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

“At APE, 3D scanning is used over and above the traditional quality control methods. It is an additional aid to prevent the misalignment of pumps by verifying pump geometries (concentricity, parallelism, perpendicularity, and shaft runouts) during manufacturing, assembly, and even commissioning. All pump parts are scanned to confirm that they meet the specifications of the manufacturing drawings. The 3D scans also generate digital reports indicating that the pump and pump parts meet (or fail to meet) certain specifications and tolerances. These reports are often supplied to customers.” John Montgomery, Group MD, APE Pumps and Mather+Platt

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“Today, radar sensors can be found in all areas of everyday life – from simple motion detectors for door openers to complex distance sensors in vehicles. However, the requirements for industrial level measurement differ considerably. The radar microchip newly developed by VEGA has been specially optimised for the requirements of level measurement. Thanks to its small design, very compact sensors are now possible. These are significantly less expensive and can replace the previous ultrasonic sensors in almost all applications.”

Miguel Petersen, marketing manager, VEGA South Africa

“Water treatment used to be referred to as ‘water care’. You look after and care for that water and then reticulate that water to members of the public. We need to go back to that philosophy. If we care for people, we can solve the water crisis. We need to remember that behind all the equipment and technology are people who we are morally obliged to serve. If technology does not make a positive impact on the quality of life of people, then it is technology that we do not need.” Dan Naidoo, chairman, WISA

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“According to research, for every 5-50 prompts, ChatGPT consumes approximately 500 m ℓ of water. In its recent environmental report, Microsoft disclosed that its global water consumption spiked 34% from 2021 to 2022 (to nearly 6.5 million litres or more than 2 500 Olympic-sized swimming pools). This is a sharp increase, compared to previous years, that outside researchers tie to its AI research. Meanwhile, Google reported a 20% growth in water use during the same period.” Boitumelo Pako Matshediso, business unit manager, Talbot Analytics

“The cloud radically increases returns while reducing upfront investment costs. Through the inventive use of modern software, cloud systems combine and scale multiple servers to deliver cutting-edge digital, data, and artificial intelligence services across the internet at very competitive costs. Traditional IT cannot do this without incurring enormous expenses and upfront investment.”

Chetan

Mistry, strategy and marketing manager,

Xylem Africa

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“Digitalisation in water and wastewater treatment contributes towards improved efficiency, resource optimisation, compliance, and overall resilience, ultimately ensuring the delivery of safe and high-quality water to communities. Schneider Electric forms partnerships with WTPs and WWTPs, assisting them in the installation, monitoring, maintenance, and upgrading of their plants. In a nutshell, Schneider Electric can help the water sector shift its operations, maintenance, and emergency responses from reactive to predictive, helping them to use assets more effectively and avoid unscheduled downtime.”

Peter Marumong, segment leader: Water and

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“Although climate change has been studied for decades, it is difficult to input accurate information into the models, as modelling techniques and scenarios are continually being updated and refined according to the most recent climate data. A certain amount of flexibility in operating rules is fundamental in addressing fluctuating and unpredictable hydrological conditions and reducing the associated negative implications. For this reason, different scenarios are usually analysed, often derived from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). These may often represent ‘best case’ and ‘worst case’ scenarios. Rainfall data cannot yet fully incorporate the changes in climate when carrying out long-term analyses, which causes a greater uncertainty in predicting future hydrology.”

Kerry Grimmer, principal hydrologist,

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“Depending on the type of aeration in the bioreactors, the power consumption of the aerators/blowers can be up to 50% of the plants power consumption. Typical causes for inefficiencies of blowers relate to pressure loss through leaks in piping, blockages in air piping, or blocked aeration elements. Through monitoring pressure, air flow, and power consumption measurements, this will indicate the optimum operational point of the blowers and when maintenance is required on the aeration elements.”

Hennie Pretorius, industry manager: Water & Wastewater, Endress+Hauser

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“It is also important to note that the Blue Drop programme is not solely based on water quality. It is possible to produce good water quality and receive a below-average Blue Drop score. This is because there is a huge focus on the entire water quality management system, asset management, risk management, and water safety planning. It is all about continuous improvement.” Chandre Barnard, deputy director: Bulk Supply & Reservoirs, Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality

“A product is only a tiny part of an innovation; there are many types of innovation, from quoting and invoicing methods to the ability for customers to log in to their own account via the customer portal. Some of our other innovations include electric vehicles, the Khusela Dry Sanitation Unit, and an automated scrubber drier. Our vision is to use innovation to improve compliance, convenience, and peace of mind for our customers. Our innovative offering is one of our key differentiators.”

Robert Erasmus, MD, Sanitech

“There is often a general lack of understanding around the different types of water uses. While general authorisations and Schedule 1 water-use activities do not require a water-use licence, there are other water use activities that are regulated under Section 21 of the National Water Act and require a licence. To add to complications, there are also general existing water uses that had general authorisations before the National Water Act was promulgated in 1998. These do not require a water-use licence. Often, there is confusion around the difference between a registration certificate and a water-use authorisation, which can result in water being used illegally.” Nonhlanhla Mnengi, associate, Webber Wentzel

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“While Siza Water was rated as the third best water provider in the country, and the only service provider within iLembe District Municipality that has achieved Blue Drop status, the concession is looking to claim back the status as “South Africa’s best water provider” that it had in 2014.” Shyam Misra, Group MD, South African Water Works

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“Water skills are often imported, which is a missed opportunity in a country with a high unemployment rate. There is nothing wrong with importing skills to learn, but we cannot fully rely on imported skills to run the local water sector. We need to train and capacitate South Africans to ensure that it is South African companies that run their own water industry.” Mpho Mookapele, CEO of EWSETA 42 PAGE