20150512 water resources and innovation conference proceedings · ii!!...
TRANSCRIPT
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WATER RESOURCE AND INNOVATION CONFERENCE
The Board, Management and Staff of Umgeni Water extend a warm welcome to you.
The Water Resource and Innovation Conference on 22nd May 2015 is the final event in the Umgeni Water 40th anniversary events calendar. The decision to hold a conference of this nature was taken as it was deemed the most appropriate and effective platform to bring as many of our partners in the water and sanitation sector together to share our experiences that includes both highlights and challenges. We have tried to structure the conference content into themes that focus on the main pillars on which management of our business of providing water and wastewater services depend. Our hope is that the conference will be mutually beneficial. We encourage feedback from delegates after each thematic session. We will take this feedback seriously as we continue to optimise our processes and strategies to serve our customers in the years that follow.
We also hope that delegates, comprising partners, peers and customers, leave this conference with an assurance that Umgeni Water is a growing and learning organisation that is well prepared to meet and overcome the challenges that confront us in the course of our business.
In conclusion, we thank you for taking the time to share this space with us.
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GENERAL INFORMATION
Liability
The conference organisers and Umgeni Water give notice that they do not accept
responsibility or liability in respect of either person or property for injury, damage, loss,
accident, delay or irregularity which may be occasioned as a result of attendance at the
conference or the social event.
Name Badges
Badges are the tickets to teas, lunch meals and to the cocktail event and should be worn at
all times as they need to be displayed at entry.
Smoking / Mobile Phones
Please note that smoking is not permitted anywhere in the ICC except designated areas.
Mobile phones should be switched off during sessions.
Exhibition and Posters
Suppliers will be exhibiting their products at the tea / lunch area and can be viewed during
the tea and lunch breaks. Likewise, posters will also be displayed at the Umgeni Water stand
in the same area.
Delegate Interaction and Participation
Umgeni Water values feedback and comment from its guests at the conference. To this
effect after each thematic session, delegates are requested to answer a question on the
paper provided pertaining to the presentation session attended and drop the completed
paper a box at the session venue.
Names drawn randomly at the end of the session in each of the two venues will win the lucky
delegate a gift.
Continuous Professional Development (CPD)
The conference is validated for CPD points for professional engineers, technologists and
technicians registered with ECSA. The required CPD credit sheets will be available at each
conference venue from the session chairperson.
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Water Resource and Innovation Conference
Conference Programme: 22 May 2015
08h00-09h00 Tea / Coffee 08h30-09h00 Briefing Session for Speakers 09h00-09h05 Board Member opens conference and introduces children to sing the National
Anthem 09h05-09h15 Board Member introduces CE who officially welcomes delegates and Dignitaries 09h15-09h25 Board Member introduces Speaker to deliver message from the KZN Province
and Local government 09h25-09h40 Board Member introduces Key Note Speaker:
Ministry of Water and Sanitation delivers key note address 09h40-09h45 School children: Musical item
Board Member presides over the next three technical papers 09h45-10h00 Value Added By Focused Research And Development Projects
Peter Thompson 10h00-10h15 A concept plan to supply bulk water in KwaZulu-‐Natal
Kevin Meier 10h15-10h30 An Innovative Approach to Bulk Water Services Pricing
Kajal Singh 10h30 -11h00 TEA
11h00 -12h00 Leadership and Human Capital Development (Chairperson: Mokete Mayongo)
Operational Resiliency
(Chairperson: Msizi Cele)
Youth Skills Development and Training (Mzwandile Malishe/Presantha Maduray)
Tomorrow’s excellence starts TODAY, Young Professionals Perspective of Umgeni Water’s future (Bongani Dladla)
Technical Sustainability and Long term Growth
(Lindelani Sibiya) Water Quality and Supply, Risk Management (Thandeka Zulu, Kim Hodgson, Ingrid Cawood)
What makes Operations successful (Monica Malunga)
12h00- 13h00 LUNCH 13h00 – 14h00 Linking Municipalities to
Innovation Research and Development (Chairperson: William Moraka)
Infrastructure Stability : Chairperson: Sunil Maharaj
A Tactical Approach to facilitating better Water and Sanitation
How to Expand Your Pipeline Network. The Importance of Planning (Steve
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Management (William Moraka) Why Municipalities should work closely with Universities, Water Boards. Some working Models, Centre of Competence (Prof Chris Buckley)
Review of WSP/WSA structures. Building effective relationships with Municipalities, service models, strengths/ weaknesses, lessons learnt.(Dan Naidoo)
Gillham)
A Sustainable Approach to Asset Management (Ntsiki Baai)
14h00-15h00 Innovation and Technology Development (Chair: Jay Bhagwan)
Water Resource Adequacy - Sustainability (Chair: Graham Atkinson)
Umgeni Water’s Innovative Approach to Package Water Treatment Plants for Rural Applications (Lakesh Maharaj)
Water Utility Benchmarking System (Njabulo Ngema)
Drought Management and Planning (Angus Nicoll) Integrated Research for Long-term Catchment Protection (Prof Graham Jewitt)
15h00-15h30 TEA
15h30-16h30 Handling of Bulk Water Delivery Projects
Introduction (Suhayl Rawhani)
Umgeni Water’s capacity to deliver large scale bulk water delivery projects. Case Study- Lower Tugela Water Treatment System. (Krish Govender, Mike Killick, Robert Moffat) Enterprise development - Contract participation goals (Noni Gumbi)
16h30 – 16h45 Close of Conference Session (Chairperson: Thami Hlongwa) Lucky Prize Sponsor Ray Naguran delivers a message CE presents Conference lucky draw prize Conference Summation, vote of thanks and closure 16h45 -21h00 Cocktails and networking
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INDEX TO ORAL PRESENTATIONS
Author (s) Title Baai Ntsiki A Sustainable Approach to Asset Management
Buckley Chris, Rajagopaul Rachi Why Municipalities should work closely with Universities,
Water Boards. Some working Models, Centre of Competence
Cawood Ingrid, Hodgson Kim and Zulu Thandeka
Water Quality and Supply, Risk Management
Dladla Bongani et al. Tomorrow’s excellence starts TODAY, Young Professionals Perspective of Umgeni Water’s future
Gamede Cyril, Pillay Manu and Ngema Njabulo
Water Utility Benchmarking System
Gillham Steve The Importance Of Planning When Expanding A Pipeline Network
Govender Krish, Killick Mike, Moffat Robert
Umgeni Water’s capacity to deliver large scale bulk water delivery projects. Case Study- Lower Tugela Water Treatment System
Jewitt Graham, Hughes CJ, Matta S; J Namugize, Ndlovu H, Ncgobo S, Ngubane S, Nswirba N, Zwezwe N
Understanding Drivers And Developing Solutions To Address Deteriorating Water Quality In The Upper Umgeni Catchment
Malunga Monica, Maharaj Sunil, Pillay Karessa, Padayachee Kimon
Operational Resiliency: What Makes Operations Successful?
Maharaj Lakesh, Boyers Bruce, Thompson Peter, Myers Roan, Nyawose Jabulani.
Umgeni Water’s Innovative Approach to Package Water Treatment Plants for Rural Applications
Malishe Mzwandile and Maduray Presantha
Youth Skills Development and Training
Meier Kevin A concept plan to supply bulk water in KwaZulu-Natal Moraka William A Tactical Approach to facilitating better Water and
Sanitation Management
Naidoo Dan Building Effective Partnerships between Water Sector Stakeholders and Institutions in order to achieve the “Developmental Water Management Framework”
Nicoll Angus Drought Management and Planning Sibiya Lindelani and Sachita Korlam Technical Sustainability and Long term Growth
Singh Kajal and Hlongwa Thami
An Innovative Approach to Bulk Water Services Pricing
Thompson Peter, Toolsee Naheen, Rajagopaul Rachi
Value Added By Focused Research And Development Projects
Gumbi Noni, Hlongwa Thami Enterprise development - Contract participation goals
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INDEX TO POSTER PRESENTATIONS
Author (s) Title Makhaye Lungi and Kubheka Mbali Umgeni Water’s approach to community
Upliftment Ngubane Musawenkosi, Makatini T.C, Hodgson Kim and Majam Sameera
Assessment of monitoring effectiveness for cryptosporidium and giardia In the Durban heights and Umzinto systems
Padayachee Kimon, Naheen Toolsee, Rajagopaul Rachi
Disinfection Dosing And Telemetry System Design For Rural Potable Water Plants
Terry Steve, Hunter Alistair Lessons learned in sustainable aquatic alien weed management at Umgeni Water
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A Sustainable Approach to Asset Management Ntsiki Baai, [email protected]
Abstract
Since 1974, Umgeni Water has been acquiring, developing and managing infrastructure. Providing a full range of water services from security of supply to ensuring an uninterrupted and sustainable supply of potable water is no coincidence as the organisation has been able to achieve this feat successfully since inception. This achievement is a culmination of a long-term 30-year infrastructure master plan for its area of operations, which ensures that demands are closely monitored, infrastructure capacities are optimised and the timing of infrastructure development takes place prior to the facilities reaching their maximum capacities. This long-term master planning involves understanding the factors influencing water demands and being able to manage them effectively; the limitations of existing infrastructure emanating from the annual asset management plans; and developing a range of alternatives which achieves a social, economic, and environmental balance. The strategic objectives (SO) of UW that impact in one way or the other on physical asset management are the following:
SO1. Improve existing assets and increase infrastructure (Growth); SO2. Improve financial ratios (Return on assets); SO3. Improve service delivery systems; SO4. Increase customer and stakeholder value; SO5. Increase services and customers; SO6. Increase technical skills and competency; and SO7. Increase water resource sustainability (water loss)
The critical questions that had to be answered were: What is the state of UW’s assets and systems in relation to the best standards? How effective are the asset management systems thereof? What is the level of risk exposure of UW associated with existing infrastructure? The proposed solution was to attain a PAS 55 certification by 2020 or ISO 55001 when it becomes a standard. Such certification would provide assurance to our customers and stakeholder that we are operating at the very highest levels in terms of asset strategic control which involves surveillance, premises, and implementation control. A systemic approach towards such goal was to conduct a PAS 55 assessment by nature of a Management Review as contemplated by Section 9.3 of ISO55000. However, given the problem in context, it was critical that the short term solution addresses not only the management systems status, but also provide evidence on asset performance and asset specific risks profile. PAS 55 is a publicly available specification on the optimal management of physical assets published by the British Standards Institute. It refers to physical asset management as “systematic and coordinated activities and practices, through which an organisation optimally and sustainably manages its assets and asset systems, their associated performance, risks and expenditures over their life cycles for the purpose of achieving its organisational strategic plan”. This standard is applicable to any organisation where physical assets are critical for success. It therefore becomes imperative for a water utility like Umgeni Water that is infrastructure dependant for its service delivery, to assess its management systems against such a specification.
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A 5 year programme was then developed with its first milestone being the assessment whose scope was packaged into 4 outputs as outline below: � Output 1 – Assessment UW’s readiness for the certification against the eminent ISO 55001
Certification by 2020 � Output 2 – Review the existing infrastructure risk management systems and processes leading to
a formal infrastructure risk quantification system. � Output 3 – Perform a high level advanced asset condition and asset performance assessment,
based on standardised and tested asset management principles and submit a detailed report Primarily, the key internal stakeholders had to be engaged with the view of removing barriers and promoting collaboration within all Divisions to ensure success of the primary objective. Thereafter, the following methods were applied in respect of each output. For output 1, the current maturity level was compared to the desired maturity target. The maturity target was set at 3 (out of 5) as an organisation would need to be scoring consistently 3 or above in order to be able to qualify for ISO or PAS 55 certification. This enabled a set of activities to be defined in support of improving asset performance towards the desired maturity. The scores were based on the 17 KPA Pragma model and also benchmarked against three current standards: PAS55, ISO 55000. A detailed desktop systems analysis focusing on policies, procedures, practices, reports, and interviews of key personnel at all levels was undertaken to assess levels of knowledge for understanding and for action. For output 2, the ISO 31000:2009 risk management process was used. This process was initiated by establishing the context of the Umgeni Water (Infrastructure Risk Management System), more specifically the objectives of Umgeni Water. These objectives, in the context of the exercise, are defined as Critical Success Factors (CSFs) from a risk management perspective. By further taking a risk-based view on these CSFs, major risks to Umgeni Water’s Infrastructure were identified. In other words, potential risks impacting the achievement of the Umgeni Water’s CSFs were highlighted. Risk owners were allocated to each specific risk. These CSF’s where rated according to a significance scale of 1-5. The Umgeni IRM framework was used to underpin the risk model used to rate the risks identified. Finally in output 3, the condition assessment of all assets identified for assessment employed a combination of vibration analysis, infra-red thermography, oil analysis, ultrasound detection and visual inspection. In addition to the above, pump efficiency measurements required power, speed, flow and pressure to be measured and compared to system curves. A standardised 5 level system was used to measure the state of the asset focusing on (i) condition level and (ii) life status level. The Condition Level is a measure of the state of health of the asset by identification of factors that influence remnant life. Condition is relevant for short to medium term planning. It is of most interest to reliability, maintenance and production managers as it affects the Opex budget. The Life Status level is an estimate of where the asset is positioned on its typical usable life curve. Life Status is relevant to long term planning and is of most interest to asset managers as it affects the Capex budget.
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Results of the exercise yielded the following:
For output 1, the score for each element and the average maturity result was 2.77. Due to the particular nature of the business, a target of 2 was chosen for Operator Asset Care.
� Areas performing well above target were – (i) Organisation and Development; (ii) Financial Management; (iii) Risk Management; (iv) Health, Safety, Security and Environment; (v) Operator Asset Care; (vi) Life Cycle Management; (vii) Shutdown and Outage Management
� Areas performing below target but gap less than 30% and could be brought up to standard within 1 year: (i) Strategy Management; (ii) Information Management; (iii) Technical Information; (iv) Contractor Management; (v) Asset Care Plans; (vi) Work Planning and Control; (vii) Support Facilities and Tools; and (viii) Performance Measurement
� Areas performing significantly below target and require major intervention: (i) Materials Management; (ii) Focused Improvement
In output 2, Umgeni Water has treated all their infrastructure related risks as Low Risks. For the purposes of this assessment a risk ratio was used. The Risk Ratio compares the Pre-mitigated Risk rating (risk rating excluding control measures) to the Residual Risk rating (risk rating including control measures). The resulting value ranges between 0 and 1. The closer this value is to zero the more effective the identified control measures are. The organisations infrastructure Risk Ratio is 0.58, which means there has been a risk reduction of 0.42 from the Pre-mitigated Risk rating to the Residual Risk rating. The heat maps below illustrate Pre-mitigated risks and Residual risks. By displaying the risks in this format we show how the risks migrate with control measures in place.
The conditions assessment (output 3) for both the electrical and mechanical systems was obtained. In general, the infrastructure life status and condition status were above average when compared to similar utilities. It can be concluded that the results of the PAS 55 assessment, the risk assessment, and the condition assessment correlate and that the asset management systems are to a large extent effective and robust though minor effort is required to bring all elements within the target. Such targets can be achieved within a period of one year.
Biography
Ntsikelelo Euphony Baai is a professional Technologist with a B-Tech in Mechanical Engineering. He also holds a Masters in Business Leadership. He has vast experience in Infrastructure asset management and is currently working for Umgeni Water as an Asset Manager. His responsibilities include developing and implementing an asset strategy leading to effective utilisation and revenue generation in line with the service delivery strategy of Umgeni Water.
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Why Municipalities should work closely with Universities, Water Boards. Some working Models, Centre of Competence
Prof Chris Buckley ([email protected]) and Rachi Rajagopaul
Abstract
There are great benefits in aligning the technological needs of Water Services Authorities (WSAs) and Water Services Providers (WSPs) to the research focus of the tertiary institutions and research institutions. This is not to say that fundamental research should be guided or influenced by current technological gaps, but applied research should work hand in glove with operational challenges faced by WSA’s and WSP’s.
South African research institutions including universities are very good at producing research papers but the pace of implementation on full-scale is very slow. WSAs and WSPs are faced with a number of challenges that affect water service delivery including inappropriate treatment processes, equipment and unit processes that are not in line with changing raw water impurities, climate change and specialized technical skills.
A strong working relationship between the municipalities/Water Boards and universities including WRC, DST, and WISA will also have the following spin-offs:
� An efficient information transfer channel will result in technology sharing and making available the latest research findings.
� It would accelerate the implementation of new and more effective technology as most WSPs and WSAs grapple with the challenges of old technology that has become inappropriate in dealing current water quantity and quality requirements.
� Collaborative and joint projects will also provide much needed opportunities to accelerate skills development.
� Most municipalities are faced with the prospect of losing skilled technical due to natural attrition like retirement and the supply of new but experienced professionals is not keeping up with the demand. While on the other hand, tertiary institutions are frustrated at the poor placement rate of their young but inexperienced graduates.
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The paper will explore the status quo in the South African water and sanitation sector and develop a working model that will provide space for improvement and growth for the various role players.
The formation of a structure in KZN that gives equal voice to municipalities, Water Boards, Tertiary Institutions and Research and Development Agencies will be explored. The roles and responsibilities including expected outcomes and advantages of this cooperation and collaboration will be further discussed. While still in its infant stages the formation of a centre of competence in water and sanitation (WATSAN) has a very keen and vibrant partnership comprising municipalities, tertiary institutions, WRC and DST.
Prof Buckley is a chemical engineer and has spent his career as a contract researcher in the field of urban and industrial water and effluent management at the University of Natal and currently the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The primary funding sources are the South African Water Research Commission, Thekwini Municipality, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Sasol and Umgeni Water. He has partnerships with many international research groups.
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Water Quality and Supply, Risk Management Ingrid Cawood, Thandeka Zulu and Kim Hodgson ([email protected])
Abstract
Risk has been defined by Umgeni Water as all sources of uncertainty that could affect, positively or negatively, the organisation’s ability to achieve its strategic and business objectives. In this regard, Umgeni Water has adopted an Integrated Risk Management Framework, a multidisciplinary approach to managing risk, which enables employees to better understand the nature of risk and to manage it more systematically to ensure a safe and sustainable water supply. The Integrated Risk Management Framework comprises four related elements, including the development of risk profiles at all levels of the organisation, integration of risk management processes into key business and operational processes, adoption of suitable treatment measures and measurement of responses to risk mitigation for continuous improvement. The organisation commits to continuously and proactively managing risk to ensure a sustainable water supply to our municipal customers. As part of the Integrated Risk Management approach, Umgeni Water currently implements an integrated Safety, Health, Environment and Quality (SHEQ) management system based on the ISO 9001:2008 (Quality Management) and OHSAS 18001:2011 (Health and Safety Management) standards. In an effort to ensure continuous improvement and verify organisational conformance to these two standards, the organisation undergoes external audits undertaken by an independent certification body. For any SHEQ system to work effectively, management commitment is critical. Umgeni Water has mastered this essential aspect through a robust approach to health and safety. The organisation has a Health and Safety policy approved by the General Manager Operations as delegated by the Chief Executive. This policy is reviewed on annual basis to ensure alignment to legislation, ISO standards and the requirements of interested and affected parties, thus ensuring good corporate governance. As continuous dialogue between employer and employees is important, Umgeni Water has several SHEQ committee structures that operate at various levels. Outcomes from these structures are provided to Executive Committees through a quarterly corporate SHEQ reporting system. This allows urgent SHEQ issues to be escalated timeously, even to Chief Executive and Audit Committee Chairman level, to ensure adequate management commitment to mitigate risks and improve safety performance. Umgeni Water safety performance is measured through the Disabling Injury Frequency Rate (DIFR), recorded at 0.15 for the 2013/14 year, against target of 0.9. To maintain this very good performance, there has been a significant focus on improved management and reporting of near miss incidents, vehicle incidents and vandalism of infrastructure, particularly in the remote areas of operation. A recent initiative driving behavioural change to improve safety performance is the introduction of breathalysing tests. A breathalysing procedure was developed, aligned to the Umgeni Water anti-substance abuse policy. The organisation also has a risk-based medical surveillance program linked to man-job specifications to ensure that medicals are exposure-specific and employees are deemed fit to support the organisational objective of supplying safe, sustainable drinking water. Integrated Risk Management is incorporated into all drinking water supply systems in Umgeni Water’s operational area through a comprehensive, proactive approach to water quality management, applied from catchment to consumer. This sustainable risk management approach promotes an
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understanding of the entire water supply system, the events that can compromise drinking water quality and the operational control necessary for optimising drinking water quality and protecting public health. Water quality is thus carefully managed through a rigorous management system which includes implementation of water quality monitoring programmes, auditing, compliance reporting, water quality risk assessments and the implementation of Water Safety Plans. These plans are developed, with participation from all stakeholders, to ensure a holistic approach to drinking water quality management and use a systematic, transparent approach for the consistent provision of safe water with a clear focus on public health. The water safety planning approach involves the identification of hazards and the prioritisation of risks, identification of existing controls and validation of the effectiveness of these controls and the development of improvement plans to mitigate high priority risks. Water quality monitoring programmes are reviewed annually for all operational sites and sampling and analyses are undertaken in accordance with Umgeni Water’s ISO 9001 certified monitoring programme and SANAS 17025 accredited laboratory methods. Furthermore, water quality performance data, information and reports are disseminated regularly to all stakeholders. Assessed according to the SANS 241 Drinking Water standard, Umgeni Water provides excellent drinking water quality to customers, suitable for a lifetime of consumption. In terms of management of drinking water quality incidents, emergency response protocols exist to ensure the production of safe drinking water and protection of public health. In these protocols, potable water quality failures are defined and classified into alert levels based on the magnitude and extent of the failure, as well as the risks posed by the failure. Relevant actions, in compliance with legislative requirements, are detailed to rectify the failure and communicate the health risks to the community and relevant authorities. All potable water quality incidents and failures are recorded in an Incident Register, together with the correct and preventative actions taken and evidence of required communication to the authorities and communities. The Department of Water and Sanitation has acknowledged Umgeni Water excellence in terms of risk-based drinking water quality management through the incentive-based regulatory tool, the Blue Drop Certification Programme. Umgeni Water is committed to supporting municipalities to ensure that all drinking water systems can be progressively improved toward joint Blue Drop Certification. At an annual frequency, the Umgeni Water Board identifies the risk appetite and tolerance levels for the organisation taking into account the Umgeni Water business plan for the following financial year. Risk appetite is defined as the amount and type of risk that the organisation is prepared to pursue, retain or take and risk tolerance is the organisation’s readiness to bear the risk in order to achieve its objectives, after treatment has taken place. Risk scores and appetite and tolerance levels are analysed in accordance with the risk priority table. This table sets time-frames for the implementation of risk action plans to improve the control environment to treat risks to an acceptable level and also identifies the authority structures for specific sign-off of continued toleration of residual risk in accordance with these pre-defined levels. Risk review and monitoring is embedded throughout the organisation and quarterly reporting on the status of risks and achievement of risk performance targets is undertaken to the various risk governance committees and ultimately to the Umgeni Water Board. Internal Audit continually provides independent assurance that risks are being treated and that controls implemented to treat risks are adequate and effective to mitigate the risks. Through continual review of the past using root cause analysis (hindsight), analysing the present (insight) and providing control assurance, Umgeni Water continually commits to having the foresight
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through risk assessment (analysing the uncertainties, threats and opportunities when changes occur, the ramifications and implementing cost effective risk treatment) to manage the future to provide a sustainable water supply to our customers.
Thandeka Zulu is currently employed by Umgeni Water as the SHEQ manager, looking after Safety, Health, Environment and Quality compliance within the organisation. She started her career in 1999 with sixteen years’ experience in the SHEQ field of which almost seven was in the water sector. She has experience in the chemical industry, waste management Industry and logistics. She is in possession of a B.Tech degree in Environmental Health, B.Tech degree in Business Management and is a registered
professional member with IOMS. INGRID CAWOOD is a Medical Technologist: Clinical pathology and Microbiology and is the Risk Manager of Umgeni Water. She also has a B Tech in Total Risk Management. She has worked for the organisation for 28 years and has 12 years of Risk Management experience.
KIM HODGSON is a registered Professional Natural Scientist with an M.Sc. degree in Geography and 23 years of Water Quality Management experience in the water industry.
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Tomorrow’s excellence starts TODAY, Young Professionals
Perspective of Umgeni Water’s future
Bongani S. Dladla, Nothile Hlombe, Musawenkosi Ngubani, Lesailane Mphafudi, Lusanda Ncoliwe,
Thobekile Makathini, Santham Chetty, Hlengiwe Dlamini, Njabulo Ngema, Gcwalisile Kunene, Wendy
Mhlazi, Mluleki Mnguni, Justice Rambau, Megan Schalkwyk, Thobekile Sibiya, Radhika
Soobramoney, Walter Makhoba, Lindelani Sibiya, Nosihle Dlamini, Sanele Mazibuko, Silindile Mtshali,
Noluthando Mbele, Mzwandile Malishe
Vision: To establish Umgeni Water as a Leading employer of talented and skilled young professionals that will work towards improving the quality of life and enhance economic development.
Executive Summary
Skills shortages and an aging workforce have necessitated the need to develop Young Professionals in the water sector. In November 2014 Umgeni Water Young Professionals was launched. The forum aims to uplift the organisation’s young professionals and create a sustainable knowledge base by building an environment which encourages innovation, networking and meaningful skills development. Her Excellence Dr Nkosazane Dlamini-Zuma, African Union Commission Chairwomen stated that, “If we can involve young people and women in all our human endeavours, then this continent is poised to be among the greatest in the world in the next 50 years. It’s possible. It can be done”. With a third of Umgeni Water’s workforce under the age of 35, Umgeni Water is aiming to realise this idea by creating a forum for young professionals run by young professionals.
The forum is open to all Umgeni Water employees under the age of 35. The forum focuses on issues of Professional Development, Social Responsibility, and Branding and Marketing.
The forum will create a new generation of engaged skilled youth for Umgeni Water and the South African Water Sector. A series of events are planned by the Branding and marketing portfolio under Professional Development and Social Responsibility theme. Each year the young professionals independently decides on activities
The forum will partner with key stakeholders in order to create a network that will push for its agenda at regional, national and international level. The forum also lobbies for the inclusion of Young Professionals in internal and external committees
Umgeni Water has committed a budget for all UWYP programmes that add value to the young professionals, the organisation and the community. The 2014_15 calendar included the official launch, Nongoma Career Day and 2015 Youth Day Skills Workshop.
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Figure 1: Umgeni Water Young Professionals portfolios and their responsibilities
The proposed activities for the 2015/2016 calendar includes joint technical tour to a large water infrastructure project with young professionals from Rand Water and Bloem Water, Young Women in Leadership Workshop, active participation at the 2015 National YWP conference and two career days, applications and bursary information sessions for rural schools.
The formal launch of the forum was well attended by board members, all members of the executive team, senior managers and young professionals. The presence of the board and executive indicated their commitment and support to of the development of young professionals in the organisation. Under the banner of social responsibility, the young professionals participated in the Science Imbizo by the Department of Science and Technology in uLundi. Her Excellence Minister Pandor personally thanked UWYP for their participation in the event. The highlight for the forum has been the Career Day organised by the young professional for 7 rural schools in Nongoma. The event attracted approximately 700 learners. Over 250 learners were assisted with application to tertiary institutions. UWYP is in the process of identifying rural disadvantaged schools within Umgeni Water’s operational area that will benefit from the scheduled career days. The young professionals are currently drafting Umgeni Water’s marketing strategy.
The future is very bright and the young professionals are committed to ensuring the future is bright.
Short Biography
Mr Bongani Dladla (25) is the Convener of Umgeni Water Young Professionals. He joined Umgeni Water as a bursary student. He currently works at Umgeni Water as a Civil Engineer, where he is responsible for dam safety, design and construction of bulk water infrastructure for rural areas. In 2011, he graduated top of his class with a BScEng (Civil Engineering) Cum Laude at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He recently completed a Management Development Programme at the same institution and currently working on MScEng in Civil Engineering. He is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper and the Incoming Curator for the Durban Hub.
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Water Utility Benchmarking System
Cyril Gamede, Manu Pillay and Njabulo Ngema ([email protected])
The Authors acknowledge the significant contribution made by Umgeni Water ICT team, who developed the software solution, including: Radesh Padayachee, Robyn Hoole, Gawen Sueltz, Roy Beni, Bradley Sampson and Jenny Lawrence In April 2014, Umgeni Water identified an information gap and deliberated that this could be sustainably filled by developing a water utility benchmarking system. This issue came to light specifically during the water tariff consultation and parliamentary approval processes which were somewhat inefficient owing to certain comparative data and information not being easily accessible. Umgeni Water identified that a tariff benchmarking system will increase the depth and breadth of information available and provides transparent information that will assist customers, shareholder and regulatory bodies, in this instance, to fairly assess the appropriateness of proposed water tariffs. In addition to tariff information, the system will be scalable, lending itself to a wide range of parameters that are needed and used for strategic decision-making purposes. As this will benefit not just Umgeni Water but all water utilities and sector stakeholders alike, this was viewed as a great opportunity to extend this to all water utilities, under the banner of SAAWU. Municipalities have recently launched a Municipal Benchmarking initiative (MuniBench) – under the wing of SALGA, which serves as a unifying and inspiring initiative to improve municipality performance. This further highlighted a value-chain gap, presenting an opportunity for developing the SAAWU Water Utility Benchmarking programme. The system was piloted, developed and rolled out as a programme within a twelve (12) month period. The system was fast-track through an appropriately resourced and cohesive team, backed by SAAWU, all water utilities and sector leadership. The system is web-based and can be used by other water utilities and stakeholders, whenever needed and wherever they are. The value of the system for key decision-makers is demonstrated using examples of tariff, production costs and non-revenue water data and information. The Water Utility Benchmarking System has been presented to key stakeholders including: SAAWU, comprising all water utility members, SALGA, representing municipalities, DWS, representing the executive authority and oversight provider / regulator, and the Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation, representing the water sector oversight / regulatory body. Overall, wide-spread positive response was received from stakeholders engaged. All stakeholders will continue to be engaged regarding further development of the system. Going forward, more effort is needed to firmly embed the system as a core programme of SAAWU. In addition, more effort is needed to communicate the information the system offers to the Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation. This will ensure more efficient and effective tariff discussions, enabling the sector to better converge on sustainable value chain tariffs.
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A partnership has been forged with SALGA and in the near future specific harmonies will be sought between the Water Utility Benchmarking System and the Municipal Benchmarking System to help with step-changes needed to improve service delivery. Parameter development will continue into the future, with at least four new parameters added each year. The system will be further developed as one of the key planning tools / information systems available to Regional Water Utilities to serve the region in an integrated manner.
Brief biography for Njabulo Ngema
Njabulo Holds a B Sc (Honours) Zoology; B Sc Environmental Management (both University of Zululand). Balanced Scorecard Professional (Balanced Scorecard Institute)
As a Strategy and Special Projects Officer at Umgeni Water, Njabulo’s provides technical and process support to the Umgeni Water Group on strategy review, planning, and organizational performance management activities.
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The Importance of Planning When Expanding a Pipeline Network
Steve Gillham ([email protected])
There is an on-going requirement for water authorities to continuously keep expanding their pipeline networks in order to either provide water to previously unserved communities so as to improve service delivery, or to new adjacent areas as existing developments expand. In many instances these pipeline expansion projects are undertaken in an ad hoc manner with no, or poor and inadequate planning undertaken at the onset. The focus of this paper is to discuss the importance of the planning phase when embarking upon a pipeline expansion project, and to highlight, based on the author’s experience, a few of the associated key related aspects often neglected by authorities in South Africa in their haste to extend water services. Whilst a pipeline expansion project may function correctly at commissioning and meet its immediate objectives, any lack of planning soon becomes evident thereafter when the network is unable to sustain the supply at an acceptable quantity and/or quality, and the authority faces difficulties in extending the network further. Challenges that then need to be overcome include insufficient water resources to meet the increased demand; inadequately sized supply infrastructure; insufficient treatment and storage capacity; and the inability to maintain acceptable water quality throughout the network. The result is a sub-optimal development which is inefficient and ineffective in a regional context. Corrective actions are then usually very costly and are associated with extensive delays in improving service delivery.
Short Biography – Steve Gillham
Steve Gillham is a registered professional engineer, and has a BSc degree (Civil Engineering) and a B.Com degree. He currently holds the position of General Manager: Engineering & Scientific Services at Umgeni Water. His entire career has been spent in the water sector in South Africa, and is a well-known and respected authority on water matters in KwaZulu-Natal particularly relating to infrastructure planning and development. He was, initially employed by the Department of Water Affairs and then moved to Umgeni Water.
Over this period he has accumulated a wide spectrum of experience and knowledge in water disciplines ranging from catchment management and groundwater resources to water supply and water resource infrastructure development.
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Umgeni Water’s capacity to deliver large scale bulk water delivery projects. Case Study- Lower
Tugela Water Treatment System
K Govender, M A Killick, R Moffat
Abstract
Umgeni Water is implementing the Lower Thukela Bulk Water Supply Scheme (LTBWSS) to supply 110 Mℓ/d by 2020 in two phases of 55 Mℓ/d, to a number of towns along the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast in South Africa. These range from Mandini Local Municipality to the north and KwaDukuza Local Municipality to the south as far as Ballito. The scheme consist of an abstraction works and low-lift pump station located on the left bank of the Lower Thukela River, a desilting works, a water treatment works, and a high-lift pump station linked to bulk supply pipelines with associated water storage reservoirs. Construction of the water treatment works commenced towards the end of 2013 and is programmed to be completed in early 2016.
Design Considerations The entire treatment works was designed with an “operator centric” layout. The plant was configured so that the operators have direct sight of the core operation areas from the administration and rest areas. Additionally, the routes that operators take during their daily tasks were optimised, and barriers such as stairs and wet, hazardous chemical areas were eliminated as far as possible.
The tight timelines for completion of the project meant that the equipping of the abstraction works and the water treatment works proceeded simultaneously with the two associated civil construction contracts. Carefully programmed schedules were included in the contracts, setting out the sequence of the Works for each contract, when each principle component must be ready for installation of equipment, definition of what ready for installation means, the duration allowed for such, and similar requirements for commissioning.
The construction of the weir in the Lower Thukela River was critical to the programme. Flow in the river is seasonal, with most high flow events occurring in the wet summer months. Construction within the river could only take place in the drier five month winter period. The road giving access to the abstraction works on the southern bank of the river needed to be completed by May to ensure that the Contractor had access to the site in time to fully utilize the winter period for the weir construction.
During the application process with Eskom for the permanent supply to the LTBWSS, it became apparent that a client build of the necessary power supply infrastructure (substation, transformers, etc.) would be required, in order to expedite the connection to the Eskom power grid.
Challenges and Lessons Learnt
Funding and Procurement The project was jointly funded by Umgeni Water and the Department of Water Affairs through their Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG). A joint decision was made to fast-track the implementation of the project, but the funds from RBIG were only available after the project needed to start. This meant that Umgeni Water began the project at risk, and also had to provide bridging finance in order to pay the contractors until the funds were released.
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One of the biggest challenges faced was getting the tenders through the Bid Committees, bearing in mind their responsibility of evaluating and awarding all other Umgeni Water tenders. With support from management and the cooperation from the Bid Committees, the LTBWSS tenders were given priority and fast tracked through the process. Lesson: Keep all your stakeholders well informed of progress and deadlines to gain their support.
Upon the award of the first Contract, an appeal was received from one of the unsuccessful tenderers. The appeal was dismissed after about a month’s delay on the strength of Umgeni Water’s adherence its systems and procedures. Lesson: It is important to have good strong policies and procedures. Thorough documentation will assist you to overcome legal challenges.
Having appointed the design engineers and awarded Contract C for the Gravity Main, the budget remaining from Umgeni Water’s R600m contribution was down to R350m. At this point in time, the letter of commitment from the Department of Water Affairs had still not been received. A combined tender for the WTW, Abstraction Works and Weir had already been out to tender and awaiting award at a value in excess of R500m. Due to the lack of funds available to make the award, the tender had to be cancelled and split into two separate tenders. This led to delays and an increased cost from the two new tenders. Lesson: One of the downsides of fast-tracking. You sometimes have to take risks to achieve your goals.
Project Implementation
The critical success factors for timeously and successfully implementing a megaproject of this nature are as follows:
� A capable and knowledgeable client with an experienced project manager and strong technical and financial support team
� A well planned, designed, specified and detailed scope of works. This was undertaken by Aurecon.
� Competent, skilled and experienced contractors. The main contractors involved in this project are Group 5, Steff Stocks, Veolia Water (Mechanical and Electrical), and Esorfranki.
� A dedicated contract administration and construction monitoring team. This is being done by Bigen Africa and Madan Singh and Associates.
� Good and effective communication and firm but healthy project team relationships. Clear lines of communication were established between the contractor, construction monitoring team, the designers and the client. All parties are solution oriented and focussed on getting the job done. All parties treat each other with respect. The project is regarded as a team effort, and each party is a critical link and has a significant role to play towards the successful completion of the project.
Implementation Challenges
Environmental and land aspects were addressed as far as possible during the planning and design phase. Inevitably, issues still arose during implementation, which lead to costly delays. Initial environmental search and rescue efforts delayed the commencement of construction by more than a month, at a cost of R50 million. Access delays on the 29 km gravity main added a year to the construction period, along with a huge cost to complete the works successfully. Umgeni Water
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appointed two different Consultants to undertake the engineering design (Aurecon) and the construction administration and monitoring (Bigen / MSA). Since the latter was engaged only after some contractors had already been appointed and construction works had commenced, this meant a steep learning curve for the Construction monitoring team. Complications were introduced by this arrangement, since the two engineering teams had to interact, and FIDIC design review difficulties were encountered since the design Engineer was not administering the contract Since the programme was so critical and severe penalties would be applied to the contractors, should they not meet their deadlines, it was a huge challenge to get the contractors to accommodate each other and work together.
PMP, B. Tech. Eng(Civil), MPMI, MPMSA Krish Govender is a registered Project Management Professional (PMP) and also has a Bachelor of Technology Degree in Civil Engineering, specialising in Water and Wastewater. He has over 20 years’ experience in Project Management of multi-disciplinary water and building related projects. He is currently Umgeni Water’s Project Manager on the Lower Thukela Bulk Water Supply Scheme.
PrEng, MBA, BEng Civil Mike Killick has 27 years of experience in the design, supervision of construction, planning, project management and financial analysis of bulk water supply and water resource infrastructure. Mike has been involved with integrated water resource management and related project co-ordination and management of a wide range of water resource related studies. Mike is currently the Aurecon Project Director on the Lower Thukela Bulk Water Supply Scheme.
PrEng, B. Eng (Hons) Civil Robert Moffat is a registered Professional Engineer with over 20 years’ experience in planning, design and implementation of large rural and bulk water supply projects. Although he has experience in various fields within the Civil Engineering Discipline, such as Engineering services, structural and pavement designs he specialises in bulk water supply and pumping systems. He is currently Bigen Africa’s Project Director on the Construction Administration and Construction Monitoring of the L T B W S S.
SUHAYL RAWHANI Suhayl Rawhani is serving as Manager: Project Office at Umgeni Water. He
obtained his Bsc (Agirc Eng) in 1981 from the University of Cranfield, UK and
completed MSC Eng (Civil) at Wits in 1993. He has over 30 years of experience in
the design, implementation and project management of water engineering and
information systems. He is a certified PMP and has been a member of several
professional organisations including WISA.
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Understanding Drivers and Developing Solutions to Address Deteriorating Water Quality In The Upper Umgeni Catchment
GPW Jewitt12, CJ Hughes1, S Matta1 J Namugize1, H Ndlovu1, S Ncgobo1, S Ngubane1, N Nswirba1, N Zwezwe1
1Centre for Water Resources Research, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg
2Umgeni Water Chair of Water Resources Management
Abstract
The Umgeni catchment (4 349 km2) in South Africa is one of the world’s fastest growing urbanisation centres. Providing water and sanitation for the rapidly expanding residential population and sustaining agricultural and industrial production in the catchment is crucial, typifying the challenges facing many developing regions. These catchments are stressed by high demands for water for competing uses, rapid uncoordinated development, high levels of pollution and deteriorating water quality. Many of the residences are semi-rural or peri-urban and so require different approaches to those used in most major cities. The Umgeni River and its catchment is now the focus of an innovative water resources management programme which is aims to retain and restore its “ecological infrastructure” - naturally functioning ecosystems that produce and deliver valuable services to people, such as good quality water, flow regulation, soil formation and disaster risk reduction.
Thus, several research projects, which aim to provide a deeper understanding of water quality deterioration within the Umgeni catchment, and as such, the water-related ecosystem services, which sustain water quality and quantity, have been initiated under the Umgeni Ecological Infrastructure Partnership (UEIP). Through these, researchers have developed new techniques for the mapping of critical areas of the catchment, such as wetlands, riparian areas, and areas of natural vegetation which still provide critical services to downstream users (Figure 1), as well as degraded areas that have the ability to provide these services if they are rehabilitated. Assessing the economic costs and benefits associated with protection and rehabilitation of ecological infrastructure will provide evidence-based guidance to water resources managers to decide on how and where to restore ecological infrastructure in the catchment.
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Figure 1: Dry Season base flow in m3 per hectare per day from the Upper Umgeni catchment from Natural Vegetation (50th Percentile)
Recognizing the limitations of narrow “monitor and evaluate” approaches, the researchers are also unlocking the potential for successful community-based water quality monitoring and capacity building, as well investigating the efficacy of existing monitoring programmes and techniques. Citizen science, defined as the partnerships between scientists and non-scientists where data are collected, shared and analysed, encourages citizen engagement for improved water governance. Improved water governance does not substitute technical rehabilitation of ecological infrastructure, but will rather compliment any rehabilitation initiatives to better ensure future water resource quality and quantity in the catchment. Results to date highlight a major decline in monitoring (Figure 2) and the difficulties in assessing pollution loads to the Umgeni impoundments since 2000 (Figure 3), as well as the value of citizen science in filling this gap.
Figure 2: Total number of samples analysed per year at Lions River (U2H011)
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Figure 3: Relative contributions for SRP load from Umgeni and Lions Rivers and Mthinzima Stream.
Prof Graham Jewitt (University of KwaZulu-Natal)
Prof Graham Jewitt holds the Umgeni Water Chair of Water Resources Management.. He has undergraduate and MSc Degrees from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and a PhD from the University of Stellenbosch. He is on the editorial boards of the journals WaterSA and Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS. He is rated “B – internationally recognised” through the South African NRF Rating system.
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Operational Resiliency: What Makes Operations Successful?
Monica Malunga, Sunil Maharaj, Karessa Pillay, Kimon Padayachee
The mandate of the Operations division of Umgeni Water (UW) is the supply of sustainable and reliable bulk water and sanitation services in partnership with Water Services Authorities (WSA’s), for the ultimate benefit of the communities. To this end we realize the importance of providing excellent customer service, operating as a successful commercial business enterprise, balancing water coverage with sustainable cost recovery, managing UW resources and the environment in a sustainable manner, and maintaining the trust and respect of the communities/partners. Operations positions themselves, plan, structure, mobilise resources, source, specify, operate and maintain our infrastructure, abstract, treat, sell, distribute, monitor, conserve and re-use water, to deliver quality, effective, affordable water services to our stakeholders, which will deliver on organisational objectives. As part of its water supply function and mandate, Umgeni Water abstracts raw water, from dams, river and borehole sources and transports this untreated water, using both gravity and the most effective pumping options to bulk water treatment works, treated to meet SANS 241:2011 quality standards and distributed to customers. Equally, as part of its wastewater supply function, Umgeni Water receives influent from municipal sewer systems, treats this at bulk wastewater treatment works and constantly strives to improve the quality of effluent discharged back into receiving systems. The operational business processes involved in achieving these objectives include the following elements: systems operation; asset management; systems planning; measuring, billing and collection; relationship management; and support systems. A main factor contributing to the success of the division is our people. Extensive training, encouraging leadership and managing performance is a key focus. Operations pride itself on its potable water quality and treatment works are incentivised to achieve 100% compliance. Staff are recognised in various forms; an example is quality compliance awards ceremonies where staff receive various rewards. Another factor is the implementation of effective inter-departmental communication and co-operation. One key strategic activity is the comprehensive performance evaluations (CPE’s) performed annually for each treatment plant. Operations ensure that all process related findings emanated are attended to timeously. The findings are added to future planning initiatives and responsibilities divided within the division. In terms of quality management systems, Operations is ISO 9001: 2000 certified. UW is constantly under pressure to reduce costs. We have targeted four major cost drivers to focus on for improvement: chemical; energy; maintenance and; staff costs. These costs are closely monitored. Of vital importance is the quick response time when encountering water supply interruptions and final water quality failures. Strict Incident Management Protocols (IMP’s) are in place that is followed in this event. All operations staff are trained in the implementation of IMP’s, which are prominently displayed at all sites. A well-established system for preventative and reactive maintenance of equipment exist that ensures assets are well maintained. Asset Management at UW has evolved from a very basic management philosophy to one of total asset management philosophy. Our asset management performance is measured on the following broad categories: capacity; reliability; responsiveness; quality and legislative requirements. The asset management strategy focuses on condition assessments of the various components of key strategic and
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critical infrastructure to its various sub-components i.e. civil, mechanical, electrical, instrumentation and control. Our system is in the process of achieving its PAS 55 certification. We are constantly striving to reduce our energy usage. Some implementations to this effect include, the installation of occupancy sensors, solar heating, energy saving lamps replacement, motor replacements with energy efficient types, use of variable speed drives to improve pump efficiencies, wash water recycling if possible, online water balancing, and power factor correction. The Division understands that partnerships with stakeholders and communities are the key to achieving its vision. Continuous engagement with customers takes place periodically. Meetings at an operational level take place monthly to discuss and report on performance in agreement with Bulk Supply Agreements (BSA’S). At an executive level, meetings are scheduled quarterly, targeting strategic issues. One of the challenges faced by Operations in achieving its goals is operation of its treatment plants functioning above their capacity. The risk here is mitigated due to the staff competency and ability to respond timeously. Internal cross functional teams and/ or support services are also assembled on a needs basis to address this. The current problem of load shedding is being mitigated by the installation of generators at critical nodes of supply. Vandalism and theft of UW infrastructure is also a major challenge experienced. To deal with this, additional security and the installation of intruder alarms has been implemented. As a mitigation, operations also continuously reviews the materials of construction used for high risk infrastructure, an example is using Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) instead of steel. Operations consist of people from various educational backgrounds, disciplines and levels of experience. The identification and coordination of regular operator and legal related training courses are facilitated to maintain this and an efficient and tested training program also exists for all new staff placements. Internal appointments at higher level are first filled internally, amongst existing staff that are already knowledgeable and experienced in their designated field. A total of 440 million m3 of potable water per annum are currently supplied to customers. In the past year there were no unplanned supply interruptions that exceeded 24 hours as per service level agreement. This is achieved through performance driven individuals, who are cognisant of the importance of role they play and the end product delivered. They are determined when they deem something necessary for achieving good service delivery and are passionate about ensuring continuous supply of excellent quality potable water. They are aware that running smoothly is required 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and are well prepared to respond in emergency situations.
BSc. Chemistry (UKZN); B.Tech Management (DUT).
Ms Monica Malunga has over 10 years of experience in Umgeni Water at management and senior management level and is currently the Regional Manager in the Ulwandle Operations division since 2012. She is also a Trustee of the Umgeni Water Provident Fund, Chairperson of Imbewu Capital Partners Development Trust since 2005. Monica was a previous Board member of the Black Management Forum (BMF)
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Umgeni Water’s Innovative Approach to Package Water Treatment Plants for Rural Applications
Boyers, B., Thompson, P., Myers, R., Maharaj, L., Nyawose, J. ([email protected])
The design, construction and operation of the Umgeni Water mobile water treatment plant at the Mhlabatshane Bulk Water Supply Scheme (BWSS) was a flagship project for the organisation, with a vision of developing a ‘plug and play’ system that could easily be moved to critical supply areas experiencing potable water shortages. This paper highlights the pros’ and cons’ of package plants for stop-gap use, based on a case study conducted at the Mhlabatshane BWSS from February 2014 to October 2014. The key areas of discussion include previous perceptions and problems associated with package plants, innovative design considerations, integration with the main treatment works, the level of automation, the final water quality and an overview of the construction and direct operating costs. Package plants were negatively perceived by Umgeni Water for many years, since previous plants experienced major operational and maintenance problems which affected the final water quality and quantity. These costly investments were normally operated for a short period of time and then placed off-line. Poor flocculation was one of the main process related problems encountered and this resulted in poor clarification, the over-loading of filters and therefore resulted in poor final water quality. Mechanical, electrical and instrumentation (ME&I) failures were challenging, as spares were not always readily available and the in-compatibility of equipment, such as the PLC, made it difficult for the experienced maintenance staff to provide quick solutions. Queries were normally referred back to the contractors or suppliers and this led to significant delays and operational down-time. The innovative approach for the new mobile treatment plant was mainly on the advancement of the flocculation tank technology in order to ensure that adequate residence time was included in the process prior to clarification. The tank was built with four compartments with one rapid mixing and three slow mixing zones. Mechanical mixers were installed and operated on variable speed drives which improved the flexibility of adjusting mixing energies to accommodate for the choice of coagulant. This has proven to be very successful as the process is now capable of treating river, dam or borehole water sources and it can handle large variations in raw water quality. A clarifier by-pass valve was also included to accommodate direct-filtration depending on the raw water source or seasonal changes. All ME&I equipment were selected from Umgeni Water’s preferred or standardised lists so that there was an availability of spares within the organisation or within the specific operational areas, to enable maintenance staff to effectively service the plant and provide quick turnaround times. All major equipment that were either mounted on concrete slabs or containerised, had flanged connections to allow for easy installation and removal of piping. Electrical connections followed a similar philosophy in order to achieve the main design principle of the plant being mobile. The filtration feed pumps, backwash pumps and blowers were installed in two open-sided 6m containers to allow for the ease of maintenance. In addition, other design improvements included energy efficiency, the ease of plant optimisation, and the speed of deployment. The package plants conventional process design is such that it can be easily integrated into an existing treatment works that may be experiencing quality issues, i.e. due to operating above its design capacity, or it can operate as a stand-alone system. Existing plant utilities such as lime and chlorine dosing systems, process water, sludge disposal and backwash recovery systems can be shared between both the package and main plants and the PLC was standardised to ensure compatibility. The plant is fully automated with actuated control valves, flow proportional dosing, a streaming current detector (SCD) to control the polyelectrolyte dosage, automated clarifier desludging and filter backwashing. All of these displays are visible on a SCADA computer which was installed in a lockable container with the MCC panel. All equipment had a duty-standby arrangement.
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The water quality during the seven months of operation, while the main treatment works was being constructed, has been excellent. The average final water turbidity was below 0.3 NTU, with no microbiological failures. A water quality monitoring programme was initiated during that period and Sampling Officers visited the site on a weekly basis. The routine samples were compliant with SANS 241:2011 and the Umgeni Water internal control limits.
Typical construction costs included, the excavation and levelling of the site to accommodate for the total package plant footprint of approximately 200m2, the design and construction of the concrete slabs for the flocculation tank, two clarifiers and three pressure filters to hold the full weight of the structures inclusive of its water volume, the transport and placement of the major process units on the concrete slabs, storage tanks for raw, backwash and final water, and the tie-ins to the raw water intake chamber and the final water distribution reservoirs. This was about 30% (R3 million) of the total capital cost of the project. The total operating costs (direct and indirect) for the Mhlabatshane package plant was R25.44 per kl for the seven months duration. The indirect costs also included the asset impairment costs. The high total cost was mainly due to the plant being operated at only 25% of its design capacity for majority of the time and for only 8 hours per day to meet the potable water demand. It must be noted that this system is unique as it does not have a dedicated Eskom supply and thus it relies on three diesel generators which operate the dam pump-station, booster pump-station and package plant respectively. The direct operating costs for this period was R10.18 per kl and this would have dropped to R2.51 per kl if the package plant was running at its design capacity for the same daily hours of operation. Although, at a minimum, one Operator and Shift Attendant are required per shift, it is evident from the high operating costs that these plants are not intended to serve the long-term needs of an area. If the intention is to install such a plant to address the design capacity or quality issues of an existing waterworks, detailed technical discussions are required to ensure that it is effectively integrated as part of the existing works to avoid simply doubling the daily work volume of Operators, such that additional resources are required for it to become a sustainable option.
Overall, Umgeni Water’s vision was for its new mobile treatment plant to provide a short term (stop-gap) sustainable solution for critical areas of supply. The adopted design philosophy ensured that the plant was compact and mobile so that it can be easily de-commissioned, dismantled and moved to a new site with four to six weeks if the required raw water, concrete slabs and reticulation at the new site are already in place.
The mobile water treatment plant won the SAIWA (industrial division of WISA) award for "Outstanding contribution in Industrial Water Technology” at the WISA 2014 Biennial Conference and Exhibition held in Nelspruit on 27th May 2014. This accolade was a positive affirmation of package plant technology and its innovative approach to supply high quality potable water to rural communities or critical supply areas in order to service the needs of Umgeni Water’s customers.
Acknowledgements:
Umgeni Water’s CE, GM: E&SS, Operations,Asset Management and Process Services staff; Consulting Engineer, Bosch Stemele; Contractors, WPCP, Sowa Projects and VinPower
Brief Biography: Dr Lakesh Maharaj
Lakesh, Senior Process Engineer in the Process Services Department holds a PhD in
chemical engineering. He is currently involved with process design, process
optimization and trouble-shooting and training of junior engineers. He is also an
honorary research fellow at UKZN involved with water research.
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Youth Skills Development and Training
By M. Malishe and P. Maduray
[email protected]; [email protected]
The post-apartheid state ushered in a period of wide-scale reform of public policies, amongst which were reforms to the country’s education and training systems. One of the strategies developed by the government was the National Skills Development Strategy III. This strategy seeks to encourage and actively support the integration of workplace training with theoretical learning. Some of the challenges that this strategy responds to are:
I. The inadequate skill levels and poor work readiness of many young people leaving formal secondary and tertiary education and entering the labour market for the first time.
II. Continuing skills shortages in the artisanal, technical and professional fields that are fundamental to the development and growth of our economy.
III. Systemic blockages such as a lack of synergy between the various post-school sub-systems (e.g. universities, FET colleges, SETAs); a lack of clarity in relation to the role expected of the various parts of the skills development system; inefficiency and waste; and the silo mentality which prevents the partnerships and alignments needed to improve effectiveness.
IV. The absence of coherent strategies within economic and industrial sectors, compounded by the lack of systematic skills development to support and sustain growth and development.
Umgeni Water’s Efforts to Reduce the Skills Shortage
The shortage of skills is affecting every sector in the country and therefore requires innovative ways to minimize its impact. The main challenge experienced by the organisation is the problem of skills gap, with many incumbents fresh from institutions of higher learning coming into the mainstream without the requisite experience, e.g. operator or artisan experience. The combined skills of the more experienced staff cannot be replicated overnight and hence there is a need to retain them, whilst fast-tracking the training of the new incumbents.
Umgeni Water (UW) supports government initiatives of increasing access to training and skills development opportunities particularly for young people, through Strategic Objective 9 of the Business Plan: Increase skills and competency. Skills training and development is effectively implemented through the following avenues (Figure 1), amongst others:
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Figure 1: Umgeni Water Trainees
In 2010 Umgeni Water implemented a Learnership programme for 37 unemployed youth in the Electrical, Mechanical and Instrumentation fields. Umgeni Water offers bursaries to thirteen students in each financial year for tertiary enrolment in the fields of Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Financial Accounting. Each year an average of three students complete their studies and are absorbed as Graduate Trainees by Umgeni Water. Fifteen University graduates are enrolled in engineering, science and other required professional fields in the organisation. Umgeni Water’s graduate trainee programme is a two-year mentorship programme aligned to guidelines provided by professional registration bodies. Twenty students from local Universities of Technology are offered In-Service and Graduate training in the fields of Analytical Chemistry, Microbiology, Biotechnology (Laboratories), Water Quality and Environment, Chemical Engineering (Waterworks), Electrical, Instrumentation & Mechanical Engineering (Workshops). UW also offers workplace experience opportunities to young interns for 1 year, providing training in Legal service, Human Resources, Finance, Safety and health and administration. There is currently a shortage of qualified engineers and technically skilled people at municipalities in KZN. To address this shortage, the National Treasury has placed 44 University and University of Technology graduates at Umgeni Water to receive training and the expertise required to become competent and successful higher-level employees.
Presantha Maduray, 28 years old holds a Bsc Chem Eng from UKZN Employed at Umgeni Water since 2011, started through the Graduate Programme .Currently employed as Process Technologist at Umgeni Water within the Process Services. Completed the Emerging Manager’s Programme at UKZN in 2014 with distinction
Mzwandile Malishe holds a B Tech and a B Com (Honours) degrees specialising in human resources management. He has over 15 years experience in human resources especially training and development. He is currently a Talent and Organizational Development Manager since 2008 in the Corporate Services Division of Umgeni Water
7%
25%
8%
7% 14%
10%
29%
Umgeni Water Trainees
Bursary Students
Ar`san Trainees
Appren`ces
Interns
UW In-‐services Trainees
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A Concept Plan to Supply Bulk Water in Kwazulu-Natal
Kevin Meier ([email protected])
South Africa is exposed to many of the pressures of a developing country, notably the provision of access to basic services such as a sustainable source of drinking water. In 1990 it was estimated that around 15 million people were without a safe water supply. Recently there have been numerous, and often contradictory reports that attempt to quantify the extent of the countries, backlog to drinking water. These backlog numbers are often used as a basis to determine and justify the infrastructure programmes required to reduce the backlogs, as part of the countries water supply planning process. These reports usually emanate from water utilities (such as Umgeni Water) that develop bulk Infrastructure Master Plans (IMPs), Water Service Authorities (WSAs) that develop Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) and Water Services Development Plans (WSDPs). In addition to these water supply plans, there are currently several supporting programmes including the Department of Water and Sanitation’s (DWS) Total Water Services Business Master Planning process, the All Towns / Reconciliation Studies, the Prioritisation of Water Services to 23 District Municipalities, the Interim/Intermediate Water Supply Programme (IIWSP), Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG), and the Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) Universal Access Plan (UAP). It is widely recognised that the water supply planning process, to date, has not entirely fulfilled the water planning requirements of the country as was originally envisaged. Realising that many of these initiatives have a common vision and agenda, Umgeni Water, as an agent of both COGTA and the DWS recently undertook a water access planning programme for the province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). The main objective of this project was to co-ordinate the development of an “all-inclusive” conceptual water supply plan for KZN. The plan includes:
� The development of continuous water supply footprint areas showing demographics, current and required levels of water service, and importantly any gaps in water service delivery to the 1.8m households in KZN.
� The provision of conceptual plans of regional or stand-alone schemes to supply water, � In areas where regional schemes aren’t viable or where an interim water supply is needed to
meet intermediate deadlines, a local scheme is recommended, and � An indication of costing and implementation timing to address water backlogs.
To provide a basis of all water planning studies to date, a status quo assessment was done of all existing studies and reports relating to water supply. This included the all town studies (by DWS), all municipal WSDPs, IDPs, Infrastructure Grant Projects, various Geographic databases, and field verification with the Municipalities themselves.
Spatial datasets including Eskom’s building count data (2011), the DWS Level of Service data, Census 2011 (Stats SA) and orthophoto imagery were used to delineate continuous Water Supply Footprint Areas showing current and required levels of water service. These footprints were verified where possible with the relevant Municipal officials during site visits. The footprint data has been used as a central repository for all relevant data including future water demands.
Existing and planned water supply schemes were identified initially from the status quo assessment, and then verified where possible with the relevant Municipal officials. To address the short term water backlogs, local and regional supply schemes (at a conceptual level) have been proposed and costed to achieve Universal Access to water for all 10 Municipalities. There are some 300 000 (of 1.8m) households without adequate access to potable water in KZN. The study found that to achieve Universal Access would require some 1400 schemes at a cost of ca. R20.7 billion. These schemes
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range from schemes with small water treatment plants to bulk lines, reservoirs to reticulation and stand pipe connections to boreholes with tanks and hand-pumps.
Various pre-existing Infrastructure Grant projects were generally not considered when proposing conceptual alternate schemes to eradicate current backlogs. Consequently, there could be overlapping of the proposed conceptual schemes to the regional bulk schemes and thus overlapping of infrastructure costs.
In addition to reporting and maps, all spatial data have been loaded to a spatial database.
The project has not only enabled COGTA to achieve their interim strategic need to provide Universal Access Plans for water, but has also provided a sound basis for Umgeni Water’s regional water planning. This is especially significant since the utility has been requested to begin operations in other parts of KZN and the Eastern Cape.
Although it would appear that universal access to water is possible, this is fraught with difficulties. Notably, the study is based on small, short term and often unreliable schemes. Consequently, Umgeni Water has commissioned a second phase of this study to identify areas where sustainable regional schemes could be used. Many don't have the means to pay for water, hence making the viability of water supply challenging, especially for longer term operation and maintenance of the schemes. Nonetheless, Umgeni Water is continuing with its quest to provide clean safe water to all people in its area.
Table 1. Summary of UAP water backlogs and proposed schemes (for implementation by 2020) in
KwaZulu-Natal.
Biography: Kevin Meier
Kevin Meier graduated with an MSc in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Natal, South Africa in 1996. Kevin worked in the consulting environment for nine years where he became a professional engineer. He then joined Umgeni Water as a Planning Engineer in 2005 and is now the manager of the Planning Services Department where he heads up a team of engineers and hydrologists. The Planning services Department identifies infrastructure that will be required to meet future water resource and water supply needs for Umgeni Waters operational area.
District Municipality Backlog (households) Backlog (%)# of proposed schemes
Cost (R) MWIG 2014
Harry Gwala 28281 27 103 R 1 160 000 000 R 3 725 626 814Umzinyathi 15097 18 84 R 347 000 000 R 1 778 176 784uThungulu 15281 17 29 R 813 000 000 R 5 947 359 627Umgungundlovu 8512 4 30 R 224 000 000 R 4 073 582 259Ilembe 12047 11 49 R 307 000 000 R 4 251 330 305Amajuba 23914 29 79 R 927 022 088 R 1 057 401 792Zululand 44473 28 589 R 4 797 717 979 R 3 134 658 799Ugu 16540 14 59 R 1 415 983 390 R 5 889 576 950Umkhanyakude 36439 35 134 5763423725 R 4 076 737 351Uthukela 96113 48 232 R 4 968 798 729 R 2 704 212 440Totals 296697 1388 R 20 723 945 911 R 36 638 663 121
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A Tactical Approach to facilitating better Water and Sanitation Management
William Moraka, Director: Water Services
South African Local Government Association (PO Box 2094 Pretoria, Tshwane, RSA, 0001)
E-mail [email protected]
Introduction
Post 1994, our policy choices were premised on accelerating service delivery particularly to the un-served with minimum innovation and partnership with innovators. Further, we under-estimated the scope and the scale of the task at hand. Many of the proclaimed Water Services Authorities particularly District Municipalities – under played the magnitude of the task compared to the Metropolitan Municipalities. Essentially many of these organisations had no institutional predecessor and were deemed new institutions. The population size served by Metros and District municipalities as depicted in the graph below is of significance. Failure to manage water resources delivery services sustainably could have dire consequences. Today majority of South Africans enjoy access to good quality water and decent sanitation as a result of amongst others infrastructure funding (MIG), bulk providers (water boards) Municipalities etc. However there are still major challenges on innovative methods of delivering services at a municipal level.
Figure 1. Relative Size of WSAs in South Africa: STATSSA (superweb) Governance (Institutional Delivery Mechanisms) The success or failure of water services delivery is dependent amongst others on the type of decision making process and information presented to decision makers. Research undertaken by SALGA on the delivery approaches concluded that:
Clear preference for internal over external mechanisms, which are difficult to sustain politically
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High level of divergence between the recommended mechanism and the current mechanism whenever the recommendation was not to provide the services internally
Weak link between the S78 process and water services performance
In some instances good performance has been achieved whether a S78 study was performed
or not
Significant changes to the service delivery mechanism succeeded where these have been supported by strong leadership to ensure sustained political support for the process
Instability, accountability and risk in the district-local interface (WSA and WSP)
These are some of the major issues the sector should reflect upon and chart a way forward Research and Technology Research conducted by various organs of state begins to share some light on innovative methods and approaches to service delivery. Part of this approach is embedded in SALGA’s business unusual method and tactical approach
� Developing a credible technological database (equivalent to trip advisor) for access by municipalities
� Establishing Centers of excellences in major cities in the following disciplines o Scientific Services o Operational Training and Development - Water and Sanitation Simulation o Technology Innovation o Performance driven sector o Strategic Asset Management – with emphasis on Failure Mode Effects and Criticality
Analysis (FMECA)
Funding Instruments Figures put together by National Treasury indicates that the local Government sector has spent in the order of R141b between the 2001 and 2011 censuses. Most of these funds were spent towards the unserved. Essentially spending most of the fund on social infrastructure - on the basis of our policy choices. Going forward the local government infrastructure grant review process championed by National Treasury in collaboration with SALGA, DCOG, FFC and the DPME is seen as a game changer in the infrastructure delivery domain. It seeks to define a better infrastructure delivery approach and most importantly a drive towards funding the right infrastructure for the right purposes with life cycle asset management as the core. Furthermore off the market funding for both raw and potable projects - requires an innovative approach - such could include
Setting aside a % of the total project value for non – revenue water Enablers - levers of change
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Define a common planning horizon and synchronize such
Define an Integrated Infrastructure Delivery Model(s) and funding instruments
Define the water value chain management structures and its parameters Conclusion The global water community is emphasizing the need to explore innovative ways of service delivery and most importantly harnessing technological advances in a quest to better manage water resources. Water Security supplemented by Science and Technology and Managing risk and uncertainty for water infrastructure resilience is vital for future generations. In this regard the following matters should form part of an ongoing debate within the water sector.
A coherent policy and science framework and or debate is require to guide the sector on its ability to delivery and manage water and sanitation sustainability
Creation of Centers of excellences that will serve as anchors of innovative solutions
The Water Sector to set the research and agenda and the delivery mechanisms
Quantify all potential sources of water and define the delivery mode, and management
Upscale innovative solutions
Partnerships are key
Pooling Funding and Integrated Infrastructure Development – to facilitate better coordinated
water resources management and service delivery
William Moraka is a Director in SALGA.
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Building Effective Partnerships between Water Sector Stakeholders and Institutions in order to
achieve the “Developmental Water Management Framework”
Dan Naidoo ([email protected])
Abstract
In reviewing the overall challenges in the water sector, there are three key significant issues that need to be addressed besides the implementation of infrastructure. The first is effective governance and regulations, the second is institutional arrangements and capacity and the third is the effective management of finances, infrastructure and consumers.
While there are many current initiatives by many different stakeholders, to achieve the outcomes of government, the status of service delivery and the associated measures indicate an obvious inefficient approach to the challenges that remain.
The immense challenge, of providing an effective service delivery model to municipalities that is both financially viable and sustainable within the current economic constraints, requires a different approach. This involves relationships between the various stakeholders and role players and how they come together in jointly transforming the water sector to meet the “Development Water Management Framework”.
The National Water Resources Strategy has adopted a position of developmental water management, a framework which directly addresses the linkages between water management and the developmental and transformational goals of government. This approach also requires the consideration of the entire water value chain in terms of how water contributes to achieving equitable, beneficial and sustainable development across the country. The Constitution indisputably mandates developmental water management and requires that the legislation and its implementation actively promotes and gives effect to the rights enshrined in the Bill of Rights.
Therefore, in attempting to provide possible solutions we must not lose sight of dealing with the whole water value chain – from water resource to consumptive and productive use and back to the water resource. In order to meet this requirement which is outlined in various pieces of legislation, that provide guidance, the overriding requirement is that the various tiers of government and institutions of government must “partner” and work together in achieving this mandate.
The objective of this paper, while acknowledging the various known obvious reasons for poor service delivery and the current backlogs in water services provision, will be to review the current approaches by the various spheres of government and government institutions and propose possible options in “working together” and adopting a “partnership approach” to effective water services delivery. The review will encompass the critical assessment of the current constraints and advantages of the various financial models, legislation, strategies, and frameworks being utilised by the various role-players and how these can be jointly adopted/implemented in partnership to ensure that we meet the water service provision mandate, with a key focus being on rural water services provision. The following key challenges in the Water Sector will provide the framework for the discussion:
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Water Services challenges
There are challenges throughout the supply chain but the key challenges that are most prevalent are as follows:
1. Poor functioning of effluent treatment works leading to health risks, contamination of water and pollution of water resources and the environment.
2. Poor service delivery. 3. Water scarcity. 4. Weak water services institutional capacity. 5. Lack of adequate bulk infrastructure. 6. Financial viability of service providers throughout the value chain 7. Viability of retail operations
Biography: Dan Naidoo
Dan Naidoo has a BSc (Hons) Water Utilization Eng degree and post graduate management certifications. He has spent most of his years at Umgeni Water in various management positions in the Operations Division and has a wealth of operations management experience. Over the recent years he has provided strategic support related to technical and administrative functions on behalf of Umgeni Water to KZN COGTA and DWS. He has also managed the RBIG
National Programme for DWS since inception in 2008 to date and has been appointed as Administrator in support of KZN COGTA’s support to municipalities. Dan’s current interest includes Infrastructure Funding Models and Institutional arrangement s for the water sector.
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Drought Management and Planning
Angus Nicoll ([email protected])
The three security characteristics of risk, threat and vulnerability are applicable to water supply. From a planning perspective, water from the Umzinto Supply System is required to be supplied at a 98% level of assurance (i.e. a 1:50 year risk of failure). Drought is not an unexpected event and is considered a natural recurring feature of climate.
Drought events result in less water being available to meet the needs of the unchanged water demands, thereby the need for management interventions. Depending on the community’s vulnerability, and its capacity to manage the potential threats, a drought may become a disaster.
Drought management at Umgeni Water focuses on risk management, which entails planning in advance to minimise drought risk; contrary to crisis management which merely reacts to the current event. In this regard, the following risk management aspects are continuously evaluated by Umgeni Water Planning Services:
� Preparedness: monitoring to determine risk; and drought management plans to limit vulnerability
� Mitigation Responses: actions to be implemented before and during drought event to limit threat
� Emergency Responses: measures to be implemented in case of extreme circumstances, where mitigation responses have not reduced the threats.
Umgeni Water recently implemented the Mpambanyoni River Emergency Scheme to reduce the risk of non-supply from the Umzinto Supply System. This scheme, which transfers raw water from the neighbouring catchment, comprises the following:
� Temporary abstraction at DWS weir U8H003 on the river. � Temporary pump station, two stages pumping from river abstraction to tank and then high
lift pumps (8 Ml/d). � Pipeline (5.1km)
The storage level of EJ Smith Dam was 30.6%, when construction started on the 19 November 2014. Pumping commenced on 20 December 2014 and over the 31 day pumping period EJ Smith Dam storage level increased from 41.3% to 69.7%. Mike Tyson stated: “Everybody has a plan until they get hit...” It’s the ability to trust the process, and absorb any curve balls, which prevents the focus from reverting to crisis management. The drought management plan comprises of triggers to aid decision makers and stakeholders of when decisive action needs to be taken. The first of 3 key insights gained from the drought event within the Umzinto Supply System was the short lead time between triggers, as illustrated in Graph 1.
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Graph 1: Comparison of Timing between Decision Making Trigger Points
The time to implement mitigation measures of water demand management (WDM), reduction in water use and alternative potable water supply was 36, 38 and 65 days respectively. For various reasons, the above interventions had limited success in being fully implemented. Consequently EJ Smith Dam failed, i.e. unable to supply water.
Other key insights include:
� The importance of measurement, leadership in doing the right things � The price of drinking water dilemma, economics alone is not appropriate
The above insights illustrate the contribution of Umgeni Water over and above the role as bulk Water Service Provider; i.e. creating conditions which enable people to be successful during time of crises. Particularly in cash flowing the emergency scheme; despite the reduction in sales associated with the drought mitigation measures.
Recommendations
The following actions will enhance managing future drought events:
� Water network plans and water balance analysis � WDM assistance � Visual representation of triggers and mitigation response successes � Financial facility to provide for mitigation responses
The risk management approach used by Umgeni Water helped minimise the impacts associated with the drought. However, the need for emergency response measures was still necessary in order to prevent the drought from becoming a disaster. Post drought recovery activities need to assess the environment and the economy when reviewing the community’s vulnerability for future events.
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Profile of Angus Nicoll
Angus has a BSc Eng and PGDip in Management from University of Natal.
4 years mining industry, (Coal) responsible for water management, treatment and pollution control
3 years consulting civil engineering, responsible for technical aspects relating to water within the Townships and Structures section
6 years bulk water services industry, responsible for technical aspects relating to water resources and infrastructure planning for the entire Umgeni Water supply area
10 years construction and property development industry, responsible for the associated commercial operations and financial management aspects
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Technical Sustainability and Long term Growth
Sachita Korlam and Lindelani Sibiya ([email protected])
Water utilities and municipalities in South Africa are facing a plethora of challenges, including aging
infrastructure with associated failure, rising costs, increased regulatory requirements, unplanned
developments, poor water demand management, poor sanitation planning, and a shortage of artisans,
scientist and engineers. How does a utility or municipality measure its state of readiness to meet and
mitigate these challenges? It is a well-established fact that what cannot be measured cannot be
managed or controlled.
This paper provides a synopsis of a management framework that Umgeni Water uses to measure and
monitor its performance against these challenges with a specific focus on the technical, which is
based on an internationally accepted tool and framework for managing and measuring its
performance and status of development as a water utility. The framework has 10 key attributes which
can be used to evaluate the utility status and the model is known as the Ten Attributes of Effectively
Managed Water Sector Utilities and is summarised in Figure 1 below.
Figure 2: Ten Attributes of Effectively Managed Water Sector Utilities
Water and waste water management is a highly technical
environment and the availability of appropriately qualified and
trained technical expertise and operational support can make or
break a water utility. The tool describes 10 key attributes for the
effective management of a water utility. The state of development
of a utilities technical backbone can be measured in five of the 10
key attributes.
The five attributes are briefly described below:
� Product Quality
� Operational Optimization
� Infrastructure Stability
� Operational Resiliency
� Water Resource Adequacy
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“Engineering and Scientific Services provide invaluable support to Operations in terms of ensuring sustainable operations are
Product Quality is an indicator of the potable water,
treated effluent and process residuals compliance with
regulatory and reliability requirements and consistent with
customer, public health, and ecological needs.
Operational Optimization ensures on-going, timely, cost-effective, reliable, and sustainable
performance improvements in all facets of operations. It minimizes resource use, loss, and impacts
from day-to-day operations and maintains awareness of information and operational technology
developments to anticipate and support timely adoption of improvements.
Infrastructure Stability is an indicator of how well the utility understands the condition of and costs
associated with critical infrastructure assets. It measures how well the utility maintains and enhances
the condition of all assets over the long-term at the lowest possible life-cycle cost and acceptable risk
consistent with customer, community, and regulator-supported service levels, and consistent with
anticipated growth and system reliability goals. The utility needs to ensure assets are repaired,
rehabilitated, and also that replacement efforts are coordinated within the community to minimize
disruptions and other negative consequences
Operational Resiliency ensures that the utility leadership and staff work together to anticipate and
avoid problems. The utility needs to proactively identify, assess and establish tolerance levels for a
full range of business risks (including legal, regulatory, financial, environmental, safety, security, and
natural disaster-related). It must also ensure that it effectively manages these risks in a proactive way
consistent with industry trends and system reliability goals approaches as part of an overall strategy
to maintain and enhance ecological and community sustainability
Water Resource Adequacy ensures water availability consistent with current and future customer
needs through long-term resource supply and demand analysis, conservation, and public education.
Explicitly considers its role in water availability and manages operations to provide for long-term
aquifer and surface water sustainability and replenishment.
In Umgeni Water, the Operations Division is responsible for Operational Resiliency, including the
operation and maintenance of treatment processes and infrastructure. Going hand-in-hand with this is
the technical support offered to Operations by the Engineering and Scientific Services (E&SS)
division. The division comprises of 280 engineers, scientists and technicians who provide a technical
support of Umgeni Waters’ water and waste water infrastructure.
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The demand for technical support has grown over the last 10 years, driven primarily by the challenges
of escalating demand and treatment costs, deteriorating water quality, aging infrastructure and limited
fresh water resources. New and innovative solutions are therefore needed, and the technical support
provided has been instrumental in enabling Operations achieve process efficiency.
In terms of product quality and to meet statutory requirements for public health protection, almost
1000 sampling points are visited each month, spanning a distance of about 50 000 km, as per the
monitoring programmes developed each year. Samples are analysed daily for compliance with
SANS 241, at four laboratories at Umgeni Water Head Office in Pietermaritzburg by approximately 60
technicians and scientists. The results are used for process monitoring and optimisation,
troubleshooting, pollution control and protection of resource water quality of the catchment, and are
also required for attaining Blue Drop and Green Drop status.
The Process Services department has been part of the organisational structure since the founding of
Umgeni Water in 1974. The Process Evaluation Facility (PEF), offshoot from the Process Services
department, was formed in 1992. At that time, the PEF started off with just two staff. Today, the PEF
consists of over 30 chemical engineers, technologists and technicians, who are responsible for
providing technical support to Operations, which include pilot and laboratory scale investigations and
process audits, which would otherwise need to be outsourced to consultants.
Troubleshooting and problem solving requires that Operations and E&SS work jointly, especially for
ad hoc disputes about water quality failures and water losses. Independence in these investigations is
necessary for ensuring no biasness. These investigations are key to implementing Incident
Management Protocols and the findings and recommendations are critical to ensuring corrective and
preventative actions are implemented. In terms of Operational Resiliency, Umgeni Water ensures
that the utility leadership and staff work together to anticipate and avoid problems. One of the key
instruments it uses to achieve this resiliency is by undertaking Comprehensive Process
Evaluations (CPE’s) and Process Audits of plants. Besides being a regulatory Blue Drop
requirement, these audits are also necessary in ensuring operational sustainability and resiliency.
These provide audits are a proactive way of identifying and managing process risks by an undertaking
an independent professional assessment of the condition and performance of plants and processes.
This is a key aspect of effectively managing risks and system reliability. Umgeni Water also provides
these services to its existing bulk customers and is considered to be part of the tariff.
As indicated above Infrastructure Stability is an indicator of how well the utility understands the
condition of and costs associated with critical infrastructure assets? The increasing demand for
potable water and sanitation services has necessitated the roll-out of large CAPEX projects for plant
upgrades and new plants. This service is provided by a multidisciplinary team of 60 engineers and
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technicians. This service includes preliminary and detailed design of water infrastructure as well as
associated implementation via a project management unit of including feasibility studies, technical
input during design for these projects.
One of the recent highlights in this regard has been the use of in-house expertise in the design for the
upgrade of Hazelmere waterworks in the North Coast. Operating manuals and training sessions were
provided to the Operations personnel, to ease the transition from operating a 45 ML/day plant to
operating the upgraded 75 ML/day plant which uses improved and innovative treatment technology.
Exploring technology advancements as part of Operational Optimisation was recently demonstrated
when GSM technology was used to revolutionise the way disinfection can be managed by Operations
in challenging circumstances. The design of an unmanned disinfection system for rural standalone
schemes is currently being piloted at Ekwazini Maphumulo in Ilembe. This innovative mode of
process monitoring and control resulted in logistically easier and cost effective provision of safe
drinking water to customers.
In terms of Operational Optimisation and minimising resource use, one of the highlights in terms of
chemical selection has been the adoption of polymeric coagulants. Alum was traditionally the
favoured chemical coagulant in water treatment. When polymeric coagulants emerged in the market,
with the well-known operating cost-cutting benefits of producing less sludge requiring treatment and
disposal, Process Services conducted extensive investigations confirming its effectiveness and was
one of the world’s leaders in changing over to these newer products.
Polymeric coagulants are now widely used at most of Umgeni Water’s potable water treatment plants.
Chemical optimisation didn’t end there, since over the years, standard procedures when procuring
chemicals now require that plant trials for evaluating various chemicals are done. Process Services
and the Laboratory work jointly with Operations to verify the products offered by various suppliers by
conducting plant trials. Recommendations are made on the best chemical for each plant, which are
used in the decision making process.
In terms of Water Resource Adequacy, Umgeni Water has a Planning Department, which comprises
of 12 planning engineers who are dedicated to ensuring that there are sufficient water resources for
the next 20-30 years. The services offered to Operations include Water Resources planning, Water
Conservation, Water Demand Management, and Bulk Infrastructure
Infrastructure Master Planning, Bulk infrastructure studies, geo-hydrological and hydrological
investigations.
The world’s fast running out of fossil fuels, and coupled with the electricity supply shortcomings,
renewable energy is an attractive option. A green initiative undertaken by Umgeni Water is the use of
methane rich waste gas from the anaerobic digesters at Darvill WWW to generate electricity. The
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generated electricity will be used at Darvill, to keep key equipment operational during power failures.
E&SS and Operations are working closely with consultants on this project, which apart from
environmental benefits, also improves process reliability by limiting the extent of process interruptions
associated with power disruptions. This mitigates the operational strain of not being able to treat
incoming waste in periods when there is no power, by maintaining critical operating parameters of key
equipment within operating limits.
Brief biography of Lindelani Sibiya
Lindelani Sibiya, a Senior Process Technician in the Process Services Department,
holds a B Tech degree in (Chemical Engineering). Currently studying towards a
BSc honours degree in water and wastewater utilization, Lindelani is providing
valuable technical support for Operations in process optimization, trouble-shooting
and process audits.
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Umgeni Water’s Innovative Approach to Bulk Water Services Pricing
Kajal Singh ([email protected]) and Thami Hlongwa
Only tariffs based on sound economic principles can ensure the efficient use of resources and hence
reduce wastage, promote sustainability of services and continuous improvement. The Strategic Water
sector overview 2013 supports this basis by its conclusion that “To ensure sustainable water services
it is essential to recover costs and to maintain institutional financial viability. Paying for water is vital
and an effective payment mechanism is required to ensure water is used effectively and sparingly.
To this end, suitable tariffs must be set by all relevant water services institutions involved.”
However, tariffs cannot be increased just to compensate for process inefficiencies, poor management
decisions or for generating surplus funds.
The Water Services Act (section 34) provides the principles on which a water board that is financially
viable has to operate. Therefore this definition forms the basic principles on which Water services
pricing should be based to be efficient in satisfying the need (for the proposed tariff increase).
Sustainable pricing is characterised by pricing that is:
(a) affordable
(b) predictable and transparent
(c) equitable and fair to users
(d) Promotes water conservation among users
The objective of this paper is to examine the issues regarding sustainable and efficient bulk water
services provision (the problem statement) and address the issues by capturing the basic principles
that can overcome the shortcomings identified in pricing.
Current Guidelines for Bulk Water Services Pricing
Pricing for the provision of bulk water services is guided by legislation and discussion papers issued
by National Treasury or Department of Water and Sanitation. In terms of the Water services Act
section 31(2), bulk water pricing is provided by water boards and is submitted for Ministerial approval
after a detailed consultation process with its customers, National Treasury and SALGA, Section 42 of
the MFMA (Municipal Financial Management Act 56 of 2003) and National Treasury’s MFMA circular
23, sets out the consultation process that must be followed, as well as, a guideline in terms of the
motivation required from the Water Board for a pricing adjustment. This is documented as follows:
Such submission must be accompanied by:
� a motivation for the proposed amendment;
� an explanation of how the amendment takes account of-
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o government’s inflation targets and other macro-economic policy objectives;
o steps taken by the organ of state to improve its competitiveness or efficiency in order to
reduce costs;
o any objectives or targets as outlined in any corporate or other governance plan applicable
to that organ of state;
� any written comments received from the National Treasury, organised local government or any
municipalities; and
� explanation of how such comments have been taken into account”
Deficiencies in the Current Procedure for Tariff Adjustment
The relevant governments department and structures like National Treasury and SALGA expressed
some reservations in the current tariff adjusting procedure even though it followed legislative
guidelines.
A report for National Treasury by Rolfe Eberhard on 'Administered Prices: Water' highlighted issues
with respect to Bulk water pricing that include the following:
� Bulk tariffs are set inconsistently by Water Boards and with a lack transparency
� There are no incentives to cut costs or improve efficiency.
� Prices for bulk water, provided by other agencies, such as Water Service Authorities are also not
formally regulated. Where WSAs manage their own bulk supplies, costs (and price) are subsumed
in their retail tariffs. Where WSAs provide bulk water to other WSPs, price and other terms are
negotiated between the parties.
SALGA in its assessments of water board tariffs 2016, to some extent, share the same sentiments and
have included as concluding remarks in their report which include the following:
� Information received from the water boards is not presented in a manner that is consistent –
therefore comparison becomes increasingly difficult.
� Projections should be provided for at least 3 years.
� There should be a full breakdown of the key cost drivers and a consistent definition of “cost of
sales, direct costs and overhead costs” should be used by all Water Boards.
In devising the principles of highly effective and sustainable pricing for the provision of Bulk Water
service, cognisance should be taken of the abovementioned comments and the legislative guidelines
provided for pricing of bulk water services provision.
Umgeni Water's Systematic Approach to Bulk Water Services Pricing
The principles of efficient and sustainable pricing of bulk water services provision should be
encapsulated in a financial model which is sensitive to the cashflow impact of inputs. Cashflow is the
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best indicator of liquidity, gearing and solvency and should therefore be the mainstay of efficient and
sustainable pricing.
If an entity is able to understand the cashflow impacts of its business decisions it may be in a more
advantageous position to respond to risks or opportunities.
The Cash Flow Model
Outcomes
The cash flow tariff model will deliver a tariff that is predictable, transparent and affordable rather than
pricing adjustments that cause widespread “shocks” in the economy.
Conclusions
The adoption of a pricing policy that adheres to the principals described above will ultimately lead to a
pricing mechanism that is efficient and sustainable. Furthermore, the efficiency
of pricing for bulk water services provision may enhance the efficiency of retail
tariffs as all water services providers ascribe to a consistent methodology.
Brief biography of Kajal Singh CA (SA): Umgeni Water: Manager: Treasury
Kajal, a Chartered Accountant Is the Manager (Treasury), with 10 years’
experience in a management role at Umgeni Water, specialising in Treasury Management and
financial planning. Her role at Umgeni Water involves the management of UW’s available investments
and funding as well as the determination of the annual tariff increase proposal and the associated
funding strategies to ensure the continued financial viability of Umgeni Water.
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Value Added By Successful Research and Development Projects at Umgeni Water
P Thompson, N Toolsee, R Rajagopaul
Due to challenges with the increasing demand and escalating treatment costs, coupled with
deteriorating water quality and limited fresh water resources, the utilisation of new technology and
processes to improve efficiencies and increase effectiveness within Umgeni Water’s (UW) operations
is considered a key component of moving the organisation forward in its growth phase. A large portion
of the knowledge gained in new technology and processes that will be applicable to the organisation
is through the innovation, research and development (IRD) projects that are undertaken by the
organisation itself and by the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) for the organisation through the
UW/UKZN Chair of Water Resource Management. Evaluation and implementation of new
technologies and processes are driven by organisational strategies and are undertaken to directly
address technical and non-technical challenges of a medium to long-term nature in Umgeni Water to
improve operating efficiencies by reducing chemical and operating costs as well lowering energy
consumption.
Umgeni Water’s Process Evaluation Facility (PEF), established in 1992 to evaluate new technologies
and equipment entering the market, has a dedicated raw water feed coming from Wiggins Water
Works and ten testing bays for evaluation of new technologies on pilot scale prior to full scale
implementation. The facility is unique in that it can also allow for side by side efficiency comparison of
new technologies or treatment process chemicals. The PEF also facilitates training of young staff on
pilot scale equipment and also allows for close collaboration with UKZN by providing many students
with opportunities to complete Masters and PhD’s using Umgeni Water related work at the facility.
The impact of Umgeni Water constantly striving to be a leader in research and development is not
limited to the organisation itself. Umgeni Water plays an active role contributing to research and
development to various Water Research Commission (WRC) projects which helps increase the
country’s water knowledge hub to address challenges related to limited fresh resources. Process
audits for water safety plans that were developed at Umgeni Water became an integral part of the
Blue Drop and Green Drop certification systems. The certification scheme is currently used by
Department of Water Affairs and Sanitation to measure and rate municipalities’ water quality
management and sanitation services.
Umgeni Water has implemented several projects emanating from key research work. There is always
a drive for constant research and development which also ensures that the organisation keeps
abreast of new technologies. Summaries of some of the key research and development projects over
the past five years are highlighted below:
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Membrane Technology Evaluation
An innovative microfiltration filtration technology was investigated in a joint project with the then
university of Natal, Water Research Commission and Umgeni Water resulting in the installation of a
fullscale demonstration of a horizontal cross-flow microfiltration sludge dewatering unit at HD Hill
Waterworks in Pietermaritzburg in 1987. Microfiltration using specially woven fibre polyester material
was further researched for potable water application at the Wiggins Process Evaluation Facility in
1992. On the back of this research a microfiltration system for rural application was designed and
developed by DUT in collaboration with Umgeni Water in 2010.
Umgeni Water has continued to support and engage with DUT in research into ultrafiltration
membrane technology over the past 10 years for both water and wastewater treatment applications.
Following research on the application of membrane technology for wastewater reclamation at Darvill
Wastewater Works in Pietermaritzburg, a full scale 2 Ml/day reclamation plant is being currently
planned for on site water use at Darvill.
Pilot scale evaluations at the PEF which is based on the Wiggins Water Works (WW) site indicated
that UF was a viable option for the treatment of low turbidity waters, which have proved problematic to
treat via conventional means. The pilot studies produced water of excellent quality and lower chlorine
demand. A 10 Ml/day UF plant is to be constructed at the Wiggins WW to further fine tune operation
and maintenance issues full scale level.
Ultrafiltration is also being evaluated against other technologies as a potential pretreatment stage in a
proposed desalination treatment plant at the Lovu river estuary to remove specific organisms capable
of clogging and damaging reverse osmosis membranes used for desalinating seawater.
Disinfection Systems for Small Rural Schemes
Disinfection in small rural water systems is problematic due to a number of factors. Some of these
include poor infrastructure, inadequate process monitoring and control and inaccessibility. This is
generally the situation in the ILembe schemes, where water quality failures especially with respect to
microbiological failures are experienced on a regular basis. A novel disinfectant system especially
designed for small unmanned water treatment systems is currently being piloted at the Ekwazini
borehole system in Maphumulo. The disinfection system will be operated, monitored and used as a
model for new disinfection systems to be installed in the area. The design allows for GSM technology
to be used to alert operators and supervisors via SMS when there are equipment or water quality
failures.
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Umgeni Water’s Mobile Laboratory
One of Umgeni Water’s greatest challenges lies in providing safe drinking water to rural communities,
especially in scattered locations. Water quality process interventions must take place promptly to
ensure that rural communities are not faced with health risks from consuming water. Umgeni Water’s
Mobile Laboratory was a product of innovative thinking and is equipped to conduct onsite water
treatment analysis and tools for process optimization for process water quality emergencies. Test
results can allow for effective process interventions which can reduce health risks posed to rural
communities. The mobile laboratory is a valuable asset that can provide tools for technical support
and undertaking process audits at rural and remote water or wastewater works.
Durban Heights Filter Clogging
Filter air binding is one of the major challenges experienced at the Durban Heights Waterworks (WW).
This phenomenon is caused by super-saturation of the dissolved gases in water and results in
extensive head losses, shorter filter run times, increased backwash frequencies, higher water usage
and greater electricity consumption. Pilot scale evaluations of different designs were conducted to
mitigate air binding. Recommendations of pilot plant evaluations have been used for the motivation for
the main plant filter upgrade and design of the proposed filters.
Research findings from evaluation of new technologies and processes have added significant value to
the Umgeni Water’s operations and therefore research and development will continue to be at the
forefront of the Umgeni Water’s strategy to ensure that organization is capable of successfully
addressing any water and wastewater related challenges in the future.
Biography of Peter Thompson
Peter holds a BSc honours degree in water and wastewater utilization. With
over 27 years in water and wastewater treatment and management, Peter’s
responsibility as Manager of Process Services within the Engineering and
Scientific Services Division is to provide technical leadership for the
Organization on process engineering issues including innovation research and
development.
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Enterprise development - Contract participation goals
Nonhlanhla (Noni) Gumbi ([email protected])
Umgeni Water is committed to the development of small enterprises into effective and efficient companies from which the public sector can draw for services. This has been done through procurement strategies for services rendered to Umgeni Water. By partnering with Umgeni Water in the services suppliers render, they are enjoined in this commitment – contract participation goals, CPG.
The paper will discuss the rationale behind the policy, how it is implemented, controlled and managed. Insights into some challenges and how they are being resolved including how how the initiative is beginning to bear fruit will be also be discussed.
Nonhlanhla (Noni) Gumbi , currently Procurement Manager in the Finance Division, Umgeni Water, completed a Bachelor’s degree in Technology and a diploma in Accountancy. She is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (MCIPS). Noni has twenty six (26) years’ experience, with fifteen (15) spent in Supply Chain Management (SCM). Her experience includes time spent at leading production companies including Unilever, iThala Bank, Transnet and Foskor Mineral Reserves and Resources.
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POSTERS
Umgeni Water’s commitment to community Upliftment
Lungi Makhaye ([email protected]) and Kubheka Mbali
In its commitment to improving quality of life and enhancing sustainable economic development, Umgeni Water has embarked on an “A journey from water for a few to water for all”. This initiative ensures that a percentage of Umgeni Water’s Capex spend targets infrastructure projects that support rural development and community sustainability.
Implementation of large water infrastructure in semi urban and rural areas is generally disruptive to the normal life style of affected residents in the short to medium term. These intrusions may also affect livelihoods of families negatively through relocation of residences, traditional burial grounds, farming lands, increase in environmental risks, etc. In recognition of these and other inconveniencies suffered by the communities whose privacy has been affected by the establishment of much needed infrastructure, Umgeni Water, in implementation of its infrastructure projects, has endeavoured to partner with local community structures in delivering tangible benefits to immediate project beneficiaries.
Umgeni Water’s Social and Community Upliftment Initiative seeks to create an ongoing business relationship with all community stakeholders in its area of operation by implementation of the following initiatives:
� Employment of local labour, incorporation of capacity building and training to support community institutional structures to be part of project deliverables during construction.
Umgeni Water is committed to assisting local, provincial as well as national government by implementing environmental education programmes as a vehicle to raise public awareness regarding scarce resources, improving accessibility of educational resources and generally contributing to sustainable livelihoods. Through this programme, Umgeni Water hopes to raise the awareness on the management of water resources and to work jointly with communities in the reduction of adverse impacts on Umgeni Water resources.
This poster presentation highlights Umgeni Water’s Institutional Social Development (ISD) and the Water Education team’s experiences in the day to day business of implementing bulk infrastructure and water education projects by using a few case studies. It outlines Umgeni Water's interaction with key community stakeholders and the process of engagement the team enacts in support of community development.
Brief biography of Lungi Makhaye:
Lungi holds a B Public Admin degree, Advanced Programme in Organisational Development certificate (UNISA) and a Postgraduate Diploma in Leadership and Management (UKZN). Currently a Programme Coordinator – social development she has more than 12 years’ experience in all aspects of social institutional support and development programmes including community outreach initiatives to create awareness of the functions of water boards, water treatment processes and also of the need to preserve the environment.
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Assessment of Monitoring Effectiveness for Cryptosporidium And Giardia In The Durban Heights and Umzinto Systems
M. Ngubane, T.C Makatini, K.G Hodgson and S. Majam
Research has demonstrated that effective protozoan cyst removal is achieved through a multi-barrier treatment process. Disinfection alone is inadequate for the effective removal of protozoan parasites.
There is no prescribed method for the monitoring of these protozoan parasites, despite the health risks associated with exposure to them. In South Africa, the monitoring of Cryptosporidium and Giardia is primarily focused on final waters to comply with the South African Drinking Water specification, SANS 241:2015. Historically, Umgeni Water has adopted a reactive approach to monitoring these parasites where the final water sample is analyzed for the parasites only if they are detected in the raw water sample. This method of monitoring may not be completely sufficient in water supply systems where a high risk of exposure exists. This method, while adaptive, was deemed not adequately risk based and the monitoring of Cryptosporidium and Giardia was thus required to be reviewed.
The Rand Water model included desktop evaluation of the catchment land uses, raw water abstraction processes and water treatment works processes, as well as an assessment of water quality data from laboratory analyses. The resulting Cryptosporidium and Giardia risk classification for both the Nagle and EJ Smith dams were high risk. However, the risk categories for both the Durban Heights and Umzinto treated water were classified as low risk, due to the effective multi-barrier processes that are in operation at the water works.
The model was initially envisaged to be applicable to all water supply systems, irrespective of size and complexity. However, upon application of the model to the Umgeni Water systems, a number of shortcomings were identified. However, the model does provide a structured framework for consideration of factors that may affect protozoan parasite risk and although an alternative approach was used to inform monitoring, the principles from the Rand Water model were considered and incorporated.
The approach adopted by Umgeni Water involved the classification of catchment-to-consumer systems according to risk. Low risk systems included those systems indicating no positive historical Cryptosporidium and Giardia data (raw water < 1 oocyst/10ℓ and treated water < 1 oocyst/10ℓ). In addition, the raw water resources for these systems are often characterized by long retention times and the operational water treatment monitoring data indicates good process control and treatment efficacy. In contrast, high risk systems are systems that are considered to have sources of sewage enrichment within the catchment and positive historical Cryptosporidium and Giardia data (raw water ≥1 oocyst/10ℓ and treated water ≥ 1 oocyst/10ℓ). High risk systems are often also characterized by significant informal settlements with inadequate sanitation in the upstream catchment. Systems that are run-of-river abstraction systems may also be deemed high risk due to their limited assimilative capacity for source water quality improvement.
The protozoan parasite monitoring approach adopted by Umgeni Water includes monitoring of both raw and final waters at variable frequencies according to risk. Any system classified as high risk will be monitored at least at a monthly frequency to comply with the requirements of the SANS 241: 2015 risk defined monitoring programme. Systems classified as a low or moderate risk will be monitored
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between 4 and 6 times per year, aligned to and exceeding the SANS 241: 2015 risk assessment monitoring requirements. Seasonal frequencies (higher frequencies in summer) will also be considered for the run-of-river iLembe schemes.
In the case of treated water protozoan parasite failures, reactive monitoring - from catchment to consumer - will be undertaken to establish the source of the protozoan parasites as well as the risk to consumers.
Although the results of application of the Rand Water model concluded that the source waters assessed were high risk due catchment activities, the proactive, risk-based approach to drinking water quality management at Umgeni Water ensures safe drinking water of low risk to all its consumers. An alternative, risk-based approach, in compliance with the requirements of SANS241: 2015, was adopted to inform protozoan parasite monitoring at Umgeni Water.
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Disinfection Dosing and Telemetry System Design for Rural Potable Water Plants
Kimon Padayachee Naheen Toolsee, Rachi Rajagopaul ([email protected]),
Background Chlorine failures at numerous rural water borehole schemes in the Ilembe region were the major causes for non-compliances in drinking water quality as per SANS 241:2011. The current borehole systems use calcium hypochlorite (HTH tablets) as their method of disinfection through an inline feeder system. The inline feeder system clogged frequently resulting in failures in dosing of HTH into the treated water rendering it unsafe to drink. In addition, there was no reliable cost-effective technique to measure the final residual chlorine in the water. There was an urgent need to design and implement an innovative disinfection dosing and telemetry system that would ensure a cost-effective, reliable and safe disinfection dosing system. Methodology A desktop study was conducted which investigated the different types of disinfectants and sodium hypochlorite was selected as the most suitable disinfectant of choice due to factors such as, the remoteness of the area and reduced safety concerns when compared to the use of chlorine gas at these areas. The table below shows the different disinfection systems in terms of their cost, safety, maintenance etc. Reliability, maintenance costs and safety were considered as being the most important parameters.
The use of a telemetry system at these remote areas was considered necessary since in most cases, only one operator was responsible for several rural plants which are far apart from each other. The telemetry system design has the ability to report system failures and process values via SMS to an operator’s cellphone. All SMS notifications will be descriptive of what the reporting parameter is. The operator who receives the SMS will acknowledge the notification. If this is not done within a specified time period, the notification is escalated to senior staff. Some of the reporting features are low levels in a dosing tank, chlorine concentration ranges, no flow on the main line and if there is equipment failure. The figure below shows the process layout of a typical borehole location with the proposed disinfection dosing and telemetry design.
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The current prototype model has been installed at a rural borehole location in Maphamulo. All equipment has been installed and the commissioning is being finalised before handover takes place for implementation at other high risk sites in the area. Challenges and Expected Outcomes The main challenge on site was the degradation of sodium hypochlorite over time due mainly to high temperatures in the storage enclosure where the sodium hypochlorite solution was housed. The rapidly changing concentration of the sodium hypochlorite solution affected the maintenance of the optimum dosages for the required chlorine residual. The problem was resolved by using a higher concentration of sodium hypochlorite as the dosing solution. The implemented design will allow for improved final water quality in terms of residual chlorine and minimal operator intervention at these remote locations.
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Lessons learned in sustainable aquatic alien weed management at Umgeni Water
Steve Terry , Alistair Hunter ([email protected]) Well managed and sustainable water resources are essential to allow Umgeni Water to abstract adequate quantities of acceptable quality raw water for water treatment. However, alien aquatic weeds, particularly introduced invasive species, are becoming a growing challenge to maintaining sustainable water resources. Over the past 30 years, water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) and Kariba weed (Salvinia molesta) have become significant and increasing threats to the water resources within the Umgeni Water operational area. If left unmanaged, aquatic alien weeds can increase at exponential growth rates, resulting in increased evapotranspiration and deterioration in water quality as well as detrimental impacts on biodiversity and the environment. This poster presentation gives an overview of the aquatic weed problems in the Umgeni Water operational area, insights into how the water resources are being degraded by nuisance aquatic weed infections and the various control options available to Umgeni Water. The short- and longer-term benefits and challenges associated with mechanical removal, herbicide application and biocontrol are discussed in terms of sustainable water resource management. Multi-stakeholder partnerships, particularly with regulatory institutions, non-governmental organisations and the general public, are emphasised as an essential requirement for implementing aquatic alien weed control. Case studies and lessons learned are presented from the Albert Falls impoundment and the uMsunduzi–uMgeni river systems. An adaptive monitoring framework is being developed to the balanced costs of management actions against raw water treatability and environmental benefits.
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Brochure compiled
By
Rachi Rajagopaul
(Senior Scientist, E&SS)