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 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.