/7 to ensure the works were completed on time. “Naidu Consulting placed a full-time design engineer (Devesh Ramghulam) and resident engineer (Neelesh Hira) on-site with process support from MSW Consulting. The client also provided a dedicated, full-time project manager (Shalina Ramnund) to fast-track eThekwini

Electrical and mechanical: PCI Africa

The clarifiers had to be drained, cleared of rocks and have mud pumped from them

Due to the nature of the ground conditions and surrounding buildings, heavy vibratory equipment could not be used beneath structures

approvals and decisions. The entire professional team held weekly meetings to identify project bottlenecks, assess availability of equipment and determine on-the-spot resolutions.”

PCI Africa had the expertise to design and execute all the mechanical, electrical, control and instrumentation work inhouse. This made meeting the extremely tight deadline possible, despite some external difficulties. “Globally, the world has been grappling with serious supply chain delivery delays. It is impossible to import PLCs, communication cards and general automation equipment in short time frames. This is caused by the closure of Chinese ports and factories due to Covid-19 restrictions and the Russia/ Ukraine war,” explains Lebo Rathebe, proposal manager, PCI Africa.

“To counter this, our in-house electrical and instrumentation design capacity allowed us to remain flexible. We were able to design around equipment that is available, meaning we can present a design that is uncompromising, yet still achievable. Our extensive network allowed us to call on suppliers for assistance and, when coupled with our good relationship with EWS, we were able to acquire all the hardware that was required,” adds Desmond Kopke, electrical engineering manager at PCI Africa.

“Everyone on-site had a mindset and goal to deliver water to the people of Tongaat within the 105-day contract period. We received an extensive amount of support from the Tongaat community and this played a significant role in avoiding project delays,” says Ramghulam.

Hope states that while the project had a high level of political involvement, where the mayor and senior officials from the Department of Water and Sanitation visited the site often, no one hindered the project’s progress.

Repair

The plant was originally constructed by Tongaat Hulett before it was taken over (operationally) by eThekwini Municipality in 2001. In 2014, eThekwini had complete ownership of the TWTW.

“While Tongaat Hulett no longer owns the TWTW, a substantial amount of damage was caused to its own water infrastructure and it has been a huge support in the restoration of the TWTW. In addition to repairing the access road and

raw water pipeline, the company allowed a part of the new MCC to be built on its land,” explains Soni.

Designs on foundations of the chemical and chlorine building, as well as the inlet pipe and underpinning, were completed on-site to ensure structures were safe, accessible and suitable for future use. This was done in short timeframes to enable access to other areas of the site. “Due to the nature of the ground conditions and surrounding buildings, heavy vibratory equipment could not be used beneath structures, and therefore applicable concrete underpinning was implemented,” explains Ramghulam.

All six clarifiers were filled with 2-3 m of debris. They had to be drained, cleared of stones and sand, and have mud pumped out of them. “This was a complicated process because the clarifiers are over 9 m deep, the sides are sloped at 60-degree angles, and people had to work inside the clarifiers. The sand filters had to be cleaned and backwashed, and channels had to be cleaned. Most of the digging could not be done by machine because the site was small, so most of the work required a lot of manual labour,” states Hope.

As the TWTW is a few decades old, there was no detailed, updated plan of the layout, which made it difficult to reinstate all of the pipelines. “We were unsure as to what was underneath the pump station and had to figure out what pump went where. PCI Africa therefore had to make changes to some of the pipework,” says Hope.

PCI Africa took charge of reinstating or replacing the pumps. “The existing MCC housing the old electrical and control systems, comprising 20 starters, was completely destroyed, and was therefore discarded. All the mechanical equipment had to be removed for inspection. Most of the bigger pumps were repaired while the smaller units were replaced,” adds Rathebe.

Building back better

To avoid damage caused by future floods, a decision was made prior to the commencement of the Contract by EWS and the Naidu Consulting/MSW JV to move the MCC from the pump room to a

Newly designed, constructed, installed and commissioned 1 600 A, 35 kA/s, 525 V MCC

After: The repair of the TWTW was completed within the agreed upon 15 weeks or 105 days (13 July to 27 October 2022)

The TWTW pump station with new motors, repaired pumps and suction/ delivery pipe work

Credit: PCI Africa

Credit: PCI Africa

After: Gabion baskets were installed around the TWTW to protect it from future erosion. The new MCC building is in the background

higher elevation in a separate building, between 55 m and 75 m away. The newly designed and built MCC was installed (as the support work was being removed from the new structure) with the associated electrical and control cabling and racking. The 11 rising main pump sets, backwash pumps, blowers, as well as fans in the pump room are managed from the MCC room – resulting in 15 km of cable being installed. A concrete culvert was constructed to protect the

cables that run from the pump room to the MCC, which also expedited the cable-laying activities.

Other protection works included gabion baskets around the TWTW to protect it from future erosion, while a separate stormwater channel was constructed to direct water away from the building. For additional security, a new fence was constructed around the TWTW and existing roads were rehabilitated.

Commissioning

Before commissioning the TWTW, all five reservoirs were inspected, cleaned, disinfected and the water quality was tested. Since the entire system had been out of operation for months, it was therefore expected that there would be multiple pipe bursts once the TWTW was commissioned. This impeded efforts to build capacity in the reservoirs. One trunk main and reservoir was commissioned at a time so that the EWS team could focus on a particular zone and immediately resolve any issues that may arise.

Naidu Consulting was actively involved in the commissioning activities and its project team also assisted EWS with assessing the situation, identifying the bursts and fast-tracking the pipeline reinstatement.

“The Hambanathi area had no alternative water supply (other than water tankers) and was therefore the first community to receive water from the newly repaired TWTW. In addition to burst pipes, another challenge was that water demand in the area was high, as

The TWTW post reinstatement of all process, civil, structural, mechanical and electrical works

Credit: Naidu Consulting/MSV JV

Construction of a new MCC building at a higher elevation to prevent future flooding damages

Credit: Naidu Consulting/MSV JV

community members were storing water. We therefore made the decision to run two pumps in parallel, with a third pump as a backup,” adds Soni.

Another challenge was that the Emona pipeline was old and required extensive repairs. Fortunately, this was resolved because a trunk main at the newly built Emona Reservoir was being built and fasttracked to replace that old pipeline.

The Mamba Ridge area has also experienced some difficulties, with a suspected burst trunk; however, there is an alternative supply from Hazelmere.

Phase 2

Originally designed for 21 Mℓ/day, the TWTW is currently operating at 14 Mℓ/ day. The Naidu Consulting/MSW JV has been appointed to design the TWTW’s functional upgrade. Currently, EWS has limited abstraction rights from the Tongaat Dam, which restricts the plant’s capacity. An agreement will need to be reached between the Department of Water and Sanitation, Tongaat Hulett and EWS to determine the maximum amount of water that can be abstracted for Phase 2 of the TWTW functional upgrade.

Phase 2 will include upgrading the inlet channel, trunk mains and pumps in order to cater for future demand. The head of the works will be upgraded to give better assurances of water quality and how water is channelled to clarifiers and filters.

“While we would have liked to have included this work in the actual repair project of TWTW, we were heavily focused on restoring water supply to the local communities as quickly as possible,” states Soni.

Conclusion

Soni adds that while EWS has experience and expertise in the day-to-day operations of water and sanitation systems, the floods were an unusual event and the municipality was not fully equipped to deal with a disaster of that magnitude. “Going forward, there should be a national disaster management team that has already appointed contractors and consultants as well as funding in place to handle these disasters. If something like this were in place, a lot of the restoration work would have been completed more rapidly. The

biggest delay in responding to disasters is a procurement process, and a national disaster management team and our own in-house construction teams can assist with quicker response times.”

“This project is an example of what can be achieved if all project stakeholders work towards a common goal, resulting in achieving the near impossible in this case – the restoration of a treatment plant within 105 days,” explains Ramghulam.

He adds that supplying the community of Tongaat with water after almost eight months without it was something the Naidu Consulting team will never forget. “We are glad to be able to have assisted on this feat of engineering.”

The repair of the TWTW was Hope’s last project before entering retirement. “While this was a relatively small project (totalling R48 million) when compared to other work that I have been involved in, it was a great last job for me personally, because of its huge impact on people’s lives. The team working on the project were exceptional and the high attendance record and commitment shown on-site by the workforce made the job that much easier.”

Operating Range

Flow - 50m³/hr up to 1300m³/hr Head - 10m up to 1600m

Applications - General liquid pumping - Boiler feed pumps

- Cast iron - Carbon Steel

- Stainless steel (316)

The Southern African region faces a lot of waterrelated challenges such as crippling droughts, excessive flooding and unavailable piped water supply. One other critical problem is the issue of human capacity in managing these challenges.

By Hlengiwe Cele & Sarah Ravhudzulo, Water Research Council

CREATING WATER AND SANITATION SKILLS FROM AN EARLY AGE

During 2007, the Water Research Commission (WRC) – in partnership with Afrosearch and Hlati Development Services – developed and published a report, The assessment of training programmes and capacity needs for the water sector. It highlighted the responsibilities of the water sector to develop skills that would fulfil the overarching imperatives that covered economic development, stakeholder participation, gender mainstreaming, cooperative governance and the Batho Pele principles.

It became evident from the publication that the capacity needs for the water sector warranted a wide range of skills and qualifications. The WRC strategy has since aimed to close existing gaps of the skills and qualifications through its research and development as well and innovation and impact programmes. A disparity of skills and human capacity in the water sector was further mentioned in the critical skills gazette released by the Department of Home Affairs in February 2022. The gazette confirmed that there is a huge gap in the

technical skills required to contribute effectively to economic stability in South Africa, which also includes water and sanitation.

In juxtaposition, while the country grapples with a high unemployment rate, having peaked at 33.9% in Q2 2022 as reported by Stats SA, there is an opportunity to absorb graduates within the water sector to close the existing skills gap. With high-level conversations being held to figure out the possible causes for critical skills gaps and high unemployment rates, there is also the need to critically look at the creation of linkages for human capacity development from the elementary level upwards until postdoctoral level in all public sectors, most critically in this case the water and sanitation space.

Schoolgoing children

The WRC has been instrumental in bringing schoolgoing children on board when it comes to understanding basic knowledge affecting communities in relation to water and sanitation.

An array of interesting products are continually developed to assist children

in understanding the water value chain through age-appropriate documents and water and sanitation tools. Children indulge in WRC resources such as career guides, Water Kidz articles, comic books and many other products that introduce them to understanding the plethora of opportunities that exist within the water and sanitation space and beyond.

As part of skills development, teachers requiring content related to water and sanitation for building lesson plans can also utilise custommade lesson plans to bring water conversation into the classrooms at all grades. In addition to learner support materials, the WRC develops posters that can be further utilised to conscientise learners on water and sanitation as additional resources for classroom-based material. The demonstration of citizen science tools further helps in providing practical activities on water quality analysis, using scientific products developed through WRC funding. This helps to stimulate learners’ thinking about water and sanitation.

Capacity building

The WRC also supports postgraduate students and professionals with key technical skills that respond to water and sanitation needs through the existing programmes embedded within research projects and focused human capacity development programmes. As part of one of the WRC key performance indicators, projects are given the opportunity to incorporate student support. In 2021, for example, the WRC student funded over 362 postgraduate students, which included doctorate, master’s, honours and other qualifications linked to research and development projects. This was achieved through partnership with government entities such as the Department of Science and Innovation, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, and the EWSETA. These efforts have allowed the development of skills and practical exposure to work related to the water and sanitation sector, thus addressing the challenges on the ground.

Youth have the potential to bring innovative solutions that can change the status quo relating to water services. The Young Engineers Changemakers Programme capacitates 30 young municipal engineers annually.

This programme exposes the young engineers in municipalities to a set of innovative solutions needed to turn their municipalities around with regard to water and sanitation. This aims to influence decision-making for better service delivery within their respective municipalities. In the same vein, the WRC – in partnership with the Presidential Stimulus Programme – initiated a Water Graduate Employment Programme (WaterGEP), with over 900 students supported over the past two years. The WaterGEP students are paired with 80 water-related institutions that provide them with mentorship and training. With this programme in place, students have contributed to a number of areas, such as water treatment, quality, sanitation, innovation, ecological infrastructure, data science, climate change, agriculture, green markets, ICT, water finance and economics. Furthermore, the WRC is involved in other capacity-building initiatives for young water professionals such as the WetSkills Programme (in partnership with the Netherlands Embassy and the Department of Water and Sanitation). From this partnership, the WRC has supported the programme by sending young professionals each year to participate in a challenge and sponsor

case studies for the youth challenge. The WRC-sponsored case studies have inspired the youth to think deeply and suggest possible ways to solve current water and sanitation challenges. These programmes and many more similar human capacity development efforts continue to be run within the WRC to solve real-life problems affecting water users.

This emphasis of the WRC’s capacitybuilding initiatives is to synergise efforts through working with partners and contribute to the critical skills development for the water and sanitation sector in South Africa. The WRC strives to align its overall organisational strategy to the country’s National Development Plan, as well as the imperatives of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

As emphasised by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his State of the Nation Address delivered on 9 February 2023: “It is, therefore, significant that the number of children who receive the Early Childhood Development Subsidy has more than doubled between 2019 and 2022, reaching one and a half million children.”

We need to reflect on the efforts that the public and private sector entities play in connecting the dots for building capacity among the youth to a more purposeful and intentional pathway. Youth need to be empowered from an elementary level up to advanced stages, where they can close the gaps and fulfil the call for providing sustainable water and sanitation services.

CONCERTOR™ NEW PUMPING

SYSTEM

WITH

WORLD’S

FIRST WASTEWATER PUMPING SYSTEM WITH INTEGRATED INTELLIGENCE

This revolutionary system delivers optimal performance while reducing your total cost of ownership. It also offers unparalleled fl exibility and simplicity on a whole new level. You might even say it thinks for itself. We invite you to enter a new era in wastewater pumping with Flygt Con certor. One powerful solution. Unlimited possibilities.

Water and green building certification tools

Established with a purpose to inspire a built environment in which people and the planet thrive, the Green Building Council South Africa (GBCSA) certifies green buildings. Water conservation plays an important role in its rating tools.

To date, the GBCSA has completed 905 certifications, and has certified 12.5 million m2 of buildings. This equates to an approximate annual saving

1 220 M ℓ of potable water,” explains Dash Coville, technical manager: Special Projects, GBCSA. Various tools can be used to certify buildings, and all of them have a water component to them. “Our suite of rating systems offers tools for almost any type of building. Certification creates a universal platform for the credible and objective measurement of green buildings. Each tool recognises and rewards environmental leadership and is a recognised symbol of sustainability achievement,” states Coville.

Green Star Rating tools

“It is important that both new buildings and existing buildings consider green building certification. A New Build rating is an asset rating; it is a once-off rating and is based on the design and – therefore –predicted performance, of the building. However, the performance of a building must be evaluated. The Existing Building Performance tool certifies actual performance of

the building. This closes the loop, ensuring what is designed to be efficient is operated to achieve this efficiency,” adds Coville.

The New Build rating tools validate the environmental initiatives of the design phase of new building construction or base building refurbishment, or the construction and procurement phase of the new building.

The Existing Building Performance tool validates the environmental initiatives of the operational phase of the building’s life cycle. Furthermore, it provides a calculator that is used to predict the expected water savings. The New Build and Existing Building Performance tools have different criteria but they evaluate water usage in three main areas: water consumption, water quality and water management.

• Water consumption: Encourages buildings to minimise their water consumption by implementing measures such as installing waterefficient fixtures and fittings (lowflow showerheads and toilets), and designing buildings that use less water in their operations, such as those that recycle water or capture rainwater for reuse. Buildings are also evaluated based on their ability to reduce water wastage and promote water conservation using efficient irrigation systems and other water-saving measures.

• Water quality: This includes

Dash Coville, technical manager: Special Projects, Green Building Council South Africa

Rainwater harvesting and reuse of water from a wash bay to minimise potable water usage at the City Industrial Property – Bellville Facility

(Photo credit: City Industrial Property)

assessing the treatment of wastewater, the management of stormwater run-off, and the protection of water quality in natural waterways surrounding the building. • Water management: Assesses the overall water management practices of a building, which includes assessing the implementation of water management plans, monitoring and reporting of water usage, and the engagement of building occupants in water conservation practices.

New Build Version 2 (V2)

The New Build V2 tool is an update on the existing suite of the New Build Green Star rating tools. This is planned to be launched to the market at the end of this year.

“The idea is to have one New Build rating tool that can be applied to a wide range of building typologies. This update will provide the framework to guide positive change and align to global trends and commitments around sustainability. The tool has an even greater focus on water and will provide a calculator to better predict the estimated water usage of the designed building. It will retain the need to include an effective metering strategy and provide a building tuning process to ensure the designed initiatives are in fact operating as intended. A new requirement has been added that considers the operational resilience of the building’s water supply system. There is a focus on water from a design perspective,” explains Coville.

Energy Water Performance (EWP)

The EWP tool benchmarks water performance for offices. Developed by the GBCSA, the EWP tool assesses the performance of both water and energy use. The calculator uses benchmarks, created from industry using actual performance and assesses water performance relative to a benchmark. It can assist building owners in understanding where their office building performance sits in relation to other similar office buildings in industry, as well as in relation to other buildings in their own portfolio. This is a fantastic

tool for making decisions on which buildings to retrofit, hold or sell, and becomes a powerful communication tool to prospective tenants or buyers.

Net Zero Water

The Net Zero Water rating tool helps building owners, designers and operators achieve a net-zero water use goal. When a building is able to consume as much water as it produces it achieves a net zero rating. The rating is structured in a way to reward projects that have achieved net zero at the design stage (modelled) as well as operational phase (measured) of a building’s life cycle.

Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies (EDGE)

The EDGE tool is a building certification system developed by the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group. It is a resource efficiency assessment/certification tool and assesses a building’s water performance in three key areas:

• Water consumption: Assesses the total water consumption of a building. The tool calculates the water

consumption based on various water use measures. This covers, for example, sanitary fittings, landscaping and appliances.

• Wastewater: Evaluates whether the building has implemented any measures to treat and reuse the wastewater. It also considers if rainwater is harvested and reintroduced into the building.

• Water efficiency: Calculates the efficiency of a building’s water use by comparing its water consumption and harvested water to a baseline value. The baseline value is calculated based on the water consumption of a reference building with similar occupancy and local water use characteristics.

Conservation of water is one of the basic principles of a green building. Green buildings save water by integrating water-efficient technologies in their design and construction or by retrofitting these fixtures and technologies.

No.1 Mutual Place, Sandton – 5-Star Green Star Office As Built v1.1 certification achieved in March 2019

Every drop saved is cause for celebration

Acknowledging progress and celebrating watersaving efforts will help to create a culture of good water stewardship and encourage responsible water use.

By #SurplusWater2025

Until recently, very few people and businesses have realised how deep our trouble is with regard to water demand and supply in South Africa – and globally.

With our ongoing energy crisis and the impact it has on everything, water has also received more attention lately.

It is important to know that water is in trouble, and it has been for a long time.

The water challenge we face is not a future, temporary or short-term issue. It is not going away either.

In fact, it is getting bigger – unless we

fundamentally change the way we interact with water and drastically increase our perceived value of water.

While there has always been a strong focus on water supply, not enough emphasis has been placed on the effectiveness of dealing with our water challenge by starting with demand. We believe the quickest, easiest and most cost-effective way to approach our current water situation, and turn scarcity into surplus, is to focus on demand as a first step. If we can reduce demand, we can reduce our supply deficit.

The challenge is that we have become complacent. We are accustomed to the relatively low cost and availability of water. We continue to operate under assumptions that have long since been applicable and we are misled by the abundance of rain and full dams in some parts of South Africa.

Water scarcity is a complex issue that requires a comprehensive approach involving the cooperation of all stakeholders. Using water efficiently requires a cultural change supported by technical solutions. And we have the solutions.

Water warriors

We also have the people. Many companies, projects, communities and individuals are consistently putting in the effort, resulting in incredible water savings.

To build a culture of relentless water warriors, it is important to showcase results and cheer each other on. To quote author Ryunosuke Satoro, “Individually we are one drop but together, we are an ocean.” When we see what our partners in water are

achieving, we can continue to create our own ripples, knowing that our combined effort is making a wave.

Join us in celebrating the Water Action Results of three inspiring partners in water:

• The Vodacom Bulls have been making significant efforts to conserve water – reducing water usage by 46% since 2019 and saving over 100 million litres of water. This equates to filling the pitch from try line to try line and to the top of the goal posts.

• By focusing on efficiency, Emira Property Fund has seen a 47% drop in water consumption and saved 552 677+ kilolitres of water in the past 71 months.

• In only 27 months of action and across 51 schools, ADvTECH has implemented efficiency, training and monitoring resulting in combined water savings of 429 053+ kilolitres. Water conservation is crucial to ensure the sustainability of our planet and the well-being of future generations. The efforts of these three companies demonstrate that it is possible to reduce water usage and promote sustainable water management practices across various sectors. It is time for all of us to recognise the value of water and work together to protect and conserve it for the present and the future. Remember to celebrate achievements, learn from each other, and find inspiration in every effort and every drop saved. Changing our water behaviour and water attitude in 2023 cannot only be a comment on a water conservation post or a good intention – it needs to be an ongoing, persistent action. South Africa is already doing it and our combined action is what is making the difference that our water needs. Here’s to the next 100 million; here’s to a culture of water stewardship.

Two decades of plastic piping solutions

Sizabantu Piping Systems was established in 2002 as a Marley Pipe Systems BBBEE initiative to focus on the marketing and distribution of plastic piping solutions in Southern Africa. WASA catches up with Don Coleman, managing director of Sizabantu Piping Systems.

Sizabantu Piping Systems has recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. What has changed in piping systems over the past 20 years?

DC The Southern African piping industry has undergone many changes. Original, larger traditional manufacturers in the plastic pipe industry, or founding members, have been slow in repositioning and adapting their operations to meet the rapidly changing market dynamics. They have been further hampered by their costly corporate structures that reduced their competitiveness.

Sizabantu

Other factors influencing the industry has been easy access to low-cost manufacturing equipment, which lowers the barrier to entry and encourages leaner newcomers to enter.

The traditional customer base in certain markets has also changed with the introduction of the government procurement policies. There has also been the development and introduction of new piping technologies. Plastic pipes can now be manufactured with larger diameters and this has allowed the plastic pipe, for the first time, to compete against traditional piping materials. Higher nominal working pressure bulk water piping can now be produced locally.

What trends have you observed around piping systems?

There is a constant improvement in the quality and durability of plastic piping products to better withstand the harsh weather conditions and extreme temperatures that are often present in South Africa. Additionally, there is an increasing interest in the use of plastic piping for industrial and agricultural

Sizabantu

applications, such as irrigation and wastewater management.

This is supported by a high level of investment and continuous development to ensure that engineering, user and environmental needs are continually being addressed.

What are some of your popular products, and why?

We have introduced the Molecor PVC-O (orientation) technology, which has positioned the plastic pipe to compete against the large bore with medium pressure and traditional pipe materials. This range offers both the specifier and user all the benefits of a non-corrosive, user-friendly, proven and dependable piping system that can be fit for purpose.

What is Sizabantu’s recipe for success?

Sizabantu Piping Systems has attracted a team of enthusiastic, competitive entrepreneurs, with an ownership option. The team is focused on the markets we serve and is continually reviewing and being alert to any changing market trends. We are continually challenging ourselves, to ensure that the market has access to the latest and most appropriate products for their applications.

Piping Systems’ factory is in Richard’s Bay Industrial Development Zone

Piping Systems can assist consulting engineers and civil contractors to check and scrutinise their designs and to ensure that the correct product is used for the correct application

HYDROSTATIC MEASUREMENTS FOR

Hydrostatic pressure refers to the pressure exerted by a liquid at rest. Groundwater exerts hydrostatic pressure on the surrounding soil, and rock formations can be used to measure groundwater levels. Keller has a range of products for groundwater.

The pressure of the water increases with depth, so the deeper the water, the higher the hydrostatic pressure. Therefore, by measuring the hydrostatic pressure at a specific point in the ground, it is possible to determine the depth of the water table at that location. Hydrostatic pressure is also used for the fluid column measurement of storage water tanks. It gives insight in the actual volume, and when measurements are stored, it gives insight in consumption data, and thus remaining stock, as well.

Overall, hydrostatic pressure is a valuable tool for measuring groundwater levels, and it is used extensively by hydrologists, geologists and other scientists to monitor and manage groundwater resources.

Wireless groundwater monitoring system

When monitoring groundwater, the measuring points may be relatively far away and difficult to reach. For these applications, Keller has solutions involving level loggers via short-range radio interfaces as well as level loggers with a remote data transmission unit via the Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) or the internet.

Kolibri Cloud/desktop is used to process, analyse and prepare the collected data. Keller provides the following products:

• Level probes – With a special design and cable and housing materials that have been chosen for compatibility with their surroundings, these submersible probes

can be used in a wide range of liquids for level and fill management.

• Data loggers – A variety of data logger designs for recording pressure and temperature profiles. Depending on the system, the data is read out via a plug connection or remote transfer.

• Multiparameter data loggers (DCX22-CTD) measure conductivity and temperature as well as pressure, along with the depth of bodies of water. The integrated Pt1000 achieves an accuracy of ±0.1°C, and the conductivity can be measured at ±2.5% of the selected range (0.2/2/20/200 mS/cm). Thanks to their long-life battery, they can keep recording measurement results for years (up to 10 years at a rate of one measurement per hour). The logger can be configured using the supplied software (measurement interval, incident management, delayed measurement starts) and data that has been read can be displayed in a graph or chart, corrected using air pressure values, converted into fill levels or other units, and exported.

• Kolibri Cloud is a web application for collecting and displaying measured values that are recorded by Keller IoT devices and transmitted via mobile radio or LoRaWAN. Kolibri Cloud offers a wide variety of options for device configuration and displays current measured values and logger recordings in graph form. Thanks to the search and filter options, saved measurement data can be organised with ease and can also be exported as an image, as an Excel or Word report, or in additional formats. Existing software solutions can be used to access data in Kolibri Cloud via JSON API. All products in the Kolibri suite are intercompatible and can exchange data with one another. The functions are continually being further expanded and optimised.

Hydrostatic pressure calculations

a saying that is increasingly relevant to South Africa’s groundwater resources. In a dry country such as South Africa, adequate information on the status and trends of groundwater resources is paramount for strategic development. A groundwater app could be the answer.

GROUNDWATER MONITORING –there's an app for that

Once known as the country’s Cinderella of water resources, we are increasingly shining the spotlight on groundwater for potential water supply, especially when supplies

run low. Cape Town’s close shave with Day Zero is a case in point. An estimated 30 000 boreholes were reportedly drilled in and around the Mother City during the 2016 to 2018 drought. But how much groundwater was abstracted? And what

is the impact of that abstraction? This is largely unknown.

The situation is not unique to the Western Cape. The national database for borehole information has progressively developed a backlog, and contains limited time series data, with serious consequences for future groundwater resource management. Adequate information is needed to help plan how to provide water to people, monitor water resources, provide drought relief and mitigate the impact of climate change. Without specific and accurate borehole information, we cannot ensure that groundwater is managed well, or protected from overabstraction and contamination.

Data

Groundwater-related data is captured in the National Groundwater Archive (NGA), which is managed and owned by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS). The NGA is part of the larger National Groundwater Information System. The NGA dates to the 1960s, and allows registered users to capture, view, modify and extract groundwater-related data.

It contains comprehensive information on specific geosites like

“You can’t manage what you don’t measure” is

By Petro Kotzé*

boreholes, dug wells, seepage ponds and springs. Site names, locations, descriptions and types, drilling details like water strike depth and blow yield, test pumping and abstraction data, groundwater levels and water quality have been logged for thousands of geosites, including at least 270 000 boreholes, spread across 1 225 986 km2 of South Africa.

However, the NGA is known as much for the backlog of information that needs to be captured in the database as it is for the necessity of the data it must store. Rainier Dennis, project leader and senior lecturer at North-West University (NWU), says an analysis of the NGA data set showed a sharp decrease in new information captured over the past two decades.

“The NGA’s unravelling is likely due to several reasons. For one, the platform is not very user-friendly.

The cumbersome process involves data being emailed to users in spreadsheets, from where coordinates must be plotted on a map or uploaded to a GPS, so the user can find the geosite location in the field,” says Yazeed van Wyk, research manager: Groundwater Hydrology, Water Research Commission (WRC).

Electronic data can be directly uploaded in bulk, but others must be recorded on a detailed, paper-based field form that,

South Africa’s predominant fractured rock groundwater system contributes about 15% of the bulk water supply. This plays a major role in domestic water supply, contributing 45% to 60% – in rural areas, possibly as much as 90%

GROUNDWATER AND THE LAW

Under the country’s previous Water Act (No. 54 of 1956), people that owned the land above where the groundwater was found, owned it. The Water Act (No. 36 of 1998, NWA), however, fundamentally reformed any water laws in the country that were discriminatory and not appropriate to South African conditions, specifically the 1956 Act.

Water and groundwater are no longer privately owned, but fall under the management of national government. The ultimate aim of water management is, according to the NWA, “to achieve the sustainable use of water for the benefit of all users.” Furthermore, the law recognises that “the protection of the quality of water resources is necessary to ensure

back at the office, must be captured electronically and submitted to the DWS, where an official has to capture the information and upload it to the NGA. “Due to system failures, hard copies from mines sometimes need to be posted to the DWS. The data also has to be checked, validated and, ideally, monitored, which could involve many kilometres of travelling each month. It becomes an impossible task for an institution such as the DWS,” explains Dennis.

Van Wyk adds that most of the monitoring has been delegated to regional offices across the country’s provinces, but many lack the capacity to complete these tasks. “Over and above the backlog of information that needs to be uploaded, a lack of repeat monitoring has resulted in the NGA database containing a very limited time series data. The location, water level and quality parameters of some boreholes might only have been logged once, decades ago. Another problem is that users will typically download data from the NGA, but they won’t upload data.”

Dennis adds that many consultants hold onto their databases instead of uploading them to the national

sustainability of the nation’s water resources in the interests of all water users.”

According to the law, water-use licences for boreholes used for low-volume, low-impact activities – such as domestic use, livestock, recreation and emergencies – are not legally required. In reference to the mentioned near 30 000 boreholes that were sunk around the Day Zero drought, researchers ask in the report, Mobile App for Hydrocensus and Groundwater Monitoring , if 30 000 boreholes near each other is still considered a lowimpact activity.

Since these boreholes were not required to be licensed and registered, most of their positions and water levels at the time, or after, will not be known or likely monitored.

system, as it gives them a competitive advantage for future work. Some borehole users are also just unwilling to share the information for fear of attracting the attention of authorities.

While there may be a very good understanding of what’s happening with our groundwater resources, like the many farmers that keep exceptional data sets for their water resources, the data is sitting in private hands.

An exception is the Limpopo province, for which a very thorough and detailed data set exists. Dennis points out that the Limpopo Groundwater Resources Information Project (GRIP) was regularly updated by consultants, by means of a term contract set up by the DWS. “However, though it should ultimately form part of the NGA, it is uncertain if all of it has been merged, reportedly because the persons running GRIP feel their data set is superior and prefer to keep it separate from the NGA.”

How to manage what you don’t measure?

The impact, especially in terms of monitoring, is massive. “If we have good quality data, we can make more informed decisions. For example, hydrogeologists usually monitor and collect water quality data of aquifers

An estimated 30 000 boreholes were reportedly drilled in and around the Cape Town during the 2016 to 2018 drought

from boreholes. By the time contamination is picked up, it might already be too late, as it takes a considerable amount of time for pollution to spread in the aquifer, with the next step generally being remediation. Groundwater contamination can be prevented if efficient, near-real-time monitoring takes place,” maintains Van Wyk.

Even basic geohydrological work is affected. A common task is to conduct a hydrocensus, which involves the gathering of information on water features, water supply and potential pollution sources in a particular site or area under investigation. Over a large area, with outdated data, finding a borehole is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Large distances need to be travelled, with no certainty that there is still an actual borehole at the end, adding unnecessary costs and time to the job.

“Should we all be prepared to share the data and have an updated national groundwater database, it would put us all in a better place overall for managing groundwater,” states Dennis.

A solution in the palm of your hand

It is hoped that the new groundwater app could go a long way towards alleviating the situation. With financial support from the WRC, researchers from NWU’s Centre for Water Sciences and Management have developed a mobile application (app) that will allow ordinary citizens to add borehole locations and other characteristics to the app databases. The simple technology will place the power of groundwater monitoring in the hands of all citizens, over and above professionals and groundwater experts.

The app is built around the concept of citizen science, and allows both experts and the general public to upload and access groundwater information. Developed with ArcGIS AppStudio and able to run on both Android and iOS operating systems, the database can accommodate common data between the NGA and GRIP. All data is stored in the cloud, making use of an ArcGIS Online server to which the mobile app connects. Desktop software allows users to perform bulk uploads and downloads. The app provides easy access to the information in the NGA and GRIP databases. Users can see a map of where boreholes are, and immediately access all the information available to them, on their phones, with the tap of a finger. New information can also be captured and submitted on the spot. This will then be uploaded to a database that can be linked straight to the NGA.

The app takes the onus of groundwater monitoring out of the hands of only experts. In fact, part of its success will lie in the hands of any citizen. Though specialised equipment is necessary for borehole measurements, the public can still easily obtain a GPS location, take a photo and answer some basic questions about the state of the borehole in the form of selection lists.

“Even if you only log the position of your borehole or any that you come across, it can give a groundwater professional an idea of where the boreholes are that

HOW IT WORKS: A SERIES OF SCREEN GRABS FROM THE APP

System makes use of a star rating to express data confidence and a credit system for fair data use

List of parameters accounted for in database. The number in brackets indicate the number of records of each parameter

Street map view

Example of lithology data

Log in with ArcGIS account

Aerial image view

for the selected borehole

Topographic map view

Example of water level data

Example of photo of borehole

should be included when studies are done, and they can then submit more specialised information. This alone will be a major game changer,” explains Dennis.

The app allows for data validation and verification through a star-rating system. Ranging from zero to five, new or novice users will initially be allocated a zero-star rating, while professionals and expert users will be assigned a five-star rating. The rating is also affected by how many times the localities that a user logged were verified by other users.

The developers also incorporated a user credit system that allows you to download data if you are also a contributor. The system will allocate a certain number of credits for each type of record uploaded and consume a certain number of credits for each record downloaded.

Van Wyk reports that the app has worked very well for him during a test run out in the field. However, the real impact will only be derived when the app goes live and people

actually start using it and populating the databases. “The challenge of this project moving forward is how to keep the general public interested in taking part in the data collection. Boreholes are not very exciting. Motivating groundwater professionals to use it is not an issue, but we want those people sitting on isolated farms, those who live in rural areas and small towns to use it too.”

“This challenge was also picked up in the pilot study conducted as part of the project. More so than a general responsibility to help take care of water resources, people wanted to know what was in it for them. They wanted us to provide incentives. The irony is if they do it, and log their water levels even just once a month, then, when there is a problem, and I’ve got that data, we can actually advise him,” explains Dennis.

For now, the more immediate challenge is where the app will be housed. A high-level discussion with the key stakeholders on how to best to store and manage the app

AGRULINE

but these discussions have not yet been finalised. However, the app could potentially be managed by the WRC itself as the organisation is in the process of developing a water research observatory that will be a centralised hub for all water-related data. If so, the app can play an integral role in South Africa’s future water security.

“Though there is a popular narrative that groundwater is readily available in sufficient quantities, it still needs to be carefully regulated. If not, we might be overabstracting from deeper groundwater resources, which might not necessarily be renewable. In the long term, it boils down to issues of water security, and the various challenges the state faces to achieve this. We need to assist government. And this project is a fine example of what the WRC constantly tries to achieve,” concludes Van Wyk.

*This article was first published in The Water Wheel magazine.

PE 100-RC piping system for outstanding crack resistance

HIGHER SERVICE LIFE under extreme conditions

COST-EFFICIENT INSTALLATION without sand embedding

LASTING CONNECTIONS with electro-socket or heated tool butt welding of PE 100-RC

ONE-STOP SHOPPING piping system for gas, hydrogen, water, waste water and chemical media

The link between stormwater and sanitation

In South Africa, wastewater and stormwater are conveyed in separate pipelines. And while it can be an environmental disaster and health hazard for stormwater and sewage to meet, it is advisable to manage both as part of an integrated urban water system. By

Kirsten Kelly

In government, multiple departments are involved in water supply, wastewater and stormwater management processes, and too often they are siloed. For instance, there are cases where stormwater is not even within a water department but falls under

the roads department,” says Dr Kirsty Carden, associate professor in the Department of Civil Engineering and interim director of the Future Water Research Institute at the University of Cape Town.

“A roads department will generally view stormwater as a liability that must be directed off the road surfaces as quickly as possible because it can be hazardous. For water and wastewater

Dr Kirsty Carden, associate professor: Department of Civil Engineering and interim director: Future Water Research Institute, University of Cape Town

departments, stormwater can also be a liability, as it is a major source of contamination to drinking water sources; however, that same water falling on the roads, if properly managed, can be a resource that recharges groundwater sources. No water should ever be considered a waste,” she continues.

A safe and secure water supply, along with drainage and sanitation for public hygiene and flood protection have always ranked highly among the primary needs of urban dwellers.

However, for most cities, stormwater management is the ‘poor cousin’ of the municipal water services and is chronically underfinanced. Water supply services are prioritised, but less emphasis is placed on drainage or sanitation and wastewater

treatment services. This results in vast quantities of partially treated or untreated, polluted water entering the environment, causing water security issues (in terms of both supply and quality) going forward.

Separation of stormand wastewater

The perfect separation of stormwater and wastewater is impossible to achieve. “This is partly because pipes are never perfect and there will always be some form of leakage, particularly with sewer pipe systems. The potential for cross contamination between the systems will always exist,” states Carden.

“Sewer overflows are extremely common in South Africa and are worsened by load-shedding when pump stations do not work, leading to sewage being discharged to drainage systems. A lot of the drainage infrastructure in this country comprises open channels and canals that connect to rivers, to waterways and to the sea, which also receive stormwater discharges from the traditionally designed, hydraulically efficient piped systems. With sewer overflows and other forms of wastewater, these stormwater systems become transporters of solid waste and contaminated water. And therefore, the quality of stormwater is directly linked to the quality of our sanitation systems,” she adds.

Stormwater can also add complications to wastewater systems. South Africa has separate stormwater and sewer systems. Some individuals or companies illegally connect their stormwater to the sewer system, or stormwater pipes may leak. This can potentially overload the wastewater treatment works and dilute incoming sewage, which paradoxically makes its treatment difficult owing to lower

concentrations of organic matter in the water.

Stormwater harvesting

If managed properly and treated, stormwater would not be polluted and could be a resource. Carden recommends cities adopt stormwater harvesting – the collection and storage of rainfall run-off in open ponds or aquifers. “It can be an alternative water resource that supplements traditional urban water supplies. Stormwater harvesting can improve water security and increase resilience to climate change in urban areas. It can also prevent frequent flooding and provide additional benefits to society – such as creating amenities and preserving biodiversity.”

Stormwater harvesting schemes all make use of some form of

storage system. Some make use of retention ponds with permanent water storage. Others make use of detention ponds; these are normally dry except following large storm events when they

temporarily store stormwater to reduce downstream flooding.

Detention or retention ponds are used to store run-off volumes. This results in the reduction of downstream flows and decreased flooding. Stormwater can infiltrate into the ground from these ponds, or it can be injected into boreholes so that it can be captured and stored in aquifers for later abstraction – a process known as managed aquifer recharge.

There are further opportunities for stormwater managers to actively manage systems using real-time control. This can be done in a way that, prior to a predicted storm event, the storage is partially emptied, resulting in an increase in the flow rates in the river ahead of the storm, but a decrease in the peak flows during the storm, which could prevent flooding. In this way, additional storage capacity is created for stormwater harvesting purposes.

A study of the Liesbeek River Catchment in Cape Town found that stormwater harvesting had the potential to reduce the total current residential potable water demand of the catchment by more than 20% if the stored stormwater were used for purposes like irrigation and toilet flushing. For such a reduction to take place, the vast majority of residents would be required to make use of harvested stormwater. This would likely necessitate changes to the regulations related to the supply of water in the city.

There has only been one large-scale example of successful, long-term

stormwater harvesting in South Africa. This is in the town of Atlantis on the country’s west coast. This low rate of adoption of stormwater harvesting is likely due to a range of socio-institutional challenges. These include resistance to innovative approaches, fragmented and underfunded water management institutions, a lack of political will, and a shortage of capacity required to operate and maintain the harvesting process. There are, however, signs of increasing interest of utilising stormwater as a resource.

Improved stormwater management practices

Carden adds that there are new approaches to stormwater management and the management of water as a whole in cities. “The concept of ‘sponge cities’ allows for water to infiltrate into the ground through networks of blue and green infrastructure that provide more resilience to droughts and floods. Hybrid systems integrate green infrastructure and conventional grey infrastructure, with nature-based solutions like sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) allowing for a further level of treatment for water that does not make its way to a treatment plant. It is time to admit that by relying solely on conventional engineered approaches, we are failing to achieve SDG 6.”

The sponge city absorbs rainwater, which is then naturally filtered by the soil and allowed to reach urban aquifers;

allowing for extraction of water from the ground through wells that can be treated and used for city water supply.

Carden believes that there would be a better uptake of stormwater management practices if all citizens had basic levels of water literacy, where there is an understanding of where cities obtain their water from and the role of urban stormwater management. There is a growing recognition that attenuation on-site is the solution to stormwater quantity and quality management in the built urban environment, but optimal attenuation approaches need to be identified for South Africa. Alternative reuse options used internationally may provide sustainable solutions to stormwater management in South Africa – where the focus on reuse is currently on groundwater recharge, industry and mining.

“In the City of Cape Town, stormwater management has been brought within the Water and Sanitation Department. There is an intentional move from the City to coordinate different water streams and manage them together. This is a great start. There needs to be more institutional arrangements that allow for the better control of stormwater and include it as a water resource,” states Carden.

She believes that there also needs to be a mindset shift regarding sanitation. “We think of sanitation as toilets, but it is much more. It encompasses all of the ways in which we deal with water and waste in the environment. In Brazil, sanitation includes the supply of drinking water, sanitary sewage, as well as the proper handling and disposal of solid waste and the management of stormwater – even control of disease vectors like rats and mosquitoes.”

Water supply, sanitation and stormwater are one interconnected system. Each part cannot be viewed alone and needs to be managed as part of the system. These parts can interact with each other negatively, for example, through the contamination of drinking water by poor sanitation, as well as positively, with wastewater and stormwater potentially providing a viable water supply. Understanding and managing stormwater and sanitation as an integrated system will lead to the prioritisation of public health, environmental improvement and quality of life outcomes.

PPPs for the water sector

The Vuthela iLembe Local Economic Development Support Programme held a seminar to share stakeholder experiences of South Africa’s first PPP for water services.*

About 24 years ago, a 30year contract was agreed to between the then Borough of Dolphin Coast and Siza Water, a private company, to provide water to communities in an area that is now part of KwaDukuza Local Municipality (LM).

One of four municipalities under iLembe District Municipality (DM), KwaZulu-Natal, KwaDukuza LM includes the rapidly developing coastal towns of Ballito and Shaka’s Rock, as well as a few peri-urban communities.

The PPP’s concession area covers 12.5 km² and services 55 000 to 60 000 users, who vary greatly – from the poorest to the wealthiest, from urban to rural, from residential to commercial and light industrial. The initial model used by the Siza Water PPP saw investment made in water

and sanitation infrastructure, as well as maintenance. Siza Water does not own water supplies; it buys in bulk from Umgeni Water. In recent years, with the new developments that have been built in the area, the property developers have built their own infrastructure, thus reducing the obligation on the PPP to invest in infrastructure expansion.

Striking a balance

In the early years, the performance of the PPP was mixed, with performance in the wealthier areas far outweighing that in the poorer areas. Different models were used in different areas. Significant water charge increases have challenged Siza Water to deliver on the contract at various times, but there is a general consensus that it has more or less achieved its obligations over the

years, and that the overall impact has resulted in improvements in levels of water loss, water quality, faults and maintenance.

“The tension between the municipality’s social aspiration to provide water to all residents equitably and the private sector’s need to generate profits by serving more affluent areas is starkly apparent in the concession area. Siza Water has provided water services in both areas, according to the terms of the contract,” explained Shyam Misra, managing director, Siza Water.

This has been achieved through using innovative technology solutions in many areas of its operations, making it highly efficient. Furthermore, Siza Water has been awarded both Blue Drop and Green Drop certifications, highlighting the quality of its water services.

The company has invested about R500 million in water infrastructure, including upgrades at seven reservoirs, six sewer pump stations and two sewer treatment works. These projects were financed through developer contributions or Siza Water’s own funds. The company had reduced losses in the water system from 33% in 1999 to 8% in 2021.

“However, many indigent communities within the concession area were still served by shared standpipes and unsatisfactory toilet facilities. PPPs perpetuate inequality and underdevelopment. Private sector investment provide services in areas that make money. Most indigent areas (that are still dealing with the legacy of apartheid) do not have access

VUTHELA ILEMBE LOCAL

The programme is funded by the Switzerland State Secretariat for Economic Affairs. With the aim to improve the economic future of iLembe DM residents through sustainable growth of the local economy, the programme is being implemented in partnership with the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs; iLembe DM; as well as the KwaDukuza and Mandeni LMs.

to these areas,” added Sikhumbuzo Hlongwane, executive director: Economic Development and Planning, KwaDukuza LM.

Linda Mncube, head: Enterprise iLembe – the DM’s economic development agency – noted that PPPs have great potential for efficient service delivery. “However, contracts should set targets for capital investment to unlock development. Equitable profit-sharing models should be created and the concession’s

tariff structure and finance model should cater for redistribution and the provision of a higher level of service in historically underserviced areas.”

Water Partnership Office

There is a growing appreciation of the value of PPPs to provide efficient services emanating from national government circles. A dedicated unit – the Water Partnership Office (WPO) –has been established as a partnership between the Department of Water and Sanitation and the Development Bank of Southern Africa to accelerate private sector participation in providing water services.

This comes as many municipalities are losing the battle to provide secure water services to an expanding consumer base amid rising costs, diminishing resources and high levels of nonpayment for services. Compounding the economic challenge is the social imperative to provide equitable services to regions that include both affluent and indigent communities.

The WPO is developing standardised national programmes for private sector participation in municipal water and

sanitation services. This will make it quicker, easier and cheaper for municipalities to enter into partnerships to provide services.

The WPO will support municipalities to prepare bankable projects, undertake feasibility studies and financial structuring, and to facilitate blended financing, which includes foreign direct investment.

Johann Lubbe, head of the WPO, told the seminar that while municipalities faced financial and technical constraints, South Africa’s private sector had substantial expertise. Banks and pension funds were now eager to invest in public water and sanitation infrastructure.

Private sector investment in public infrastructure was feasible where there was a sustainable revenue stream associated with the investment, allowing the private sector to get a reasonable return on its investment.

“The project must be bankable. There must be a focus on projects with sufficiently large and sustainable revenue streams. The larger the revenue stream in relation to the investment and the more sustainable the revenue stream, the greater the likelihood that the project will be bankable,” said Lubbe.

PPPs remain a key default mechanism to enable private sector participation. With national government about to issue revised regulations for the participation of PPPs in providing essential municipal services, the ensuing opportunities emerging from the WPO will be closely watched by iLembe DM and its stakeholders as officials prepare for the end of the Siza Water contract.

*This information is from a seminar held by the Vuthela iLembe Local Economic Development Support Programme to share stakeholder experiences of South Africa’s first PPP for water services.

L-R: Richard Clacey, programme manager, Vuthela iLembe LED Support Programme; Shyam Misra, managing director, Siza Water; and Sazi Mbhele, municipal manager, iLembe DM

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT PROGRAMME