COVER STORY
The only private institution to be
GREEN DROP CERTIFIED Sasolburg Operations has received two Green Drop awards from the Department of Water and Sanitation during the launch of the Green Drop Report, namely ‘Best Performing Private Sector System’ and ‘Best Progress made by a Private Sector System’ – improving from 86% in 2013 to 96% in 2022.
F
urthermore, Sasol’s Sasolburg Operations is the only private institution to receive Green Drop certification in 2022 and one of only 23 wastewater systems to achieve the accolade this year. The system was also noted as the fourth best performing overall. “Our win is a direct reflection of our commitment and resilience in working towards innovating for a better world through all our water initiatives,” says Rightwell Laxa, Senior Vice President: Sasolburg and Ekandustria Operations, Sasol. “I want to single out our Sasolburg Utilities Water and Waste team for securing this prestigious outcome and working so hard that they increased our score from 86% in 2013 to an incredible 96%,” he continues.
6
MAY /JUN 2022
Green Drop programme
The Green Drop certification programme was introduced in 2008, seeking to protect the environment from the hazards associated with polluted wastewater or sewage. It focuses on wastewater quality management and promotes compliance of wastewater treatment works with the national Wastewater Discharge Standards. It measures and compares the results of the performance of water services authorities and their providers via a standardised scorecard, and subsequently rewards (or penalises) the municipality upon evidence of their excellence (or failures) according to the minimum standards or requirements that have been defined. Part of an incentive-based regulation approach, Green Drop is an innovative and uniquely South African response
to challenges in the water sector. The programme seeks to induce changes in the behaviour of individuals and institutions to facilitate continuous improvement and the adoption of best practice in the management of wastewater networks and treatment systems. Consequently, progressive improvement and excellent performance are recognised and rewarded. The programme also seeks to get wastewater treatment works to measure themselves against international risk standards for wastewater quality. “The Green Drop certification programme sets standards higher than minimum requirements, and challenges water services authorities to go the extra mile in a quest for excellence, with the intention to augment and complement the normal
