THE TOYOTA HILUX OF WATER MANAGEMENT SERVICES

A subsidiary of the uMngeni-uThukela Water (UUW) Group, Umgeni Water Services (UWS) was established in 1997 to hold UUW’s shareholding in the Durban Water Recycling company. It has also won the concession to manage and operate the reuse plant at the eThekwini Southern Works plant in Durban.

UWS is now being used as the company that will drive UUW business growth strategy. Similar to the adapted Toyota Hilux for African customers, UUW has evolved over the years, integrating technological advancements and improvements over time.

The Toyota Hilux was developed in Africa, for Africa. It passes the African test and can therefore perform anywhere in the world. UUW, like the Toyota Hilux, has a rich history in South Africa with a reputation for its quality and expertise.

“Our skills in the water sector are home grown; we have an in-depth knowledge of what it takes to provide water on the African continent. UWS is a vehicle for UUW’s growth and will focus on driving the expansion of the Group through the secondary activities that are permitted through the Water Services Act,” says Peter Thompson, MD, UWS.

Section 29 and Section 30

Section 29 of the Water Services Act defines a water board’s primary

The decline of engineers in municipalities over time activities, which are to collect and store bulk water, transmit that water to purification plants, and then sell that water to municipalities.

Water boards, such as UUW, are also authorised to engage in secondary activities (Section 30). These may include:

• management services, training and other support services to water services institutions, in order to promote cooperation in the provision of water services

• supplying untreated or non-potable water to end-users who do not use the water for household purposes

• catchment management services to or on behalf of the responsible authorities

• supplying water directly for industrial use, accepting industrial effluent, and acting as a water service provider to consumers

• providing water services in a joint venture with water services authorities

• performing water conservation functions

• commercial laboratory services. UWS will be playing a key role in assisting municipalities in addressing the findings from the recent Blue, Green, and No Drop reports. The recent Blue and No Drop reports revealed a decline in drinking water quality and an increase in non-revenue water (NRW) since the last reports were issued in 2014. The Green Drop progress assessment report indicated an increased risk in the performance of municipal wastewater treatment systems.

“Furthermore, UWS will collaborate with municipalities to find innovative solutions to some of the problems and to implement systems that will assist municipalities in delivering on their mandate. It is critical that municipalities are empowered and assisted, as failures on their side will lead to non-payment of water boards and threaten their sustainability. UWS will also assist in addressing water losses and will be forming partnerships with municipalities and stakeholders to address this major drain on our economy,” adds Thompson.

However, these undertakings must not impede a water board’s ability to fulfil its primary function. Additionally, these secondary activities must not result in financial harm to the water board itself, any other water services institution, or the current consumers and other users served by the board.

There are proposed changes to the current Water Services Act.

Amendments

The Water Services Act makes a clear distinction between water services authorities (WSAs) and water service providers (WSPs). WSAs are responsible for ensuring access to water services and as such have a governance function. They are accountable for deciding on appropriate water services development approaches, delivery strategies, and resource allocations. On the other hand, WSPs have a delivery function. They are entities that provide water services to consumers or to other water services institutions. As part of their governance function, WSAs decide which WSP arrangement is most appropriate for their circumstances and, currently, WSAs have the full mandate to provide bulk services themselves. This means that the municipality monitors itself, as it does not have an overseer.

The proposed amendments to the Water Services Act are seeking to ensure that WSAs provide water services to an acceptable standard. To strengthen the provisions of the Water Services Act and to assess whether WSPs are providing water to standard, the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) wants to introduce an operating licence.

“A licence will only be issued to entities with relevant technical and financial competencies. The proposed amendment will still allow municipalities to be both a WSA and WSP, but they must have a licence to carry out the WSP function. It is envisaged that many municipalities will not qualify for the licence and existing water boards with a reputation for quality and competence – like UUW – will then be called upon to provide such services. The amendments to this Act will be a massive driver for future growth and will expand our footprint beyond Kwa-Zulu Natal,” explains Thompson.

Training and skills development

This growth will generate a greater need for skills.

Currently, there is a decline in the number of engineers working in municipalities. This is due to budget constraints in municipalities that are not collecting revenue, reluctance to work in rural areas, poor salaries, immigration, and frustrations with working within the public sector. Failing municipal infrastructure can be largely attributed to the dwindling numbers of engineers working in municipalities.

“UWS is currently training 40 engineering graduates to professional registration status. This is a four-to-five-year programme. Surprisingly, we are experiencing difficulty in placing these engineers in municipalities, as there are very few openings. There needs to be professionalisation within the water sector. While South Africa is in dire need of new water infrastructure, that infrastructure needs to have qualified, competent, and technical people that are involved in its planning, building, maintenance, and operation,” adds Thompson.

Through the Umgeni Water Learning Academy, UWS is using its institutional and financial capacity to provide technical training and mentorship to address the dire skills shortage in the water sector in Southern Africa and improve service delivery. The academy is essentially a ‘university of practice’, which emphasises hands-on learning and practical skills development. Once a technical skill is learnt, the student will go into the field, put that technical skill into practice, and receive mentorship.

UWS will also be playing a key role in PPPs or state-to-state partnerships. UUW holds an 18.5% investment in one of the most successful PPPs to date – the Durban Water Recycling Project that supplies treated wastewater to industrial companies. Furthermore, many stakeholders in the local water sector are also interested in developing partnerships with UWS to explore local and international opportunities.

Another one of UWS’s objectives is to identify and solicit international grants to assist in funding nonbankable projects that have not been developed as they are deemed unsustainable through traditional project funding.

“UUW has over 300 engineers, scientists, technologists, and technicians, world-class laboratory services, expertise in infrastructure capital investment and planning management, and catchment management skills. UWS is well positioned to drive the growth of the Group. This will be done through fostering customer relationships, the Umgeni Water Learning Academy, as well as the growth of uMngeni-uThukela Water’s Section 30 commercial activities and partnerships,” concludes Thompson.