water&sanitation may/june 2012

Water & SanitationComplete water resource and wastewater management

Think water, think WISA!The official magazine of the Water Institute of Southern Africa

MEDIA

AfricaAfrica

May / June 2012 • ISSN 1990-8857 • Cover price R35.00 • Vol 7 No. 3

Dean Mulqueeny, managing director NCP Chlorchem, discusses the company'swater treatment solutions

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MAY/JUNE 2012 1

Water & SanitationComplete water resource and wastewater management


MEDIA

AfricaAfrica


Dean Mulqueeny, managing director NCP Chlorchem, discusses the company'swater treatment solutions

THE HOT SEAT P12

y'

P1's

12

TT

SEMBCORPSEMBCORPVital partners, Vital partners,

essential water solutionsessential water solutions

MUNICIPALITIES MUNICIPALITIES Water metering Water metering reference guidereference guide

WATER REPORTWATER REPORTCradle of HumankindCradle of Humankind

Editor’s letter 3

COVER STORY

Vital partners, essential water solutions 4

WISA

President’s comment 7WISA celebrates 75 years 8

PUBLIC SECTOR

Securing a reliable water source for Paarl’s increasing demands 24Advanced control and instrumentation installation 26Franschhoek WWTW: A remarkable turnaround 30Rehabilitation of Klein Maricopoort Dam 34

PROJECT

Cradle of Humankind water monitoring results 41Tshwane Metro steps into hydropower generation 49Taking control of wellfi eld operations 54

TECHNICAL PAPER

Sustainability assessment of trans-boundary water resources 56The role of EIAs in achieving sustainable development 77

TECHNOLOGY

Tackling odour control 69Pipe still pumping after nearly 100 years 86Advance treatment processes implemented 89Hitting an ‘eagle’ while manufacturing a golf course pump station 93Making it happen 97Wastewater disinfection for reclamation use 99

CASE STUDY

Delivering superior sustainability performance 72

PUBLICATION

Reference guide for municipalities 112

AWARDS

2012 National Water Conservation Awards 119

Cradle of Humankind water monitoring results

Delivering superior sustainability

4141

3030ABOVE Franschhoek WWTW: A remarkable turnaround

REGULARS

News international 14News Africa 21Trends & products 102Level of dams 115Subscriptions 116

1

CONTENTS Volume 7. No.3

7272

Proven Bioremediation Technology

SOUTH AFRICA

MAY/JUNE 2012 3

EDITOR'S LET TERPublisher Elizabeth ShortenEditor Debbie BesselingCreative executive head Frédérick DantonSenior designer Hayley MendelowSenior sub-editor Claire NozaicSub-editor Patience GumboContributors K King, Dr K Winter, S van Wyk, D Beer, T Luukkonen Marketing Martin Hiller Production manager Antois-Leigh VisagieProduction assistant Jacqueline Modise Subscription sales Nomsa MasinaDistribution coordinator Asha PursothamAdministration Tonya HebentonPrinters United Litho Johannesburg+27 (0)11 402 0571Advertising sales Avé Delport Tel: +27 (0)11 467 6224 • Cell: +27 (0)83 302 1342 Fax: 086 502 1216E-mail: [email protected]

Publisher

MEDIA Physical address: No 4, 5th Avenue Rivonia 2056Postal address: PO Box 92026, Norwood 2117, South AfricaTel: +27 (0)11 233 2600Fax: +27 (0)11 234 7274/5E-mail: [email protected]

ISSN: 1990 - 8857Annual subscription: R270 (SA rate)Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.All articles in Water&Sanitation Africa are copyright protected and may not be reproduced either in whole or in part without the prior written permission of the publishers. The views of contributors do not necessarily reflect those of the Water Institute of Southern Africa or the publishers.

WISA mission statementThe Water Institute of Southern Africa provides a forum for exchange of information and views to improve water resource management in southern Africa.

Endorsed by

This issue of Water&Sanitation Africa is our WISA conference issue and we are proud to be the offi cial magazine of the Water Institute of

Southern Africa.The WISA 2012 Conference, with the theme ‘Water footprint’, is expected to at-tract more than 1 200 delegates. With this comes a wealth of knowledge from industry professionals. Each of the speakers, exhibi-tors and delegates has a valuable amount of expertise in their own specifi c fi eld. The conference and exhibition will showcase and highlight the achievements, successes and accomplishments in the sector, through approximately 140 technical papers and a range of workshops and posters. In addition, more than 100 exhibitors will showcase the latest products, technologies and expertise available in the industry.There will be a vast selection of learning opportunities at the conference, which is what it is all about ‒ being able to improve your knowledge and expertise.Six years ago, 3S Media launched the promotional issue of WISA’s offi cial maga-zine, Water&Sanitation Africa, at the WISA Biennial Conference and Exhibition held at the ICC Durban in May 2006. Six years on, we are proud to bring you our largest issue to date, fi lled with invaluable information from cover to cover. Copies of this issue are available in the delegate bags and also from the 3S Media stand in the exhibition hall. Water is always a current topic and often makes headline news ‒ more often than not in a bad way. There are many suc-cessful projects taking place in the

water sector some of which are high-lighted in this issue. The extensive Cape

The success of the water sector

WISA CONTACTS:

HEAD OFFICETel: +27 (0)11 805 3537 Fax: +27 (0)11 315 1258Physical address: 1st Floor, Building 5, Constantia Park, 546 16th Road, Randjiespark Ext 7, Midrand

BRANCHESEastern CapeChairman: Anderson Mancotywa Tel: +27 (0)41 506 2172Secretary/treasurer: Owen WentzelTel: +27 (0)41 363 1984

Free StateChairman: Gerda VenterTel: +27 (0)51 405 9201Secretary/treasurer: Riana WesselsTel: +27 (0)56 515 0375

KwaZulu-NatalChairman: Gordon BorainTel: +27 (0)33 846 1826Secretary/treasurer: Stephanie WalshTel: +27 (0)31 302 4077

Western CapeChairman: John ClaytonTel: +27 (0)21 531 6411Secretary/treasurer: Farouk Robertson Tel: +27 (0)21 400 4574

www.ewisa.co.za

Debbie M Debbie M BesselingBesseling

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Water & SanitationComplete w

ater resource and waste

water management

Think water, think WISA!

The official magazine of

the Water Institute of S

outhern Africa

MEDIA

AfricaAfrica


Dean Mulqueeny, managing dir

ector

NCP Chlorchem, discusses the c

ompany's

water treatment solutions

THE HOT SEAT

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SEMBCORPSEMBCORP

Vital partners, Vital partners,

essential water solutions

essential water solutions

MUNICIPALITIES

MUNICIPALITIES

Water metering

Water metering

reference guidereference guide

WATER REPORTWATER REPORT

Cradle of Humankind

Cradle of Humankind

Cover opportunityIn each issue, Water & Sanitation Africa off ers companies the opportuni-ty to get to the front of the line by placing a company, product or service on the front cover of the magazine. Buying this position will aff ord the advertiser the cover story on pages 4 and 5 and maximum exposure. For more information on cover bookings contact Avé Delport on +27 (0)83 302 1342 or e-mail [email protected]

feature includes an insight into the projects that are currently in progress or recently completed. These include the Franschhoek wastewater treatment works, which is a result of emergency interventions to fi nd a solution for the severe capacity overload at the Franschhoek wastewater treatment works. Another project covered in this is-sue is the Overstrand Municipality which instructed its groundwater consultants to upgrade the infrastructure at the Gateway Wellfi eld. Operation and maintenance of the sophisticated new wellfi eld has since been offi cially handed over to the munici-pal staff . The Meulwater Water Treatment Works will ensure a reliable water source for Paarl’s increasing demands. The plant has a capacity of 8 Mℓ/d that is upgrada-ble to 15 Mℓ/d.We have a lot to be proud of in the water in-dustry and I take this opportunity to wish you a successful and educational conference.

4 MAY/JUNE 2012

COVER STORY

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Sembcorp

At Sembcorp, we understand that every drop is vital. Operating in 19 countries, we manage over seven million cubic metres of water and

wastewater daily, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We keep the wheels of industry turn-ing and supply over fi ve million people with the fresh water they need. Households and enterprises across six continents rely on our innovative and sustainable water solutions to meet a range of water needs ‒ from the supply of potable and industrial water, the specialised treatment of industrial wastewa-ter to water reclamation and desalination.

Sembcorp acquisitionsIn 2010, Sembcorp acquired Sembcorp Silulumanzi and Sembcorp Siza Water in South Africa as part of its global expansion plans in the region. Sembcorp is aware of the water, wastewater and energy

Vital partners, essential water Sembcorp Industries is a global water and energy services provider. It is the name that people trust to deliver this most precious resource: clean and reliable water supply that supports development and enhances the quality of life for millions.

challenges in the sub-continent and believes that through its global track record, access to cutting-edge technology and willingness to invest in viable projects, it can provide solutions to both the public and private sec-tors’ water, wastewater and energy needs.Sembcorp Silulumanzi, located in Mbombela Local Municipality in Mpumalanga province, is a 30-year concession contract, which com-menced in 1999, and has the exclusive rights to provide water and wastewater treatment to the towns of Nelspruit, Matsulu and Kanyamazane. The company has improved and expanded service delivery in the town-ships during its fi rst two years of operation by laying 91 km of new mains as well as 18 km of sewers.

About Sembcorp Silulumanzi• Client: Mbombela Local Municipality• Population served: 390 000

• Volume of water supplied: 78 Mℓ/d• Volume of sewage treated: 36 Mℓ/d• Distribution network: 1 005 km of water pipes over 410 km2 with 42 booster pump stations

• Sewer distribution network is 582 km of sewer pipes and 30 sewage pump stations

• each domestic customer enjoys free basic services whereby the fi rst 6 000 ℓ of water and sanitation services are free; this in-line with national government policy

• since 1999, access to at least a basic level of water services has been improved from 24 000 to 64 971 households. Revenue collection effi ciency improved from 73% to 78%. (Source: World Bank Report. Case Study for the 10 years of the Mbombela (Nelspruit) Water and Sanitation Concession. South Africa, Paul Bender and Stewart Gibson, January 2010).

The results of this case study have certainly

COVER STORY

MAY/JUNE 2012 5

solutionsshown the benefi ts of having a competent and committed private sector operator dedi-cated to the provision of the water and sanitation services. Whichever of the above delivery mechanisms is adopted, the key to success lies in the following three areas:1. attracting and retaining quality people who have skills, expertise and customer focus, as well as supporting resources, to optimise service delivery

2. ensuring that suffi cient funds (both capital and operating) are available to pay for skills and to expand and maintain the required infrastructure

3. a strong contract management control that ensures contract compliance ,and enforces the requirements of the authority within the terms of the contract. (Source: World Bank Report. Case Study for the 10 years of the Mbombela (Nelspruit) Water and Sanitation Concession, South Africa, Paul Bender and Stewart Gibson, January 2010).

In a recent independent study document ‒ Aquafed ‒ private operators delivering performance for water users and public authorities. Examples across the world, March 2012 ‒ the following is quoted: “One of the main improvements is the water

quality. The Sembcorp Silulumanzi systems obtained the South African Department of Water and Environmental Aff airs’ Blue and Green Drop awards. This was due to the good condition of infrastructure, thanks to a good maintenance programme, including eff orts and investment spent to upgrade the existing infrastructure. All that while having tariff levels similar or lower than comparable municipalities across South Africa.”• ISO9001, ISO14001 and OHSAS18001 accreditation.

• Awarded, on behalf of Mbombela Local Municipality, the Platinum Blue Drop and Green Drop Awards by the Department of Water Aff airs, in recognition of excellent water quality management. These awards are given for three consecutive Blue and Green Drop awards.

• Community Training and Development Centre established to provide in-house courses to raise basic skills for employees and training for the community in com-puter literacy, business skills development, water and wastewater care.

• The capital works programmes have cre-ated over 1 200 temporary jobs to date and continues to invest in SMME’s.

• Over R1 million in cash prizes have been awarded, since 2003, to local high schools participating in the soccer and netball tournament sponsored annually by Sembcorp Silulumanzi.

• Charities, pre-schools, primary schools, libraries and community-based organisa-tions benefi t every year through sponsor-ship based on a needs and priority basis.

• Awarded the 2011 PMR Golden Arrow Award for its contribution to the economic development of Mpumalanga.

About Sembcorp Siza WaterLocated on the Dolphin Coast of KwaZulu-Natal (now part of the Ilembe District Municipality) about 35 km from Durban, Sembcorp Siza Water has been serving the water needs of the Ballito community and the surrounding areas since 1999. It was the fi rst public-private partnership for water services in South Africa.The company currently employs 67 trained staff members, all of whom contribute to the

maintenance, equipment upgrades, billing and debt collection of water and sanitation services for the Dolphin Coast.

Services and assetsSembcorp Siza Water provides various water treatment services. The company operates 10 reservoirs with a combined capacity of 17.8 Mℓ and maintains a water network of 270 km. Reservoirs are monitored and cleaned regularly to ensure water quality compliance. Sembcorp Siza Water has achieved close to 100% water quality compliance since 1999 (assessed by independent laboratories).Three treatments works process 19.2 Mℓ of sewage per day. Sembcorp Siza Water also operates 26 sewage pump stations, with 196 km of sewer reticulation. The sew-age treatment plants meet almost 100% of regulated requirements (assessed by independent laboratories).Sembcorp Siza Water has achieved both Blue Drop and Green Drop certifi cation by the Department of Water Aff airs.

Safety, health and environmentSembcorp Siza Water is ISO 14001:2004 (Environmental Management System) and OSHAS 18001:2007 (Health & Safety Management System) accredited.

AwardsSembcorp was awarded the Global Water Intelligence ‘Water Company of the Year’ award in 2010 and Global Water Intelligence Global Water Awards’ ‘Desalination Deal of the Year’ in 2011.

ABOVE NST WTW Platinum Blue Drop TeamBELOW Nelspruit Water Treatment Works

In each issue, Water&Sanitation Africa off ers advertisers the opportunity to promote their company’s products and services to an appropriate audience by booking the prime position of the front cover, which includes a two-page feature article. The magazine off ers advertisers an ideal platform to ensure maximum exposure of their brand. Please call Avé Delport on +27 (0)11 467 6224/ +27 (0)83 302 1342 to secure your booking.

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MAY/JUNE 2012 7

WISAPresident's comment

A s president of WISA, I am privileged and honoured to welcome you on behalf of the Water Institute of Southern Africa to the WISA 2012

Biennial Conference and Exhibition. The South African government has com-mitted itself to improving water and sani-tation service delivery to its people and this has to be realised through the efforts of various stakeholders such as those of

our sector, electricity and energy, public health and others. Managing our water resources to ensure their sustainability requires concerted efforts from various government depart-ments, industries and communities. This is an effort that needs short-, mid- and long-term perspectives and collectively will be aimed at providing better lives for current and future generations.WISA’s role in the sector is to find solu-tions to the water challenges facing us within Southern Africa and worldwide. This is done by providing forums for the water sector experts, professionals and leaders in the field to interact on a broad range of water-related topics.WISA’s strong commitment in serving the sector and improving results will be

• ABS Wastewater Technology • Amatola Water• Aveng Water• BIGEN AFRICA Services• BKS• Bloem Water• Botjheng Water• City of Cape Town• City of Tshwane• Dow Water & Process SA• Department of Water Aff airs

• Development Bank of Southern Africa• ERWAT• ESKOM Holdings• eThekwini Municipality• Festo• GE Betz South Africa• Golder Associates Africa• Grundfos Alldos• Hatch• Huber Technology• ITT Water & Wastewater South Africa• Johannesburg Water

• Magalies Water• Merck• Mhlathuze Water• NCP Chlorchem • Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality• Overberg Water• PD Naidoo & Associates Consulting Engineers• Rand Water• SALGA• SAME Water• Sedibeng Water• Siemens

• SSI Engineers and Environmental Consultants• TCTA• Tecroveer• Umgeni Water• Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies South Africa• Water Research Commission• Water & Sanitation Services SA• WEC Projects• Zetachem

critical to sustaining economic growth and alleviating the suffering of millions of poor people, especially women and chil-dren, in South Africa and Africa. Improved water and sanitation services, and inte-grated water resources management are key to this.The formation of the new Process Controllers’ Division within WISA is one of the ways to consolidate the Blue and

Green Drop programmes. The WISA 2012 programme is also drawn in such a way that Process Controllers have their dedi-cated sessions for we need to uplift the morale and ensure that the functioning of this division is sustainable. This will, in turn, improve the provision of water and sanitation services.The theme of WISA 2012 conference is ‘Water Footprint’. This is a prestigious biennial event that you cannot afford to miss; hence I thank you for choosing to attend. The WISA 2012 conference will allow you to engage in various topical issues that are critical to the provision of water and sanitation services, protec-tion, use, development, conservation, management and control of our scarce water resources.

As WISA will be celebrating 75 years of existence in the water sector, I invite you to join us. I salute the pioneers and volun-teers who dedicated their time to building this institute into what it is today. As we celebrate this anniversary, we must re-member to build a strong and sustainable WISA, well positioned to address the wa-ter sector challenges facing the continent.Lastly, I would like to encourage the delegates to participate in discussions and networking so that knowledge gained during this conference is trans-lated into action. I wish you all the best for this conference.

WISA President 2011/2012

Welcome from the WISA president

Managing our water resources to ensure their sustainability requires concerted eff orts from various government departments, industries and communities

PATRON MEMBERS

Anderson Mluleki

Mancotywa

8 MAY/JUNE 2012

HistoryWISA

The history of the Water Institute of Southern Africa (WISA) can be directly linked to the early days of Johannesburg. Gold was discovered on the farm Langlaagte in February 1886. This was to be the

pivot point around which Johannesburg developed. The main gold-bearing reef series spread out to the east and west of the discovery point and a number of smaller towns sprang up around Johannesburg to service the new gold mining industry. Each of these towns was to develop its own unique system of sewage disposal. By the late 20s and early 30s, these initial systems were in dire need of upgrad-ing and this period witnessed the construction of a large number of new works.Prior to the 30s, the Klipspruit Sewage Farm was the only facility Johannesburg possessed for handling its wastewater. Klipspruit served the whole area, while much of the areas draining to the north were served by recours-ing to the bucket system. Dr EJ Hamlin, city engineer at the time, gave priority to sanitation and sewage treatment plants were established in four of the north-fl owing stream valleys. According to Harold Wilson the new works were named in alphabetical order: Antea was the fi rst, the Bruma (a wet place in the Bible), Cydna (after the river Cydnus, on which the ancient city of Tarsus was sited) and Delta, which was named for the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet.

WISA this year celebrates its 75th anniversary. In this article we take a look at the institute’s distinguished history.

Hamlin also recruited two top experienced profession-als from England to plan and operate the system. They were Harold Wilson, a biochemist, and Harold Clausen, a civil engineer. Wilson was located in the Public Health Department to ensure an independent laboratory moni-toring of works performance and Clausen was appointed in the City Engineer’s Department as superintendent of sewage works and was responsible for its operation. Managers with little experience were then appointed largely from the local artisan staff to manage the new works. They were: J Richardson (Antea), John Sampson (Bruma), Wally Alison (Cydna) and Charlie Crystal (Delta). Clausen provided the necessary extensive training, one step being to arrange a regular monthly meeting of man-agers. BR Spencer, manager of the Klipspruit works, and the senior chemists also attended these meetings. Later other local authorities expressed interest and Retief Krige (Germiston), Piet Vosloo (Springs) and H de Vaal (Pretoria) attended these meetings. It rapidly became clear that there were a lot of interesting developments taking place on the local scene. Springs had constructed percolating fi lters below ground level, very deep totally enclosed fi l-ters were being used in Germiston, Pretoria was operating shallow high-load trickling fi lters and Johannesburg had installed ridge and furrow diff used-air activated sludge plants, deep trickling fi lters with intermediate air vents and a German design digester etc. Hamlin and Wilson both had experience of the Institute of Sewage Purifi cation in England and both later served as president of that organisation. They were keen to see a forum established under the auspices of this organisa-tion where South African experience and problems could be discussed.

Introduction WISA was offi cially formed in 1987, not as a body that had been spontaneously created at that time but as one that had evolved over more than half a century and incurring several name changes en route. The fi rst creative steps were taken at a meeting held at the Cydna Biochemical laboratory in Johannesburg on May 4 1937 when the following resolutions were passed: • That it is unanimously agreed that an association shall be, and is hereby formed; the objective of that association being set forth in pages 13 to 15 of the Articles of Association of the (British) Institute of Sewage Purifi cation. • That this association shall forthwith take steps to become recognised as the South African Branch of the Institute of Sewage Purifi cation. • That a temporary committee be elected to deal with local

WISA celebrates 75 years

MAY/JUNE 2012 9

WISA

by-laws and necessary correspondence, the committee to consist of: Clausen, JA McLachlan, Spencer and Wilson. Those present at the inaugural meeting were Alison, Clausen, McLachlan, KA Murray, J Pollock, Richardson, P O’Reilly, Sampson, Spencer H de Vaal, Vosloo and Wilson. Membership of the branch increased at a satisfactory rate and additional group com-mittees were formed in Durban, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. Biennial conferences became routine and venues were rotated between the larger centres. In 1963 and 1974 conferences were held outside the Republic of South Africa and in both cases the host city was the then Salisbury in Rhodesia (now Harare in Zimbabwe). After the latter conference, the branch was renamed the Southern African Branch in line with its enhanced geographic coverage. As the branch grew in stature, it slowly gained acceptance as a vehicle for com-ment on matters of national importance such as the bill leading to the promulgation of the 1956 Water Act, the introduction of biologically ‘soft’ or degradable synthetic detergents, grazing of cattle on sewage ir-rigated land etc. In the educational fi eld, the branch ar-ranged for the production of a manual for sewage works operators and provided appropriate training courses terminating in an examination and the presentation of a certifi cate to successful candidates. This latter function was subsequently taken over by the Technical Colleges, which still obtain their updated course manuals from WISA. By 1967, general consensus had been reached by the parent body to change the institute’s name to the Institute of Water Pollution Control (IWPC) with expanded objectives of promoting the science and practice of wastewater management, including: • The purifi cation of domestic and in-dustrial wastewaters, pollution control of rivers and the seas, and the optimal reclamation and reuse of purifi ed effl uents for domestic, industrial and agricultural purposes. • To provide a professional home for a wide spectrum of scientifi c disciplines that are required to achieve these aims. To uphold high professional standards in the institute’s membership, a Diploma examination was introduced and had to be successfully passed to be awarded corporate membership. The content of the British examination was unsuitable for

local candidates it became necessary for the Southern African Branch to create its own infrastructure, including tuition facilities for this purpose. The examination committee drew up lecture notes and the examination consisted of a theory paper as well as a practical report on a specifi c water pollu-tion problem. This entailed collecting and forwarding the required samples to candi-dates, some from as far afi eld as the then Rhodesia. No easy task! With the aid of the branch, the technikons eventually provided

courses to suit the water industry. The change in name of the institute also necessitated the design of a new coat of arms, which in lay terms is described as follows: The shield bears horizontal wavy lines to represent a river with three ‘fountains’ upon which a kingfi sher is perched symbolising its tributaries. The black segment of the shield represents pollution, with the ‘roundels’ symbolising bubbles of gas rising to the surface. The kingfi sher feeding on fi sh and water insects represents an unpolluted stream and the sword it holds in its beak, as well as the sword on the shield, represents the aim of the institute, i.e. water pollution control. The motto means ‘Towards Purity’.The year 1987 was a signifi cant year for the water-related professional institutes in Britain, viz. IWPC. The Institution of Water Engineers & Scientists and the Institution of Public Health Engineers decided to amalgamate as the Institution for Water and Environmental Management (IWEM). With the maturity reached by the local branch it was decided that the time was optimal

for a totally autonomous institute to be formed locally. In terms of the separa-tion agreement reached with the parent body, the newly formed Water Institute of Southern Africa (WISA) would retain all the assets accrued

during its 50-year association with the British Institute, but would create a R20 000 trust fund that could be used for the estab-lishment of a South African branch of IWEM, if local demand and interest warranted this action. During the three-year tenure of this trust, IWEM did not establish a South African branch and the money reverted to WISA.

Members of IWPC wishing to join WISA were slotted into the WISA membership structure at grades identical to (or very close to) their IWPC grades. The mission of WISA is to provide a forum for the exchange of information and views to improve water resource management in Southern Africa. Its objectives include inter alia ‘the promotion of and application of scientifi c and engineering knowledge and management skills in the planning, design, construction, maintenance, investigation,

research and education in connection with the natural and controlled water cycle, including but not be limited to the applica-tion of scientifi c engineering and manage-ment skills to all or any of hydrology water resources, river management and fl ood alleviation, recreation, water supply and distribution, sewerage, sewage and indus-trial waste treatment, disposal and water pollution control’. Robert A Laing of Colington, was commis-sioned to design a coat of arms for WISA that would also provide a recognisable link to its past association with IWPC. The fi nal design was accepted and registered by the State Herald.The IWPC kingfi sher has been retained as a dominant feature, but has a fi sh in its mouth instead of a sword thus indicating a need for fresh water resources. This idea is further confi rmed by the motto Aqua Vita Est, i.e. Water is Life. The black area, as in the IWPC design, represents polluted water contain-ing bubbles of rising gas. The ‘fess’ or bridge represents man’s intervention leading to the production of clean water depicted by the wavy lines beneath the bridge. The design alludes to a Cape Dutch Gable thus reinforc-ing the South African sphere of operation. The shape symbolises dynamic motion and the colouring represents the transfor-mation of polluted water (dark) to clear, ‘clean’ water. A vastly improved coverage in specifi c specialised techni-cal fi elds has been achieved by the progressive introduc-tion of 10 technical divisions (12 in 2002), which are now only

WISA was offi cially formed in 1987, not as a body that had been spontaneously created at that time but as one that had evolved over more than half a century and incurring several name changes en route

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WISA

called divisions, operating on a national basis in the following fi elds: anaerobic pro-cesses, membrane technology, mine water, nutrient removal, river basin management, sludge management, water reticulation, community water supply and sanitation, and watercare. The fi nal one came about when the fully autonomous Association for Water Treatment Personnel, with four national branches, agreed to amalgamate with WISA. Its membership, assets and ad-ministrative infrastructure were then used to form the nucleus of the new Watercare Division in February 1992. Non-WISA members were permitted to join divisions, for one year, but were obvi-ously encouraged to subsequently take up WISA membership. International affi liations that had been es-tablished when still operating as a branch of IWPC have been maintained and include representation on the South African na-tional committee of IWA-SA, which came about through the amalgamation of the International Water Supply Association and the International Association on Water Quality. WISA is also a member associa-tion of the Water Environment Federation (United States of America) and is entitled to two representatives on its board of control. Liaison arrangements exist with the Australian Water and Wastewater Association (now the Australian Water Association) and the International Water Resources Association, while contact is maintained with the Chartered Institution of Water Environmental Management (United Kingdom). A journal exchange sys-tem was operative with the Japan Sewage Works Association for a period of one year. South African affi liations include membership of the South African Industrial Water Association, the Vaal River Catchment Association, the IWA-SA and the Habitat Council. A partner-ship agreement was also reached in 2000 with the South African Women’s Empowerment Foundation. Membership of the institute currently stands at 1 349 (2002), including 231 cor-poration members such as local authorities, water boards and universities. WISA also has some 41 members residing in 12 coun-tries beyond the borders of South Africa. WISA has never acknowledged race, colour, gender, nationality or religion as a factor in determining the admission of any person to membership. Patron membership was introduced in 1996 and in 2002 WISA had 12 such members. The council introduced a Code of Conduct for members in 1999.

When WISA was founded in 1987 it oper-ated as a legally accepted ‘Association not for gain’ with a constitution that was lodged with the Receiver of Revenue. Exemption from the payment of income tax was there-after granted. However, with the increasing growth of the institute, it became necessary for WISA to register with the Receiver in terms of VAT legislation and in January 2000

it was fi nally registered in terms of the South African Companies Act as a not for gain Section 21 company, as the Water Institute of Southern Africa.

Administration The Institute of Sewage Purifi cation was a registered company in terms of the British Companies Act and its Articles of Association made provision for the creation of branches, but not for their dissolution. The South African branch operated under these con-ditions and was required to pass the vast majority of its income from membership fees to the parent body to assist in fi nancing the costs of the journal. The 10% (approxi-mately) of income left in South Africa was insuffi cient to support paid administrative staff and for nearly the fi rst half-century sec-retarial duties were carried out on a largely honorary basis, with token honoraria being paid in the late 80s, this included the post of bookkeeper. A full-time paid secretary was appointed in 1987 and a salaried part-time director was appointed in 1994. The latter post was elevated to a full-time basis in 1995 and in April 2000 was converted to that of chief executive offi cer who was appointed in terms of a contract for three years.

Offi ce accommodation The Johannesburg City Council at its Cydna Laboratory very generously provided of-fi ce accommodation for the South African branch of the Institute of Sewage Purifi ction and its successors at no cost over a period of 50 years. In recognition of this support WISA donated a framed oil painting to the Laboratory. The original painting purchased was stolen before it could be affi xed to a suitable wall and it was necessary to supply a replacement. Messrs Clausen and Alison, the only surviving foundation members were invited to the presentation ceremony, but while Alison was present

Clausen had become suddenly ill and died shortly afterwards. With increasing membership and activi-ties the institute had to seek more spacious premises and sectional title offi ce space was then purchased in Burke House, Randburg, and rented out pending occupation by WISA. During this period, however, WISA was off ered a minority share holding in

New Road Properties Pty Ltd. and rented accommodation in one of its offi ce blocks in Thandanani Park, Matuka Close in Midrand. The share holding was accepted and the Randburg property sold. Since then, WISA has moved again in 2005 to Rosen Offi ce Park, Invicta Road, Midrand.

Institute journal Neither WISA nor its predecessors has ever produced its own journal. In the early days papers presented at the institute were published in the magazine “Public Health”. When the fi nancial burden to that institute became too great arrangements were made with the parent body of the Institute of Sewage Purifi cation to publish South African papers once per year in Part 3 of its Journal & Proceedings. A photograph of the cur-rent South African branch chairman would also be presented on the fi rst page of this particular part. Once again this arrangement suff ered fi nancial problems and came to an end with the formation of IWEM. For a limited period, local presentations were published in IMIESA (The magazine of the Institution of Municipal Engineers of South Africa) until an arrangement was made for WISA material to be incorporated in Water Sewage & Effl uent, copies of which would be made available to its members at no cost. Members were also able to receive two publications of the Water Research Commission, namely Water SA and SA Waterbulletin. Journals of the American Waterworks Association and WPCF of the United States of America were available to members via the institute’s library. At the request of the Water Pollution Control Federation, the South African insti-tute facilitated the collection of a number of papers describing South African waste-water purifi cation technology, which were published as a separate feature in a monthly edition of the Federation Journal.

The mission of WISA is to provide a forum for the exchange of information and views to improve water resource management in Southern Africa

12 MAY/JUNE 2012

NCP ChlorchemHOT SEAT

Value-added solutions for the water treatment industry

NCP Chlorchem is a major manufacturer and distributor of chlor-alkali products and derivatives targeted at the mining, water treatment, industrial, paper and fi ne chemicals markets. Debbie Besseling speaks to Dean Mulqueeny, managing director of NCP Chlorchem, about its business in providing water treatment solutions.

NCP Chlorchem was fi rst es-tablished on the Chloorkop site by the South African government in 1948. During

the 60s, it was privatised and in 1967 the then Klipfontein Organic Products became a founding member of the Sentrachem Group. In 1997, the Dow Chemical Company acquired Sentrachem.

double in size and develop any new po-tential chlorine sinks

• A decision was made to double the then capacity from 85 000 ECU/annum to 160 000 ECU/annum.

• This will be done in 3 phases: ‒ First phase (20 000 ECUs) started pro-

duction September/October 2008. ‒ First phase completed early 2010.2009: Built Sodium Hypochlorite plant and bulk storage warehousing in Cato Ridge, KwaZulu-Natal2010: Built Chlorine Storage Warehouse in Atlantis, Cape Town. Offi cially opened in 2011.September 2010: 50% shareholding in Botash in Botswana.2012: Upgrade Bloemfontein depot.The CAH Group comprises three distinct operations, the chlor-alkali production facil-ity located in Chloorkop (NCP Chlorchem) in South Africa, the salt production facility located at Walvis Bay in Namibia, and 50%

About ChloorkopThe latest chlorine plant on the Chloorkop site was built in 1988 using state-of-the-art membrane cell technology developed by Asahi Chemicals. The installation replaced the diaphragm and mercury plants used until then. The facility was further upgraded during expansion projects in 1990 and 1995 to its present production capacity. Asahi remains the world’s leadings chlorine technology supplier, reinforced by the Dow Chemical Company in selecting Asahi technology as its preferred technology for the future.

“The team has been specially selected to concentrate on building and strengthening our customer relationships and promoting our range of products” Dean Mulqueeny

During its history, Chlorchem has focused on becoming a fully integrated supplier of chlor-alkali products. Some signifi cant moments in its history include:1974: Formation of Aquachlor (50/50 JV with Arch Chemicals) and construction of plant to manufacture calcium hypochlorite

under the trade name HTH®1988: Commission of a membrane chlor-alkali plant1988: Purchase of the re-maining share in Walvis Bay Salt Refi ners1990: Phase 1 expansion of the chlor-alkali plant

1995: Construction of the new ferric chlo-ride plant and Phase 2 expansion of the chlor-alkali plant1999: Commencement of the Walvis Bay expansion programme2002: Chlor-Alkali Holdings formed• The current focus at Chlorchem was to

MAY/JUNE 2012 13

HOT SEAT

shareholding in Botash in Botswana. The chlor-alkali production facility at Chloorkop is the second largest in South Africa.

Chlorchem’s water treatment divisionNCP Chlorchem is a chlor- alkali industry and its new and creative marketing vision and strategy has chlorine and caustic as its core products. Our people are the source of our success. Chlorchem has transformed the water treat-ment division to focus on the potable, wastewater and effl uent sector.The team has been specially selected to concentrate on building and strengthening our customer relationship and promoting our range of products. The dynamic marketing team comprises the following:• Vassie Naidoo, business unit manager, has 35 years’ ex-perience in the industry and leads the team in its focus.

• Antoinette Baker has experience in the water industry and is regarded as an expert in the fl occulation and coagulation market sector.

• Nhlamulo Chauke is champion of the CEPT (chemical enhanced primary treatment process). We have built a custom-made trailer to conduct plant trails. The trailer is portable and will be used prior to permanent instal-lations. Laboratory results achieved up to 90% removal of COD.

• Victor Pienaar, our disinfectant manager, has 24 years’ experience in the disinfectant market. Decisions have been taken to accelerate the education and training of our customers on the applications of chlorine.

• Noel Naylor, our exports manager, has 20 years’ experi-ence in the industry with six years specifi cally in the African market.

• The marketing team is supported by a well-qualifi ed and expert technical department.

What challenges are faced in the water industry?Our internal challenge is electricity costs ‒ being a raw material it is something that we take seriously. We are aware of the impact of the rapid rising electricity costs. This puts a lot of strain on our competiveness due to the increased costs of the raw materials. There has been a strong focus on optimisation and process control. We are exploring opportunities of power generation so that we can be self-suffi cient and our business remain sustainable.In terms of skills levels there is a strong drive on the development of both people and technology within the research side of our business.One of our main challenges is to reposition the com-pany in the minds of our customers, that we are more of a value-added partner than a chemical supplier. We see challenges in the country to ensure that good, clean, pure, healthy water is supplied to all parts of South Africa and we at NCP are actively planning to be part of developing new tailor made solutions for the outlying areas which do not have the infrastructure like the big metros such as Rand Water and the Umgeni Water, the smaller ones they do not have the luxury of sophisticated systems. Our team is working together with some of the metros and municipalities in jointly developing solutions that will allow for sanitised water to be delivered; our dream is to

deliver these solutions to every household in the country and in sub-Saharan Africa. Where there is a requirement for water clarifi cation and sanitation, NCP is there.

Business operations in AfricaWith most of our water treatment customers concen-trated in South Africa, the regional potable water treat-ment market has been identifi ed as a potential growth market. Opportunities exist to serve the growing water treatment demand in Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. We are looking at a serious co-investment into East Africa, which will allow for our market and allow us to become competitive with the Eastern countries.

VisionTo be a world-class company in its operational execution as the producer and preferred supplier of quality caustic and chlorine derivatives, and of long-term, value-adding solutions to the water treatment industry in selected African markets. This will be achieved by providing in-novative technologies in the manufacture and supply of cost-eff ective products that are supported by the provi-sion of world-class technical expertise.

www.ncp.co.za

BELOW NCP Chlorchem plants

14 MAY/JUNE 2012

NEWS International

AUSTRALIAThe fi rst seawater drops enter the Melbourne plantTHE CONSTRUCTION team has successfully completed fl ood-ing of the intake and outlet tunnels, 1.2 km and 1.5 km long respectively. It took nearly 72 hours to fi ll each tunnel with some 40 000 m3 of seawater, through to the seawater lift

pumping station (SWLPS), which is to transfer seawater from the underground tunnels to the desalination plant and to the pre-treatment phase.The energisation of the

underground power cable to be run to the SWLPS to power its fl eet of submersible pumps will be done gradually.This new step forward will

be crucial to the project and will mean that the marine

structure and tunnels are nearly ready to operate, after the commissioning period. The fi rst cubic metre of treated water is expected in mid 2012. The Victorian Desalination Plant will be capable of supplying up to 450 000 m3 of drinking water per day, about a third of Melbourne’s water needs.Source: Degremont

CANADASmallest city has world’s best waterTHE RESIDENTS in Greenwood, British Columbia, have the best tap water in the world, accord-ing to an international water tasting, Greenwood Mayor, Nipper Kettle, sent a sample of the city’s municipal drinking water to the 22nd annual Berkley Springs International Water Tasting competition in West Virginia. It won top prize: the coveted title of Best Municipal Water in the World

with a score of 40 out of 44.“I know the quality of the

water. When I fi rst moved here I used to buy bottled water and I thought, why am I wasting my time buying bottled water when we have the best water?” said Kettle.The community’s drinking wa-

ter comes from underground aquifers and is untreated. The city wins a trophy for the honour. But most importantly, says competition organiser Jill Klein Rone, the city of just 676 residents get bragging rights ‒ something not lost on Kettle.

Judges examine the clarity of the water at the 22nd Annual Berkley Springs International Water Tasting competition.

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Kettle says they may have to change the community’s slogan from ‘Canada’s Smallest City’ to ‘City of liquid gold’.Source: CBC news

INDIAInadequate power and water pricing promoting groundwater misuse

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

INADEQUATE AND sub-optimal pricing of power and water are promoting misuse of groundwater. Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, has stressed on the need to move towards participatory mechanisms of pricing of water by the primary stakeholders themselves. He also said that keeping in mind the limitations on increasing water supply, a large part of eff ort to plug the demand-supply gap must focus on increasing water use effi ciency. “There is no regulation of groundwater extraction and no coordination among competing uses. Inadequate and sub-optimal pricing of both power and water is promoting the misuse of groundwater. We need to move to a situation where ground-water can be treated as a common property resource,” he said at the inauguration of the fi rst National Water Week.Singh underlined that one of the problems in achieving better management is that the current institutional and legal structures that deal with water in India are inadequate, fragmented and “need urgent reform”. “The planning, development and management of water resources have to keep pace with current realities. There is a suggestion that a broad over-arching na-tional legal framework of general principles on water is necessary to pave the way for essential legislation on water governance in every state,” he said. Source: The Indian Express

JAPANExperts warn of future risk of giant tsunamiREVISED ESTIMATES of the potential impact from an earthquake off Japan’s

southern coast show much of the coun-try’s Pacifi c shore could be inundated by a tsunami more than 34 m high.A government-commissioned panel of experts says a tsunami unleashed by an earthquake of magnitude 9.0 in the Nankai trough, which runs east of Japan’s main island of Honshu to the southern island of Kyushu, could top 34 m.An earlier forecast in 2003 put the poten-tial maximum height of such a tsunami at less than 20 m.The revisions, posted on a government website, are based on new research fol-lowing last March’s magnitude 9.0 earth-quake and tsunami, which devastated a long stretch of Japan’s north-eastern coast and killed about 19 000 people.Last year’s catastrophe, and the ensuing crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, has prompted sweeping reviews of Japan’s disaster preparedness and criticism over apparent failures to take into account potential risks. The tsunami knocked out power at the 40-year-old coastal nuclear plant, leading to the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. Tens of thousands of residents had to leave the area, and it’s unclear whether some will ever be able to move back. The Fukushima plant was designed to withstand a 6 m tsunami. The actual surge was 14 m high.The revised tsunami forecast for a pos-sible Nankai earthquake says Tokyo could expect waves up to 2.3 m high. But at the coastal town of Kuroshio, on the island of Shikoku, the tsunami could top 34 m, it shows. The computer modelling for the revised forecasts assumes a high tide for the highest estimates.Source: nzherald.co.nz

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Water and energy investments currently total $US180 billionTHE EMIRATE IS investing $US100 billion (R782 billion)into King Abdullah City of Atomic and Renewable Energy, due to be-gin construction next year, with 15 smaller projects worth $US9 billion in the works, according to fi gures collated by Ventures Middle East ahead of the Middle East Ele

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MAY/JUNE 2012 17

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ctricity exhibition in Dubai.“According to the World Energy Council, the Gulf Cooperation Council will require 100 GW of additional power over the next 10 years to meet growing demand. The power sector will require $US50 billion worth of investments in new power generating capacity and $US20 billion in desalina-tion,” says exhibition director Anita Mathews.Qatar recently announced plans to build at least nine power and water facilities worth $US4.8 billion over three years, including the $US3 billion Qatar Facility D power project, commencing this year. Bahrain has four ongoing projects worth $US4.2 billion, Kuwait has 17 projects valued at $US4 billion and Oman has put aside $US2.9 billion for 13 new power, water and energy projects to begin at various points in the year ahead.Elsewhere in the Middle East, Jordan has nine projects predominantly in the water sector worth $US6.1 billion starting this year, with Morocco looking to make the most of its wind resources, earmarking $US3.8 billion for renew-able energy projects over the next two years.At the same time, Egypt and Iraq continue to move forward

with power infrastructure plans as both countries commit $US5.3 billion each to new pro-jects over the next two years.Source: Ameinfo

SINGAPORESmarter water treatment services through mobile cloud application

VEOLIA WATER Solutions & Technologies and Appear IQ, a mobile enterprise application platform specialist, announce that a new mobile cloud ap-plication has been rolled out for Veolia in Singapore. Veolia has selected Appear IQ enterprise mobile platform to design, manage and support a new mobile application with the aims to track pick-ups and deliveries, and ensure the ultimate quality of its Service Deionisation (SDI) activities. Through its state-of-the-art and fully automatic regen-eration centre in Singapore, Veolia handles 25 000 m3 of resin every month and off ers a

convenient, safe and economi-cal method that ensures the sustainable supply of the highest quality water through a large range of exchange-able columns (anion, cation, mixed-bed and activated carbon). This fl exible SDI solu-tion does not require system installation, chemical handling and maintenance.Laurent Besson, general man-ager of Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies in Singapore, explains: “Keeping track of thousands of purifi cation col-umn units across the country is a challenging task for our engineers. With the Appear IQ mobile cloud approach, we successfully implemented a cost-eff ective solution cover-ing all our needs for a fraction of the cost of a dedicated turnkey solution.” Vincent Dollet, chief technical offi cer of Appear IQ, highlights the innovative design of the so-lution: “The solution facilitates deployment of applications without the upfront cost and complexity of buying and man-aging the underlying hardware and software platforms. We provide support for application development, testing, deploy-ment and hosting as well as backend integration, security, scalability and storage.” Source: Marketwatch

THAILANDArchitects’ answer to rising seas: fl oating homes

AROUND THE WORLD, archi-tects and city planners are exploring ways mankind and water may be able to coexist as oceans rise and other phe-nomenon induced by climate change, including extreme, erratic floods, threaten land-rooted living.“We will have to live with a more watery environment. There is no choice,” says Danai Thaitakoo, a Thai landscape architect whose Bangkok house was swamped last year as the country suffered its worst floods of modern times.The Thai capital is also among the mega coastal cities projected by the end of this century to lie totally or partially under water as global warming boosts sea levels, ac-cording to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.Thai architect Chutayaves Sinthuphan, who will be

18 MAY/JUNE 2012

unveiling a pilot amphibious house for the Thai government in September, says interest in such projects has grown since last year’s fl oods, which killed more than 600 people and aff ected more than a fi fth of the country’s 64 million people.“We have had proposals out for some time, but nobody has paid attention to them until the fl oods came,” he says.His Site-Specifi c Company has already built such houses for private clients using modern techniques and materials, but like other architects in Asia he looked to a past when commu-nities adapted well to annual monsoon season inundations.They point to a riverside village in the southern province of Surat Thani, where everyone lived on homes atop bamboo rafts until all but three families moved on land. Those three homes were the only ones that survived last year’s fl oods.Source: Bloomberg business week

UNITED KINGDOMDrought conditions spread DROUGHT HAS spread in Britain, with parts of east and south Yorkshire now offi cially aff ected.The Environment Agency said public water supplies should not be aff ected, but lower river and groundwater levels meant businesses and farmers that take water from rivers should use it wisely.

The agency has already declared drought in areas of the South East and East Anglia.Seven water companies in those areas had to impose hosepipe bans on 5 April. Yorkshire Water said it did not anticipate any restrictions such as hosepipe bans for the time being.“Our regional water supply system gives us fl exibility, what it doesn’t give us is an unlimited supply of water, so we would always encourage our customers to only use what they need, when they need it.”As the warm spell across the United Kingdom continued, fi refi ghters were involved in tackling blazes in North Yorkshire, south Wales, Dumfries and Galloway, and the Borders.On Hanging Moor, in Thruscross, it took more than 35 fi refi ghters almost 12 hours to bring a blaze under control after being called to the scene early on Tuesday afternoon.In south Wales on Tuesday, a grass fi re spread to a house, garage and electricity poles near Pontardawe in the Swansea Valley, while forestry in the Rhondda Fach was also hit by a spreading grass fi re.The Environment Agency has warned that above-average rainfall could be required in coming weeks if drought is not to spread more widely.Two dry winters have led to concerns that wetlands, ponds and streams could dry out, damaging wildlife including

amphibians, aquatic insects and wading birds.Source: BBC News

UNITED STATESResearchers build ‘wastewater generator’

RESEARCHERS IN the United States have built a prototype device which they say can generate electricity from wastewater. The team at Pennsylvania State University says the technology would treat the water simultaneously. They suggest the process could be adopted in developing countries, providing clean water and power for homes. Scientists in the Netherlands have been exploring the idea of generating renewable power along the country’s coastline for some years where fresh water from rivers meets the salt water of the sea. Using

a process called reverse electrodialysis (RED), fresh water and seawater are placed in intermittent chambers separated by membranes and an electrochemical charge is created. A Norwegian company is developing a similar technology using saline and fresh water.The team from the univer-sity says RED technology is problematic because of the large number of membranes required and because power plants have to be located by the sea. The prototype technology also bypasses the need for salt water by using ammonium bicarbonate solution as a substitute, meaning the system could work in communities far from the sea. The ammonium bicarbonate solution would be constantly recycled, using waste heat from local industry. Lead researcher Prof Bruce Logan said: “If we treat wastewater in just a microbial fuel cell, we don’t create much power and it takes a long time. In our process, we have the MFC part that treats wastewater and creates energy,

NEWS International

and we have the RED stack, which is just boosting that process ‒ it’s making it happen more effi ciently.”He says the process could potentially be used anywhere, but could provide both clean water and power to com-munities in developing countries. “The main application right now is in wastewater treatment where you could eff ectively treat the water, but also gain some extra energy from waste heat.“Instead of having a net drain, we have a net gain.”Source: BBC News

Miracle tree could produce clean drinking water

SCIENTISTS IN WASHINGTON have turned to Moringa oleifera, also called the ‘miracle tree’ ‒ a plant grown in equatorial regions for food, traditional medicine and biofuel ‒ to economically produce clean drinking water in developing countries.The latest episode in the American Chemical Society’s award-winning ‘Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions’ podcast series describes how the seeds of the plant can be used to produce clean drinking water.The new water-treatment process requiring only tree seeds and sand could purify and clarify water inexpensively and sustainably in the developing world, where more than one billion people lack access to clean drinking water, according to the scientists. Removing the disease-causing microbes and sediment from drinking water requires technology not always avail-able in rural areas of developing countries. For an alternative approach, scientists looked to Moringa oleifera.Past research showed that a protein in Moringa seeds can clean water, explained Stephanie Velegol, a researcher at Pennsylvania State University, in the podcast. One approach creates water that cannot be stored, and the other approach is too expensive and complicated. The researchers wanted to develop a simpler, less expensive way to harness the seeds’ power. To do that, they added an ex-tract of the seed containing the positively charged Moringa protein (which binds to sediment and kills microbes) to negatively charged sand. The resulting ‘functionalised,’ or ‘f-sand,’ proved eff ective in capturing lab-grown E. coli and damaging their mem-branes. The f-sand was also able to remove sediment from water samples. The results open the possibility that f-sand can provide a simple, locally sustainable process for produc-ing storable drinking water, Velegol noted. Source: Zeenews

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MAY/JUNE 2012 21

NEWS

SOUTH AFRICAMore stinking toilet businessWHAT WAS MEANT to be an improvement of sanitation for residents of Mountain View in Koster, North West, has resulted in humiliation and misery.In 2009, Kgetleng Rivier Local Municipality employed a company to install 648 fl ushing toilets in extensions 6 and 7. But the company did a shabby job. Only a few toilets were completed; others have been completed, but the fl ushing system is defective. Some have not been connected to the water supply system.Mapaseka Motshaiwa and her family have to live with the humiliation of having their toilet overfl owing with excrement whenever they fl ush it. “At times I don’t use my toilet because it is an embarrassment. This project was incomplete and I believe that the sewerage pipes were not correctly connected,” she said.The situation has led to some families continuing to use pit toilets because the new toilets do not fl ush.A few who can aff ord it have used their own funds to connect the toilets.Lebogang Ntshole’s family of eight is one of those using pit toilets. “We are stuck with this pit toilet. We thought our lives were going to change when a new toilet was installed in our yard. “Instead, it is standing there incomplete. We don’t have money to connect the water pipes. Our pit toilet is now full and we need to dig another one.”

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Spokeswoman for the provincial Department of Local Government & Traditional Aff airs Dineo Lelokwane said the department would investigate the matter. “We are going to look into the matter and the outcome thereof will be discussed openly.”Source: Sowetan Live

Toilet to tap water plan for DurbanDURBAN PLANS to become the fi rst South African city to purify and recycle sewage water into drinking-quality tap water and offi cials are urging residents to comment on the proposal as soon as possible. The plan involves producing about 12% of the city’s tap water supply from recycled sewage effl uent ‒ mainly in the northern suburbs and townships of the city. The water would be disinfected and purifi ed at the KwaMashu and Northern sewer-age works, which would be upgraded to incorporate new ultra-fi ltration and disinfection methods. The city is also carrying out a parallel feasibility study on purifying seawater as an alternative, but the desalination process requires large volumes of electricity that would push up treatment costs. As part of a compulsory social and environmental impact assessment, eThekwini Municipality and consultant Golder Associates placed newspaper advertisements in February 8 editions inviting the public to comment. According to a background information document, a

Department of Water Aff airs study in 2008 found the eThek-wini metro area was running short of reliable water supplies and the risk of water restrictions was considered “unacceptable”. Golder Associates’ back-ground document says the only other South African municipal-ity using treated effl uent for tap water is Beaufort West in the Western Cape. This R42 million scheme began producing water in January. Commenting on concerns that the treatment relied on high levels of technical skills and effi ciency, the Golder report said Durban was among the top scorers (above 96%) in the 2011 national Blue Drop water quality scheme. Nevertheless, Golder said numerous studies showed that conventional wastewater treatment plants could not remove endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) completely. However, more advanced processes like reverse osmosis “appear to be viable for the removal of many trace contami-nants, including EDCs”.As a further safeguard, all purifi ed effl uents from the two new Durban plants would be stored for at least 12 hours after treatment so that fi nal grab samples could be taken before the water was released into tap supplies. Source: The Mercury

ZAMBIAInvesting in water, sanitation

ACCESS TO CLEAN drinking water and basic sanitation facilities could transform the lives of millions in the world’s poorest countries. Universal access to water and sanitation could prevent thousands of child deaths and free up hours the hours spent fetching water each day so that women and

children could go to go to work or school.This is especially true for girls, as studies show that 12% are more likely to go to school if water is available within a 15-minute walk rather than a one-hour walk.Despite the township in Itezhi-tezhi being with a kilometre of the Itezhi-tezhi Dam, access to adequate clean drinking water is a challenge that Zesco is trying to help resolve.“We at Zesco felt that what will be appreciated the most by the residents of Itezhi-tezhi is water, hence this water reticulation project that will pump water from the Kafue Dam up to a treatment plant and later into a ground reservoir,” says Moses Mbuta, the power company’s resident engineer.Mbuta recently guided Southern Province minister Miles Sampa and Roy Nan’galelwa, the new district commissioner, on a tour of the Itezhi-tezhi hydro-power station and water project being undertaken by Sinohydro, a Chinese company.To the 65 000 residents of Itezhi-tezhi who are outnum-bered by livestock at over 67 000, the project is a solution to the dirty water and a lack of basic sanitation, which under-mine eff orts to end extreme poverty and disease.This was the fi rst time that the energy company has ventured into water and sewerage ser-vices. “We are currently pump-ing 1.2 Mℓ/d of water; after the water reticulation project is completed by mid-July, we are expected to pump as much as 2.3 Mℓ/d of water. The new water plant being built will be independent from the old one and they will all channel into the new groundwater reservoir from where the council will have to tap water to the lower parts of the hill,” Mbuta said.Mbuta said the Itezhi-tezhi hydropower project is divided into three phases: infrastructure developments (which will see the new Central Province district have 41 houses), an offi ce block, a warehouse and a guest house.Source: The Post Online

Department of Water Affairs

22 MAY/JUNE 2012

PROFILE

What is your vision for the department in particular and the water sector in general?My vision is premised from that of the Department of Water Aff airs (DWA) which is “a dynamic, people-centred department, leading the eff ective management of the nation’s water resources, to meet the needs of current and future generations”.The National Water Act says that the water resources belong to all the people of South Africa. The DWA has been given a mandate by government to look after the water resources, following certain guide-lines as outlined in the National Water Resources Strategy as to the hierarchy of allocation, starting with those who don't require licensing such as basic provision for domestic usage and ecological reserve to those that require licensing ‒ while tak-ing equity as a factor in allocation.The department will be strong when it has a skills base that has a deep under-standing of water issues and keeps a close check on its adherence to the mandate given by government from time to time. It must play a leadership role on policy and regulatory issues, while it plays a support-ive one to those sectors that use water, especially domestic use.The water sector, which occupies the whole value chain, looks to the depart-ment to lead it. The premise we start from is that South Africa is a water-scarce

DWA announces appointment of Director GeneralMaxwell Sirenya has been appointed Director General of the Department of Water Affairs. He speaks to Water&Sanitation Africa on his vision for the department and the water sector.

country. As a department, we are charged to ensure that this scarce resource is devel-oped, used, conserved, managed and con-trolled in a way that does not deplete or degrade it. There are sectors that use water for economic activity and it is within policy to use water for growth and development. Among these are agriculture, mining, industry and energy, but this usage is regulated through organised licensing. The principles of water conservation and demand management by all the role play-ers in the sector have to be observed. We also have international obligations espe-cially to our neighbouring countries with shared river basins that must be consulted through joint commissions. The impact of climate change on our water resources, especially after COP 17, needs a thorough analysis of what we should do to comply with the outcomes in terms of mitigation and adaptation strategies.

What do you see as your immediate priorities?I would like to see all vacant positions fi lled with the right skills. In the meantime, while we battle to fi nd the right skills for reasons bigger than this department, we need to take advantage of the assistance off ered by a number of public sector organisations. Among these are the Offi ce of the Accountant-General, the Offi ce of the Auditor-General, Development

Bank of Southern Africa, the Department of Public Works and Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority. I would like us to move away from an environment of qualifi ed audit reports and disclaimers to one of unqualifi ed audits in the fi rst instance, to one of clean audits eventually. I would like to engage sister departments that have a role to play on water issues so that we have a common approach. Among these would be the de-partments of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Aff airs, Rural and Land Aff airs, Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Mining and Energy as well as Environment.

Having previously worked for water utilities, what advantage does that bring into your current job?The environment I come from is one of strict compliance in terms of report-ing requirements, which specifi es for example, when and how to produce the Shareholders Compact consisting of busi-ness plans, annual and quarterly reports and fi nancial statements, tariff setting and presentations to the portfolio committee. The organisations I have worked for and been associated with have never had quali-fi ed audit reports. I am a strong believer on the adage that the right tone must be set at the top. I would hate to have a situation that in my language says: “Inkala iyawuze ithi abantwana bayo mabahambe kakuhle,

PROFILE

MAY/JUNE 2012 23

kodwa yona iyakekela” (a crab would like its children to walk straight while it walks crookedly). In other words, we must lead by example.

Briefl y tell us about your career historyMy involvement with the South African water sector started in 1991, when the changes in the South African political landscape made it possible for exiles to return home and I joined Umgeni Water. My fi rst job at Umgeni Water was as a treasury accountant and then I moved to planning for bulk water infrastructure where I led nego-tiations that in turn led to the transfer of the bulk water infrastructure from the South Coast Joint Services Board to Umgeni Water. My biggest contribution between 1994 and 2004 was the establishment of the Reticulation Department that was responsible for rural water supply.It was while at Umgeni Water that I got involved with a number of national water bodies, associations and re-search bodies, such as the South African Association of Water Utilities, Water Institute of Southern Africa, and the Water Research Commission (WRC). It was through these organisa-tions that I took part in the early stages of developing water, local government and public sector policies and legislation, e.g. the National Water Act, Water Services Act, Municipal Structures Act, Municipal Systems Act, Public Finance Management Act and Strategic Framework Document for Water Services. My involvement with the WRC started in the mid 90s when I served in various project steering com-mittees and fi nally as a board member.From 2004 to 2009, I served as the chief executive of Amatola Water in the Eastern Cape. I would like to think of my contribution as the one that turned around an organisation that was oth-erwise loss-making and not sure about its existence and future to the one that set a benchmark in proving that it is possible for a state-owned commercial entity to operate profi tably and support government mandates, while observing governance requirements. We worked

very closely with DWA, regional and national, and mu-nicipalities in intervening in emergency situations and Amatola Water became an implementing agent for a number of municipalities. We forged close links with mu-nicipalities and institutes of higher learning in the form of Memoranda of Understanding for collaborative and research activities. My biggest contribution though has to be the securing of an asset base for Amatola Water for assets owned by the then Department of Water Aff airs and Forestry (DWAF), which were strongly contested

by municipalities that were also customers. This involved intense lobbying over a period of fi ve years engaging DWAF national and the Portfolio Committee for Water Aff airs and Forestry.From 2009 to the time I was appointed as the Director General, I was a profes-sional service provider with a special focus in rural development, especially agricul-ture. In 2010, the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries appointed me as a council member in the Agricultural Research Council. I was part of a consor-tium that has been doing the fi ve-yearly review of the National Water Resources Strategy, where I was engaged as a water specialist dealing with the sub-strategy of water conservation and demand manage-ment in water services.

www.dwa.gov.za

About Maxwell Sirenya

Education:• Primary and High School education:

Mthatha, Eastern Cape• BA Hons degree in economics, Sussex

University in England• MBA, Cardiff Business School, University of

Wales

Interests:• Languages – I learnt two in the course of

my travels, namely Welsh and French. I would like to improve my Afrikaans and learn Setswana and Sepedi while I am working in Tshwane.

• Farming – I am a practising small-scale farmer in my rural village in Mthatha and believe that poverty and hunger while there is land is a myth.

Values: I am a believer who is a Christian. I strongly believe that God has a plan for each of us. I live an honest life with strong moral values and principles. My name, integrity and legacy are more important than material possessions.

e I led nego-e bulk water rvices Board on betweenReticulationater supply.volved withions and re-ociationern

Amatola Wanumber of mnicipalities aof Memoranresearch actto be the secassets owneand Forest

by mi

My vision is premised from that of the DWA which is “a dynamic, people-centred department, leading the eff ective management of the nation’s water resources, to meet the needs of current and future generations” Maxwell Sirenya

24 MAY/JUNE 2012

PUBLIC SECTORDrakenstein Muncipality

However, as the water requirements of Paarl increased, a higher demand was placed on the mountain waters, particularly during the sum-mer months. As a result, the Nantes and Bethel

dams were built on the mountain in order to provide more capacity to store water throughout the year to fulfi l the town’s needs.

Water quality and securityA water supply management study conducted for the municipality in 2001 found that there was a need for the municipality to secure its own reliable water source. Subsequently, a water treatment works (WTW) for the Paarl Mountain dams was proposed, as most of the distri-bution infrastructure was already in place. According to Brendon Theunissen, Aurecon’s project manager for this project: “Though pristine for most of the year, the dam water was subject to fl uctuations in quality, which has been a problem for the municipality for a num-ber of years. As the South African water standard became stricter, the municipality had to rely more heavily on purchasing its treated water from the City of Cape Town.”

Securing a reliable water source for Paarl’s increasing demandsThe Paarl Mountain has been an important water source for the Drakenstein Municipality for a number of years. From the early settlement of the valley, the various spruits around the mountain have been used by farmers and townsfolk as they provided a pristine source of water that could be channelled to any required application.

Coupled to the above, the water supply management study also revealed that the municipality could build and operate the WTW at a substantial saving against the alter-native of continuing to purchase water from the City of Cape Town. In addition, the Department of Water Aff airs allows the municipality to draw water from the Berg River at certain times of the year. This water can supplement the proposed scheme by transferring it into Nantes Dam. According to Theunissen, a supplement scheme would only be feasible if there was a treatment facility to treat this water due to the lower quality of Berg River water.

Considering environmental impacts Theunissen says the public raised concerns regarding the prospect of the construction of a WTW on Paarl Mountain. In addressing this, the municipality launched an environ-mental impact assessment (EIA) process. “From this process, a number of proposals arose which were presented to the Western Cape Department of Environmental Aff airs and Development Planning (DEADP) for consideration. The department agreed that the best position for the proposed 8 Mℓ/d WTW

would be the disused section of the Pienaarskamp picnic site above the existing Meulwater Reservoir. This al-lows for optimum incorporation of the WTW into the existing distribution in-frastructure,” comments Theunissen.A number of requirements were subsequently set by the DEADP, in-cluding limiting the height and area of the structure, and using an architect and landscaping specialists to blend the structure into the natural environ-ment through construction materials and landscaping.

Design of the Meulwater WTWThe structure sits up to 5.5 m deep into the ground at places and has displaced approximately 1 500 t of granite, almost half of which has been retained on site ‒ either as cladding to the structures or as stone-pitching around the site.

Construction site of the 8 Mℓ/d Meulwater water treatment works located in Paarl

PUBLIC SECTOR

MAY/JUNE 2012 25

Aurecon provides engineering, management and specialist technical services for government and private sector clients globally. The group has been involved in projects that span multiple markets across Africa,

Aurecon’s team of leading water specialists works with clients across every facet of the water cycle to design and deliver the most cost effective and sustainable infrastructure solutions, ranging from network modelling and bulk pipelines to treatment plant design and total operations management.

in the legal, environmental, planning and community consultation issues around water projects.

For more information contact us at tel: +27 12 427 2000 or email: [email protected]

Water and Wastewater Treatment

Dams and Bulk Pipelines

Water Sciences

Stormwater and Waterways

Policy and Institutional

sustainable water management

Services:

Theunissen explains that to reduce the visual impact of the WTW, sections of the structure have been built entirely beneath the natural ground level and are covered with green roofs. The faces of the structures were staggered to lessen the visual impact and the landscaping of the site was done in such a way as to limit the visibility of the site from below. “Trees are also being placed strategically to hide certain elements of the structure and, where possible, berms have been placed to make the structure less imposing.” The Drakenstein Parks department as-sisted the landscaping subcontractor in gathering seeds from the mountain reserve, which will be used to reseed all the areas impacted by construction activities.

Treatment process The treatment process is optimised to suit the relatively good raw water quailty. It is also designed to allow the future incorpora-tion of an additional dissolved air fl otation process within the existing fi lters (should the water quality deteriorate, specifi cally

when the Berg River transfer is implement-ed). The process consists of: • coagulation and fl occulation with a poly-aluminium chloride to bind colour and suspended solids in the water

• direct fi ltration through four deep sand-bed rapid gravity fi lters to trap the coagu-lated materials

• the use of ITT Leopold lateral false fl oors• disinfection with chlorine to kill any pathogens that may be in the water and to provide a residual disinfectant to counter any possible contaminants that could enter the water in the distribution network

Facts & figures• Nantes and Bethel dams combined

capacity: 1 550 Mℓ • Berg River withdrawal allowance:

2 100 Mℓ/year• plant capacity: 8 Mℓ/d, upgradable to

15 Mℓ/d• the plant has a 200 kW backup generator

to ensure there is continuous power supply to the site

• telemetry connects the controls and surveillance of the plant

• spent backwash water is recycled to the head of the works to ensure minimal water loss

• the total cost of the project is R38.2 million, of which the Municipal Infrastructure Grant Programme contributed R29.8 million and the municipality fi nanced the remaining R8.4 million

• civil contractor: Superway Construction• mechanical contractor: Bateman Africa• approximately 1 000 m3 of concrete was

poured, 85 t of steel installed and 1 500 t of granite blasted

• stabilisation with lime to make the water less corrosive to the distribution infra-structure.

26 MAY/JUNE 2012

City of Cape TownPUBLIC SECTOR

The plant is an advanced biological reactor works with automated inlet screening and degritters, surface aerated biological reactors, secondary settling tanks, sludge dewatering system (linear

screens and belt presses) and fi nal effl uent disinfection system (using UV disinfection).In addition to being responsible for the plants civil and hydraulic design, and contract supervision ‒ in joint ven-ture with PD Naidoo ‒ SSI Engineers & Environmental Consultants was responsible for the electrical, drives, control and instrumentation design of the works, having designed, selected and specifi ed the latest technology available from the city’s preferred technology suppliers. The control system and associated electrical/electronic equipment consists of the following:

Medium voltage switchgear:Modern vacuum circuit breaker technology, including intelligent electronic protection relays that are interfaced to the work’s control system via fi bre optic network.

Low voltage switchgear:Modern intelligent motor management devices in all Motor Control Centres (MCCs), incorporating electronic motor protection and advanced fi eldbus motor control interfaces to the programmable logic controllers (PLCs) on the works, as well as modern variable frequency (Speed) converter drive’s (VFCs) with fi eldbus interfaces to the PLCs.

Advanced control and instrumentation installation

The recently completed Fisantekraal Wastewater Treatment Works in Durbanville, undertaken for the City of Cape Town, features the most innovative and up-to-date electrical, control and instrumentation technology.

Programmable logic controllers:Latest range of the city’s preferred technology medium size and machine control PLCs programmed to use the latest IEC 61131-3 compliant Unity-Pro development platform that integrates all facets of the control system and visualisation systems. The PLCs are linked to a mod-ern supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system via modern industrial Ethernet protocol also over fi bre optic network. The network will be extended at a later date when the works is expanded to become a fully redundant fi bre optic ring.

Instrumentation:Modern intelligent instrumentation will be connected to the PLCs via data communications networks as opposed to conventional signal and current loops. Fieldbuses will be used to connect all analogue instruments to the PLC

and AS-I bus (Actuator Sensor Interface) will be used to connect digital instruments to the PLC where these are practical and make economic sense (such as the inlet works and sludge han-dling machinery). The analogue instrumentation includes a centralised Plant Asset Management package that will provide the city’s instrumenta-tion engineers with a range of functionality from simple device parameterisation to maintenance

"The incorporation of a most innovative automation, control and instrumentation system at Fisantekraal represents a quantum leap for the City of Cape Town" Alfred Schroder, SSI sector consultant for control and instrumentation

Inlet Works with Odour Control Facilities and Service Water Pump Station at the forefront

PUBLIC SECTOR

MAY/JUNE 2012 27

support and engineered condition monitor-ing of each instrument.

SCADA system:The complete works is operated from a single central SCADA system comprising a client-server architecture that can later be upgraded to a hot-standby server arrange-ment for redundancy as well as multi-client operator workstations arrangement for greater operability as the works is extend-ed. The preferred SCADA package is the latest copy of a locally developed SCADA solution, which is used extensively on the city’s water and wastewater treatment works. The system includes an advanced web-based reporting package and will be accessible from the municipality’s offi ces via the city’s planned region wide fi bre optic network.According to SSI’s sector consultant for control and instrumentation, Alfred Schroder, “The incorporation of a most innovative automation, control and instru-mentation system at Fisantekraal repre-sents a quantum leap for the City of Cape

Town as most of its existing works have been designed by SSI to either simple relay logic control standards or conventional SCADA/PLC with signal and current loop system standards.”SSI has, to date, designed many modern systems mainly for the mining sector using

the latest technology ‒ SCADA, PLC, motor control devices and fi eldbus instrumentation ‒ and is pleased to be able to raise the city’s standards to that of modern industry.

BELOW Sludge thickening and dewatering equipment

28 MAY/JUNE 2012

PROFILEBOCMA

I ts WMA is in the south-west corner of South Africa and the name is derived from the Breede River, the largest of the

rivers in the area. With seven local municipalities and two district mu-nicipalities, the population of the Breede WMA is estimated at half a million people, with two thirds liv-ing in towns and villages.As lead agent, the BOCMA plays a central role in protecting, using, developing, conserving, managing and controlling water resources, while coordinating with govern-ment and sector partners, and other stakeholders. The strategic focus of the agency incorporates:• water resource planning • water use management • institutional development • water-resource protection • water allocation reform.BOCMA works closely with local governments on water management and water-related services. This ensures synergy between the priorities of the CMA and the local and district municipalities. Legal, policy and regulatory tools are critical for communica-tion, awareness building, response and for building the natural resource and infrastructural capacity. The uncertainty introduced by climate change means exact solutions cannot be planned; building natural ecosys-tems with infrastructural and institutional resilience will enable the best responses.BOCMA’s integrated water programme includes the: • implementation of the ecological and the basic hu-man needs reserves

• protection and conservation of wetlands, estuaries, rivers and critical biodiversity areas

• building of adaptive institutions within all sectors and at all levels

• implementation of water-use conservation strategies.The development of a Catchment Management Strategy (CMS), one of the initial functions of the BOCMA, was completed in 2011 through a process of holistic stakeholder engagement. Once the CMS was adopted by the BOCMA governing board, the CMS

“Quality water for all, forever”In 2005, the Breede-Overberg Catchment Management Agency (BOCMA) was established in terms of the National Water Act as the lead agent for water resource management within the Breede Water Management Area (WMA). The BOCMA is the second catchment management agency in South Africa.

was submitted to the Minister of Water Affairs, Edna Molewa, and is currently awaiting her approval. When it has been approved, the CMS will be gazetted for public comment. This strategic plan will put the BOCMA on the path to ultimately achieve its vision of: ‘Quality water for all, forever’.The BOCMA head office is situated in Worcester and consists of 22 dedicated staff members, headed by Phakamani Buthelezi, the chief executive officer. The Water Resource Division is responsible for the manage-ment and coordination of functions that are performed by the BOCMA for the implementation of the National Water Act, to ensure equitable, efficient and sustainable integrated water resource management.The Water Resource Division is responsible for the Water Resource Management Unit and the Institutional and Stakeholder Relations Unit. The Water Resource Management Unit is responsible for, but not limited to, functions that relate to water resource planning, water-use management and

monitoring, and assisting the Department of Water Affairs (DWA) with other functions. The Institutional and Stakeholder Relations

BELOW CEO of the Breede-Overberg Catchment Management Agency, Phakamani Buthelezi

MAY/JUNE 2012 29

PROFILE

unit (ISRU) is responsible for stakeholder engagement, and maintaining and improving inter-governmental relations. The Water Resource Division, including both units, supports water allocation reform through assist-ing resource-poor farmers with water-use allocations and in applying for financial assistance from the DWA, for sustainable agricultural projects.The BOCMA is the operating arm of the DWA and its aim is to bring water resource services in an ef-ficient manner to the inhabitants of the Breede Water Management Area. The BOCMA has been instrumental in the faster processing of water registrations and licence applications. Furthermore, the BOCMA sup-ports and works closely with the DWA’s Monitoring and Compliance Unit to investigate unlawful water use practices. In addition, there are currently two water-quality monitoring programmes in place, one in the Breede River region and the other in the Overberg region. The BOCMA gives comment on rezoning and consolidations to relevant municipalities, and also on environmental impact studies and basic assess-ment reports in conjunction with the Department of Environmental Affairs. The BOCMA is currently busy with the first validation and verification process where all water users will be evaluated for legal compliance. This process will assist with the management of water allocations in the Breede-Overberg WMA.The ISRU of the BOCMA completed a very success-ful awareness campaign during Water Week (5 to 14 March 2012). During the campaign, almost 4 000 school children were engaged in learning about the water cycle, water use and water saving. The collaboration with local businesses and water user associations was a highlight and showcased the commitment and will to

be involved and to make a difference in the local com-munities. Another highlight for the unit is the approval of the transformation of the Koo Irrigation Board, by the BOCMA Governing Board, into a water user association. This is the first irrigation board to be transformed into a water

user association by a CMA in South Africa! The ISRU, together with local municipalities, also supports a num-ber of women-driven water forums in the Villiersdorp, Bonnievale, Ashton and Grabouw area. The Villiersdorp Women’s Forum won third prize in the National 2011 Women in Water Awards, hosted by the DWA. The BOCMA produces a quarterly newsletter that contains interesting and applied water-resource-related information and activities that take place in the water management area. The website, www.bocma.co.za, contains a range of water-resource-related documents, as well as information about the BOCMA, its operations, the governing board and the newsletter.

Contact details:Tel: +27 (0)23 347 8131Fax: +27 (0)23 347 8133Website: www.bocma.co.za

ABOVE Children participating in National Water Week activities

BOTTOM The Breede River mouth

30 MAY/JUNE 2012

Stellenbosch MunicipalityPUBLIC SECTOR

S tellenbosch Municipality requested KV3 Engineers (now WorleyParsons) to investigate emergency interventions to address severe non-compliance to effluent standards at

Franschhoek WWTW in response to the Department of Water Affairs’ formal notification of pending legal action. Due to the urgency with which the interventions were to be implemented, the solution would need to make use of structures and equipment that would be suit-able for rapid deployment and re-deployment in order to ensure optimal use of funding. A report from KV3 Engineers detailed the criteria applicable to the design of the emergency intervention at Franschhoek WWTW, the regulatory and statutory requirements applicable to the construction, as well as a cost estimate and pro-gramme for the project.A decision was subsequently taken by the Stellenbosch Municipality, due to the Department of Water Affairs' objections to extensions on the exist-ing Franschhoek site, to establish a regional works at Wemmershoek and to decommission the Franschhoek WWTW. Due to various reasons and primarily due to the delays experienced with the environmental impact

Franschhoek WWTW

A remarkable turnaround

assessment process, the Stellenbosch Municipality's project implementation tender process for this solu-tion started in August 2010 with possibly 18 to 24 months before construction of the new facility would be completed.Given the pollution of an extremely important and sensitive water source, the pending legal action from the Department of Water Affairs and the severe impact

on any further emergency and low-cost housing pro-jects, the Stellenbosch Municipality had little option but to address the interim situation at Franschhoek WWTW. According to Brett Keyser, Head: water and waste-water treatment at Stellenbosch Municipality’s Engineering Directorate, “We have seven wastewater treatment works in our municipal jurisdiction, with Franschhoek being the most critical. Our existing infra-structure was capable of handling a capacity of 0.8 Mℓ/day, but the actual treatment system was receiving 2.2 Mℓ/day, thus resulting in more than 250% overload being discharged into the Berg River. Therefore, on 6 May 2010, we took the decision to put up a temporary WWTP in Franschhoek.”

Franschhoek WWTWFranschhoek is situated approximately 100 km from Cape Town, with Stellenbosch and Paarl as neighbour-ing towns. The Franschhoek WWTW was designed to treat a flow of 0.75 Mℓ/day and COD load of 709 kg/day. During 2006, it was already overloaded hydraulically and organically by more than 100% (estimated 2006 flows of ±1.5 Mℓ/day and loads of ±2 000 kg COD/day). From the available data, it was estimated that a treatment capacity of 1.95 Mℓ/day at an organic load of 2 210 kg COD/day would be required to accom-modate the estimated current and future flows up to completion and commissioning of the proposed

In February 2010, the Department of Water Affairs served a Notice of Intention to Issue a Directive on the Stellenbosch Municipality. This called for emergency interventions in order to fi nd a solution for the severe capacity overload at the Franschhoek wastewater treatment works (WWTW).

Our existing infrastructure was capable of handling a capacity of 0.8 Mℓ/day, but the actual treatment system was receiving 2.2 Mℓ/day

Prentec’s two intermittent feed Sequential Batch Reactor (SBR) modules

PUBLIC SECTOR

MAY/JUNE 2012 31

Wemmershoek WWTW, which is currently awaiting environmental authorisation by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning of the Western Cape.”　The existing works (750 m3/day capacity) consist of an inlet works, an anaerobic pond (to be used as a balancing tank), a biological reactor, two final clarifiers, a RAS pump station, a WAS pump station, final effluent maturation pond and chlo-rine contact. Theoretically, no effluent was allowed to enter the Franschhoek River, which is used for irrigation purposes, but in reality most of the effluent was dis-charged to the river.Excess thickened sludge from the clarifiers is pumped daily to one of two sludge stabilisation ponds (winter) or to the sludge drying beds (summer) and a mobile sludge dewatering unit is available on site.

ComplianceThe disposal of treated wastewater is governed by the National Water Act, and discussions initiated with a rep-resentative from the DWA confirmed that the discharge of effluent treated to General Limit Values in the interim, up to completion and commissioning of the Wemmershoek WWTW would be accept-able. An additional clause was added that the emergency intervention must be decommissioned and removed as soon as the regional works at Wemmershoek are commissioned and performing.As upgrades to the nearby Pniel WWTW are envisaged, the DWA further indicated that there would not be objections to such a

re-deployment at the Pniel WWTW. It was recommended that a parallel activated sludge facility be constructed in order to achieve effluent complying with the General Limit Values. The interven-tion would make use of equipment and structures that can be deployed over a very short period and be able to be re-deployed elsewhere (such as at Pniel WWTW, which must be upgraded in the near future).

Process and technologyIt was proposed that the existing anaero-bic dam (750 m3) be used as a balancing sump. A self-priming feed pump would be installed at this point, from where an above ground HDPE pipe would be laid to the new reactor modules.The proposed treatment process con-sists of two intermittent feed Sequential Batch Reactor (SBR) modules that could treat an Average Dry Weather Flow of 1 250 kℓ/ day. These structures, construct-ed from epoxy-fused steel, are bolted to a concrete floor. The structures are chemi-cally inert and can be redeployed with minimal abortive cost. Keyser says: “In two to three years, when the new plant has been constructed at Wemmershoek, this technology will allow us to break down the existing plant

and reconstruct it at another site with minimal additional costs.”Since two SBR structures were proposed, it would be possible to undertake routine maintenance without any additional structures or interventions.The reactors are equipped with floating aerators, a fully automated process control system consisting of a Human/Machine interface (HMI), actuated valves for auto-matic operation and a compressor per SBR unit to operate the actuated valves.

Disinfection retention time is achieved by a chlorination contact system compris-ing a series of LDPE tanks placed on a level platform. A chlorination booster pump and bottle mounted chlorine installation have been provided and housed in the existing chlorine building. Waste activated sludge facilities are achieved by tie-in to the existing sludge-drying infrastructure. Sufficient capacity to treat waste sludge gener-ated on site would be achieved by using all three methods available on site. However, this would require a longer operation of the mobile dewatering unit requiring additional shift work. Dewatered sludge will be periodically removed from the site and dis-posed of at a

The proposed treatment process consists of two intermittent feed Sequential Batch Reactor modules that could treat an Average Dry Weather Flow of 1 250 kℓ/day.

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suitable waste disposal, landfill facility at Stellenbosch or composting as per the cur-rent municipality approach. The existingmaturation pond would be cleaned and rehabilitated for the planned decommis-sioning by Stellenbosch municipal staff.The municipality appointed Prentec to execute the works, based on the design, build and turnkey tender compiled by KV3 Engineers. The plant includes two of Prentec’s tried and tested SBRs. According to Stewart Buchanan, man-aging director of Prentec, “The entire project from the date of our appointment to the commissioning of the plant was undertaken over an eight-month period. Being a “turnkey” contract, Prentec were able to use their in-house resources to efficiently complete the project. Under the critical circumstances, the newly constructed plant at Franschhoek ensured that the environment was protected in the short term, whilst the major regional

plant is being constructed. In the long term, maximum recovery of the installed mechanicals can be realised and easily reinstalled else-where as a robust solution,” concludes Buchanan.KV3 Engineers assisted the municipality with: • conceptual and preliminary design of the required infrastructure to enable the compilation of a detailed scope of work and appro-priate levels of specifica-tions for a Design, Build and Turnkey project

• compilation of the tender docu-mentation for a Design, Build and Turnkey project

• evaluation of offers and the nego-tiations of the final scope of work to ensure execution of a successful project

• evaluating and approval of con-struction drawings in terms of the contract documents

• quality assurance on manufactured equipment and supervision of the imple-mentation stage up to commissioning.

PUBLIC SECTOR

Project milestones:

• Design/Build Turnkey Tender Advertised: 7/7/2010• Appointment of Prentec: 6/9/2010• Commissioning by Prentec: 26/5/2011• Performance Tests on Completion completed: 5/7/2011 (Project acceptance)

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34 MAY/JUNE 2012

PUBLIC SECTOR

Rehabilitation of Klein Maricopoort Dam

Originally constructed by the DWA in 1935 and raised in 1965, the Klein Maricopoort Dam in the North West Province was in dire need of rehabilitation to improve its safety and address several maintenance issues. BKS has successfully completed this R40 million rehabilitation project in cooperation with the DWA and the project was handed over to the DWA in February this year.

The Department of Water Aff airs' (DWA’s) increased focus on its dam safety rehabilitation programme aims to accelerate the rehabilitation

of dams that need to be brought in line with current dam safety standards. The DWA appointed BKS in October 2006 to provide full design and construction supervision services for the rehabilitation of the Klein Maricopoort Dam, which is about 7 km east of Zeerust on the Klein Marico River in the North West Province. It is mainly used for irrigation water. In 1987, it was classifi ed as a medium size dam with a high hazard rating and thus categorised as a

Category III dam. Safety and/or maintenance issues included:• An inadequate fl ood handling capacity (Previous studies found that the original spillway capacity was limited to a fl ood in the range of 815-1 028 m3/s, which is inadequate as the safety evaluation fl ood (SEF) requirement is 2 190 m3/s, in ac-cordance with SANCOLD’s Guidelines on Safety in Relation to Floods).

• The embankment did not contain nor-mal drains or had settled and the crest was not even.

• The cable anchors in the spillway gravity section fi llers were possibly non-functional.

• The bottom outlet leaked into the em-bankment, which posed the risk of piping failure of the embankment.

The original dam wall comprised an earth-fi ll embankment with a central thin con-crete core wall and a side channel (trough) spillway on the right bank. Ogee gravity sections (mass concrete) formed the left side and upstream end of the trough. Water is used mainly for irriga-tion purposes downstream and the outlet works consists of an inlet tower with three multi level intakes, but only the bottom intake was used - the other two intakes were blanked off.

North West Province

MAY/JUNE 2012 35

PUBLIC SECTOR

Unique project team compositionThe composition of the project team was rather unique: the DWA, although the client for this project, used its in-house contractor to undertake the construction work. BKS thus served the client in two very diff erent ways: reporting to the DWA as a client for the design and progress updating components, and supervising the DWA’s contractor’s work. BKS also provided site-supervision training to about eight of the DWA’s and the sub-consultant’s nominated permanent staff , and skills develop-ment and employment for approxi-mately 90 local community members during construction.

Rehabilitation solutionsEvaluations of the dam revealed that raising the embank-ment would not be safe, so the design team opted to in-crease the existing spillway. BKS had to provide solutions to correct or eliminate these issues. The design team thus decided to:• enlarge the trough spillway by excavating rock and providing a new, longer concrete overspill section

• level the dam embankment crest to prevent concentra-tion of water and consequential failure

• raise the concrete core wall inside the embankment• sleeve the outlet pipe with a pipe sleeve• replace the v-notch measuring weir with a concrete crump weir to facilitate the monitoring of leakage from the dam.

Hydraulic modelsThe design team investigated the feasibility of three diff erent options or designs for increasing the spillway. Each option was tested using a physical hydraulic model, which was constructed by the DWA’s Hydraulics Laboratory in Pretoria. Aspects such as the spillway’s ideal size and layout were tested on the models for various fl ooding scenarios. The option chosen for construction was an additional overspill section on the right side of the trough with a curved upstream section to form a central trough spillway.

Construction challengesDuring construction of the spillway trough, a coff erdam was constructed to ensure a full dam at all times, espe-cially during construction of the new trough gravity walls below the full supply level, to limit the damage to con-struction while working in the trough and to direct small discharges over the existing overfl ow section.The team had to address several challenges during construction. While excavating the foundations, for example, several horizontal clay layers were discovered

in the quartzites. A large weathered material section was opened and, ultimately, more than 1 000 m3 of additional weathered rock was excavated. This meant that the team had to redesign the spillway structure to allow for a foun-dation with low shear strength values (strength of a mate-rial against the type of yield or structural failure where the material fails in shear. The shear strength of a component is important for designing the dimensions and materials

OPPOSITE View of the cofferdam, with tarpaulin and sandbags to prevent leakages after heavy rains

TOP The Contractor’s teams constructing the ogee spillwayRIGHT Aerial view of the newly rehabilitated Klein Maricopoort DamBOTTOM View of the raised left fl ank wall

36 MAY/JUNE 2012

PUBLIC SECTOR

to be used for the construction of the component). In addition, the dam’s water level increased throughout construction and had to be controlled with nine 250 mm diameter siphons during construction. The situation worsened due to heavy rains. The DWA implemented an emergency preparedness plan for the dam, and, the local municipality’s disaster manager was alerted as the cof-ferdam was in danger of being washed away. All aff ected residents downstream of the dam to the Kromellenboog Dam were informed about the level of the dam and the risk of fl ooding. Fortunately, the coff erdam was not overtopped, but a leak appeared in the coff erdam, raising concern that the dam could break. The team managed to successfully repair the leak and maintain the integrity coff erdam’s structure.

Extension of the spillway capacityThe trough bottom was widened to 11 m at its upstream end and gradually increased in width to 22 m at the end of the overspilling section to avoid submergence at its up-per end. Hydraulically, this option is also a viable solution for discharging the SEF of 2 190 m3/s without overtop-ping the existing non-overspill crest (NOC) level on the main embankment.While preparing the part of the original spillway that would be used to create the extended spillway, the steel cable anchors in the original spillway could not be disturbed, which limited the use of blasting and required controlled demolition by a pecker machine.To enhance the sustainability of the concrete structure and prevent leakage and possible damage to the integrity of the spillway structure, a herringbone drainage system was constructed below the concrete gravity structures. The trough slab was also constructed to prevent uplift pressures to enhance the safety and functionality of the trough system. Doweling reinforcement bars into rock were also added.

Raising of the headwallsThe downstream part of the headwalls was raised to prevent erosion of the main embankment next to the headwall if overtopping or oversplashing occurs under large fl ood conditions halfway along the headwall’s slop-ing crest, where the trough is about 8 m deep.

Refurbishment of the embankmentAt the embankment, the road to provide vehicular access for maintenance and operation of the dam was upgraded. The refurbishment of all the hydro-mechanical parts and compo-nents was also carried out as part of the civil contract.Seepage was noted through the foundation of the

embankment and the side chan-nel spillway and a V-notch weir located downstream of the spill-way measured seepage fl ow from the spillway and part of the em-bankment foundation. Another V-notch measuring structure was constructed on the left side of the valley, mainly to measure losses

TOP Construction of the end wallMIDDLE Klein Maricopoort Dam’s spillway before the rehabilitation workBOTTOM Part of the completed ogee on the trough spillway

MAY/JUNE 2012 37

PUBLIC SECTOR

from the canal. A downstream gauging weir was thus required to measure the total fl ow, with a crump weir in the centre.

Environmental considerationsThe activities on this project were not listed activities and the programme thus did not require an authorisation from environmen-tal authorities. However, in pursuance of best practice, the principles of the National

Environmental Management Act (Act 107 of 1998) (NEMA) were applied. A screening ex-ercise was undertaken at Klein Maricopoort Dam, from which an environmental man-agement plan for the DWA’s contractor was compiled as per the NEMA.

Successful resultsThe partnership between the DWA and

BKS on this project, combined with careful and dynamic designs that had to consider varying site conditions, were crucial for the success of this project. Not only was this project successful in its implementation methods and completed within budget, but the Klein Maricopoort Dam has been turned into an aesthetically pleasing structure that is functional and, most importantly, safe.

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TOP Klein Maricopoort Dam’s spillway after the rehabilitation workBOTTOM A hydraulic model was constructed to test each design option

Rand Water

38 MAY/JUNE 2012

PROFILE

How is Rand Water responding to the skills development initiatives emanating from the presidential outcomes?In his recent State of the Nation Address, President Jacob Zuma reported that the unemployment rate had declined. While our gains in this regard are nominal, they are still note-worthy.“During 2011, a total of 365 000 people were employed. This is the country’s best performance since the recession of 2008,” he said. "But, we are not 'out of the woods'

yet and still face the triple challenge of un-employment, poverty and inequality."“Rand Water fully supports the observa-tions made by the President,” says Wayida Mohamed, Group human resource ex-ecutive of Rand Water. “The President has portrayed a realistic representation of the state of the country, as well as the attainable goals set for the year ahead. Rand Water has taken up one of the challenges of combat-ing unemployment in the country and is hosting a National Treasury funded project called the ‘Graduate Internship Programme:

Water and Waste Water’.”Entry into the workplace is fi lled with barriers. Many young graduates remain un-employed because of their lack of hands-on skills and experience, required for many jobs and businesses.As South African businesses and organisa-tions we have a greater responsibility to re-move these barriers. Our country's youth can always do with a bit more care, a bit more stability, a bit more hope, and the beautiful thing about hope is that it allows us to see a way through chaos and complexity, believing that things will be better in the future. To assist in the creation of employment for young qualifi ed graduates, our Graduate Internship Programme: Water and Waste Water, will provide skills, experience, pro-fessional registration and employment for approximately 130 unemployed graduates in the water and wastewater sector.

Which professions is the programme intended for?The professional disciplines recognised on the project are engineers, scientists,

artisans and process controllers. The recipient institutions of these graduates will be water services authorities in the Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Free State provinces. The project period is three years, with 18 months of training at Rand Water and 18 months at the recipient water services authority.

What are the benefi ts of the academy in the medium- to long-term?One of the remedies being developed by Rand Water for the water and sanitation sector challenges is a Rand Water Academy (RWA). The far-reaching benefi ts of such an academy at a local, continental and global level will have huge benefi ts in the medium- to long-term.“We understand that the pursuit for resource development, empowerment and transformation within the water and sanita-tion sector is never-ending,” Mohamed says.As a result, the RWA will evolve over a period of years into a world-class in-stitution that will become a fi rst-choice provider of solutions to the key water and sanitation challenges.Key milestones on the RWA agenda are an offi cial RWA introductory launch at the WISA Conference in May 2012 in Cape Town and the launch of the Rand Water Academy at the Zuickerbosch Academy site in June 2012.The primary function of the Academy relates to assisting in combating unemploy-ment and skills challenges timeously. In addition, it will provide the best candidates to business and hence, contribute to the productivity of the company and/or related companies.“Through the collective eff orts of govern-ment and business we can, as the 2012 State of the Nation Address indicates, begin to write a new story about South Africa ‒ the story of how, working together, we can drive back unemployment and reduce economic inequality and poverty.”

No pipe dream

The birth of the Rand Water AcademyThe vision of the Rand Water Academy is to be the fi rst-choice provider of global solutions to the water and sanitation sector by addressing key resource, technological and process challenges that face the sector.

“We understand that the pursuit for resource development, empowerment and transformation within the water and sanitation sector is never-ending” Wayida Mohamed, Group Human Resource Executive of Rand Water

PROFILE

MAY/JUNE 2012 39

Who will this academy cater for?• Rand Water Business• The water and sanitation sector, both on a local and internation level.

About the Rand Water AcademyThe Rand Water Academy is borne out of a few key strategic needs both at a national and political level, and an intern al Rand Water need to systematise the various pockets of excellence in training and devel-opment operating independently across the organisation into a single integrated unit. This move to integrate and create effi cien-cies signals the broader intention to pursue a sector-wide infl uence within (and among sector partners) and outside of the borders of the Republic of South Africa.Within the African continent the is-sues are far more demanding looking at critical areas of:• low or no capacity to source and purify drinking water

• in some African countries there is a high resource of water yet no effi cient stand-ard to purify into drinking water

• poor water management that aff ects economic development

• unpurifi ed water, which can lead to epidemics

• little or no sanitation systems• poor asset infrastructure management of water systems

• limited qualifi ed professional resources to undertake sector objectives.

Rand Water, through the establishment of the academy, can play a pivotal role in skills and capacity development given the global standards that the organisation measures itself against and surpasses. The RWA would address the critical skills issues that aff ect the South African water and sanitation sector, as well as the broader continent. The focus of the academy could extend beyond a skills transfer focus and could incorporate various other models, in-cluding technology development, research platforms and centres of competence and excellence status.In line with one of Rand Water’s strategic organisational objectives, which is to have a high performance culture and to specifi -cally build capability and capacity to meet changing organisational requirements, the concept of an academy could be the special purpose vehicle to drive and sustain that strategic objective.The Rand Water Academy will pro-gressively be realised through spe-cifi c phases of development incorporat-ing fi ve key conc epts:

1. A Centre of ExcellenceAddressing one of the key challenges of pro-cess controller classifi cation around the Blue and Green Drop incentive-based regulations (a super/master process controller).

2. A Centre of CompetenceAddressing the challenges of innovation in science and technology. Rand Water employees are provided with the tools to develop an idea and capture it, so that it can be transformed into a marketable product or service.

3. Research and DevelopmentAddressing the shortage of key graded researchers in the water sector by increasing the pool of National Research Foundation (NRF) graded researchers within Rand Water and the water and sanitation sector.

4. A Professional Exchange HubAddressing the challenges of exposure and international development by allowing re-sources to practise in diff erent countries and

cities outside of South Africa and by inviting international resources to do the same within South African water industry.

5. A water/sanitation solutions unitAddressing the challenges of science/engi-neering and operations solutions in the wa-ter/sanitation sector by utilising a specialist team of trained resources to provide ad hoc specialist solutions to challenges that arise within the water/sanitation sector.

For further information please contact Lathasha Subban T +27 (0)11 682 0339, Project Stream Leader Marketing/Communications/Strategy/Strategic Business Partners. Rand Water Academy. www.randwater.co.za

MAY/JUNE 2012 41

Water resources PROJECT

Cradle of Humankind water monitoring results

The debate on the quality of the water on the West Rand has been raging for many years. Water&Sanitation Africa reports on the results of the water monitoring report that has been released by the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site Management Authority.

A ccording to Dawn Robertson, CEO of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site (COHWHS): “Previously there was a very poor understanding of both the surface

and ground water in the area and so the COHWHS Management Authority commissioned a situation as-sessment into the water quantity and quality, which will be used by the Department of Water Affairs (DWA) in charting a way forward on the matter.”The COHWHS Management Authority recognised its mandate to protect and preserve the heritage site, and this study was conducted to determine the impact that human activity has on the water resources of the area. One of the major concerns that has been raised with regards to water at the heritage site is acid mine drain-age (AMD). AMD occurs when acid, metals and sul-phates are released into the water system as a result of

TOP Gathering samples from the Tweeloopie Spruit for testingBOTTOM The red coloured water shows evidence of AMD in the Hippo Dam in the Krugersdorp Nature Reserve just a few kilometers to the north of the point of decant

42 MAY/JUNE 2012

PROJECT

disused mine shafts filling with water and overflowing (or decanting) onto the surface. However, the impacts of AMD are as important as the impacts of agricultural activities in the area.Robertson says: “This is a particular concern in the COHWHS as it is downstream of various disused mines on the Western Basin and in recent years this has negatively impacted on aquatic life and the quality of water in the area.” The results from the study are both interesting and surprising.

What did the project assess?The two-year project assessed the quantity and qual-ity of water resources in the COHWHS and developed a better understanding of the interaction between surface water and groundwater resources. This has resulted in a body of knowledge built from historical data integrated with a wide range of rigor-ous and defensible newly generated and interpreted hydrological and hydrogeological data and information. Together these convincingly underpin a situation as-sessment of the surface water and groundwater envi-ronments in the COHWHS.

The outcome will help regu-lators to make informed deci-sions regarding protection of the valuable water resources environment in the COHWHS.

Factors which impact or have potential to impact on the quality of the water in the COHWHS include:• Agricultural effluents from both within and upstream of the COHWHS and (in particular) the buffer, as well as upstream areas. Industrial effluents from the upstream catchment.• Pollution from the 120 year-old legacy of intensive gold mining in the West Rand Mine Basin situated to the south of the COHWHS (a short distance upstream

of the buffer). The AMD results in very high salt loads in the environmental water. Contaminants includ-ing heavy metals and radionuclides from AMD can accumulate in wetland sediments, but which can be remobilised given the right chemical conditions such as a drop in pH.• Intensive upstream development, densification and hard-surfacing resulting in increased storm water run-off, increased flooding risk and higher pollution and sediment loads.• Discharge from overstretched wastewater treat-ment works (in particular Percy Stewart Wastewater Treatment Works) add greatly to the microbial load in surface and groundwater.• Landfi ll sites discharge leachates into the environmental water, and uncontrolled/illegal dumping in the catch-ment adds to the extent of water pollution from waste.• Insufficient sanitation for informal housing develop-ments upstream of the COHWHS.

FIGURE 1: The yellow line depicts the study area. The black line is the boundary of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site

The geologyA large proportion (roughly 45%) of the COHWHS is located on dolomite, which varies in structure from solid rock to fissured, fractured and cavernous honeycomb-like strata. Surface water drains through the unsaturated zone to the water table and then mixes with the groundwater in the area. The groundwater drains through the subsurface and the portion not captured by boreholes eventually emerges at a spring to become surface water again. These circumstances describe the inseparable nature of surface water and groundwater resources in the COHWHS.

BELOW Iron oxide deposits that have cemented the pebbles in the Tweeloopie Spruit together

• The very high level of interconnectedness between the surface- and groundwater environment in the dolomites, leaving the groundwater highly vulnerable to pollution from upstream pollution and ingress into shallow holes. The porous nature of the rock adds to the risk of spread of pollution.(Reference: Environmental Management Framework and Management Plan for the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, its proposed buffer zone and the Muldersdrift Area. Surface and Groundwater. March 2009. Lyn Brown. SRK.)

Report findingsThe first finding was that AMD is not the only factor that is degrading the water quality in the area. The other factors include the discharge of treated municipal wastewater efflu-ent into the river system, impacts from agricultural activities, high load-bearing on-site sanitation facilities in the areas not

served by a municipal sewerage system and sanitation and waste concerns associated with informal settlements. Pete Mills, director: Environment and Conservation for the COHWHS Management Authority, says: “With all these water is-sues it was essential to understand how these factors impact on the 13 listed fossil sites in the COHWHS. As a result, a hydrovul-nerability assessment was done and through this study it was established that the risks to most of the fossil sites are minimal.” Nine of the fossil sites reflect a very low or low vulnerabil-ity due to their location. This low vulnerability was assigned because: (a) they are situated in groundwater compartments that are hydrogeologically separated from those where the contaminated water is found and (b) are at an elevation above the ambient groundwater level. Bolt’s Farm reflects a very high vulnerability and Sterkfontein Caves was assigned a high vulnerability, despite the fact that the site has, to date, reflected a very low historical impact in terms of water quality. This is a precautionary measure be-cause the caves intersect the water table. The Swartkrans, Minnaars and Plover’s Lake sites reflect a moderate vulnerability. From this assessment it can be concluded that the majority (70%) of the fossil sites in the COHWHS are not under threat from either changes in surface

How this relates to AMD: AMD that enters the COHWHS as surface water therefore has an impact on both the riverine habitats and ecol-ogy, and on the groundwater resources.The water system: The hydrology of the COHWHS comprises numerous streams, rivers, dams, aquifers, springs and groundwater compartments. The study has helped understanding of how these compartments are connected, making it easier to understand how water moves through the systems and also to anticipate which parts of the COHWHS will be impacted by contaminated water.

Through this study it was established that the risks to most of the fossil sites are minimal

44 MAY/JUNE 2012

TRENDS & PRODUCTS

or ground water quality or quantity. More importantly, however, the authorities now know where to con-centrate their efforts to protect those sites that are more vulnerable.A petrographic study and laboratory kinetic leach tests were conducted to study the impact of AMD on dolomite. The study found that the dolomite initially acts as a buffer and helps to neutralise the water en-tering the natural groundwater system due to dissolution of the dolomite. However, this effect reduces over time, diminishing both the neutralising influence and the dis-solution of the dolomite.

What is the effect of AMD?Generally AMD compromises the quality of water. This is particularly evident in the upper reaches of the Bloubank Spruit, but this is offset further downstream with the addition of very good quality dolomitic spring water.

How this relates to AMD: only compartments in a third of the COHWHS will ever be affected by AMDWater levels: It is natural for the water table or level to fluctuate over time and the water table in the COHWHS is currently rising to historically maximum levels.

It is equally evident, however, that the unprecedented abnormally high flow conditions experienced in the past two hydrological years in the Bloubank Spruit system is cause for grave concern. Due to the copious recharge associated with above-average rainfall there has been abnormally high mine water discharge from the Western Basin.

PROJECT

As a result of the hydrovulnerability assessment and dolomite leaching studies, it was decided to earmark the more vulnerable fossil sites for short-, medium- and long-term monitoring. This will allow the COHWHS Management Authority to continue to observe and as-sess any changes in the situation specific to these sites. Now that the assessment has been completed and the report sent to the Department of Environmental Affairs, the DWA will help to inform the government’s approach to the issue. Mills explains: “This report has provided the means to objectively gauge the impact of varied and numerous threats to and on the water resources, and to develop a coordinated, appropriate and cost-effective water resources monitoring programme.”The DWA is in the process of implementing a mine water control, management and treatment system in the Western Basin, while the COHWHS MA is currently rolling out a water resources monitoring programme in conjunction with the DWA. This monitoring will contin-ue to track changes to the water resources system over time and to inform the relevant authorities accordingly.In addition to collaborating with government depart-ments and institutions, the COHWHS MA also partners and collaborates with other organisations to keep track

FIGURE 2: This diagram shows the various groundwater compartments in the COHWHS. Because they are hydrological separated only 1/3 of the area will be affected. The red circles indicate the areas potentially affected by AMD

FIGURE 3: Schematic diagram illustrating the link between cave morphology and hydrovulnerability as applied to fossil sites in the COHWHS

PROJECT

MAY/JUNE 2012 45

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of the challenges posed by AMD. The COHWHS MA is a member of the Western Basin Void Monitoring Committee convened by DWA as well as the Inter-Governmental Task Team (IGTT) on AMD.Mills says: “The DWA continues to sup-port the COHWHS Management Authority in its water-resources monitoring ac-tivities in the area by providing monitoring

boreholes and instruments and the AMD concern is being addressed by the IGTT on AMD.”The IGTT, in accordance with the recom-mendations of the team of experts report to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on AMD, has implemented measures to control the decant of AMD from the Western Basin. This will roll out in the very near term.

Robertson concludes: “The COHWHS is one of the richest fossil sites in the world and we are committed to protecting and preserving this significant heritage site in regard to its water resources within the Karst environment. We will continue to work with all the government depart-ments to find a sustainable solution to this environmental challenge.”

What were the main findings of the project?The study found that only about 33% (a third) of the COHWHS will be aff ected by poor quality water, mainly AMD and mu-nicipal wastewater effl uent. This is because the dolomite is made up of a number of groundwater compartments each having a specifi c relationship to its neighbour. This relationship is described as either sharing

FIGURE 4: An analysis of fossils site vulnerability

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What is the role of the COHWHS MA?

The COHWHS Management Authority (MA) is tasked with managing the heritage site on behalf of South Africa. In light of this, the COHWHS MA is not responsible for implementing a water purification solution, but to supply information and data that informs the national government’s response to the issues.

surface water and groundwater resources, or being separated from each other. The 33% of the area that will be aff ected represents those compartments that receive poor quality water and also share surface water and groundwater resources. This relationship describes hydraulic continuity between compartments.Water contaminated by AMD is toxic and no aquatic life has been found in the Tweelopie Spruit aff ected by AMD. Although no re-search has been done on the impact of AMD on animals, anecdotal evidence suggests that AMD is harmful to most fauna and fl ora.The study also found that the water table in the COHWHS area has risen to unprecedented levels. This is in response to the high rainfall experienced in the previous two years, as well as the ingress of mine water from the much greater discharge of AMD from the mine area.

FIGURE 5: Location of the fossil sites in relation to the dolomite. The red circles show the area where contaminated water could be expected

MAY/JUNE 2012 49

City of Tshwane

The Pierre van Ryneveld reservoir is the result of a research project by the University of Pretoria, supported by the Water Research Commission (WRC), to investigate the potential of extracting

available energy from existing and newly installed water supply and distribution systems.The City of Tshwane will collaborate with the WRC to conduct research on power generation using closed-conduit systems. The practical research of the project was done by the Civil Engineering Department of the University of Pretoria.The City of Tshwane is using this opportunity to explore the potential of installing hydroelectric genera-tors in specifi c locations in water networks where large amounts of energy are dissipated with control valves

system. The pico-hydro plant at Pierre van Ryneveld is a pilot project.Hydropower development has major potential benefi ts. Its installation often involves the construction of a weir and a simple intake structure with water transferred by a conduit or canal to a suitable point. It is sometimes referred to as greenfi eld hydropower as it needs to be situated on rivers with a relatively constant fl ow and a suitable water drop.Prior to opening the Pierre van Ryneveld reservoir, the University of Pretoria, through funding from the WRC, installed a hydropower generation pilot unit at Queenswood reservoir, also situated in Tshwane. The Queenswood reservoir received its water from Rand Water at a pressure of up to 250 m and proved to be a

Tshwane Metro steps into hydropower generation

The City of Tshwane has launched a new 15 Mℓ hydropower reservoir. The Pierre van Ryneveld hydropower reservoir is located in Region 4 (south-eastern region) of the city and will augment the capacity of the existing water system.

PROJECT

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MAY/JUNE 2012 51

PROJECT

huge success within the municipality.“Rand Water is currently using about 165 MW to transfer water to various reser-voirs, of which a large proportion could be used to generate hydropower,” says Prof. Fanie van Vuuren, a project leader and head of the Civil Engineering Department of the University of Pretoria.He adds: “At a level of pico-hydropower generation, which could benefi t rural communities where communication to the world is a primary concern, the fi rst indications are that some energy could be generated from the low fl ow rate and low head tapped from water supply. In these cases it will be possible to charge batteries and cell phones.”Percy Zitha, member of the Mayoral Committee responsible for Public works and Infrastructure Development, says: “We see this as renewable energy, and it forms part of the objectives of the City of Tshwane to be a world leader in terms of its programmatic approach to the clean development mechanism. With COP17 hav-ing been staged in South Africa, the City of Tshwane has a unique opportunity to draw international attention and illustrate our commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”South Africa approved a white paper on renewable energy, which was based on the Kyoto Protocol, in November 2003; this pushed the use of renewable energy to the forefront. South Africa’s Integrated Resource Plan for the period 2010 to 2030 calls for the harnessing of 17 800 MW of energy from renewable resources.Energy is the lifeblood of worldwide economic and social development.

When considering the current status of global energy shortages, the emphasis to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the development of alternative energy gen-eration methods and the growing energy consumption, it is clear that we need to change the way we create and use energy. The demand for energy is constantly in-creasing and needs to be met in order to stimulate worldwide development. Fossil fuels contribute a large percentage of global energy, but due to the danger of global environment impact, there is resist-ance of expanding it as an energy source. This forces a focus on the development of renewable energy sources.Hydropower contributes only 3% of global energy consumption, but this is only a fraction of its potential. Africa is the most underdeveloped continent with regard to hydropower generation, with only 6% of its estimated potential being exploited. This situation presents South Africa with an opportunity to make a large contribution

towards reversing the lack of hydropower generation in Africa and the world.

ABOUT THE PIERRE VAN RYNEVELD CONDUIT HYDROPOWER PLANT

What is conduit hydropower?Conduit hydropower is where the excess energy available in pressurised conduits (pumping or gravity) is transformed into clean, renewable hydroelectric energy by means of a turbine.

How does conduit hydropower work?The water entering the reservoir still has excess energy, which is normally dis-sipated by means of pressure control valves. A parallel dissipating system ‒ a water turbine ‒ is installed and the water is conveyed through the turbine where the fl ow and head are utilised to generate hydroelectric power.

What are the advantages of hydropower? Hydropower has the several advantages over other forms of energy production in terms of economic, social and environmen-tal impact. First, hydropower is a form of clean, renewable and sustainable energy as it makes use of the energy in water due to fl ow and available head without actually consuming the water itself. It does not emit any atmospheric pollutants such as carbon dioxide, sulphurous oxides, nitrous oxides or particulates such as ash. Second, hydro-power schemes often have very long life-times and high effi ciency levels. Operation costs per annum can be as low as 1% of the initial investment costs. Third, hydro-power schemes often have more than one purpose. Hydropower through water storage can help with fl ood control and supply water for irrigation or consumption, and dams constructed for hydropower can

Africa is the most underdeveloped continent with regard to hydropower generation, with only 6% of its estimated potential being exploited

52 MAY/JUNE 2012

PROJECT

also be used for recreational purposes. Diff erent forms of hydropower, including reservoirs, pumped storage and run-of-river systems of diff erent sizes, are available and can be used for diff erent forms of electricity generation.

How much electrical energy can be produced from this pilot plant?The pilot plant utilises a cross-fl ow turbine and a syn-chronous generator. The maximum capacity is 15 kW of renewable, zero-emission electricity, but this depends on the fl ow and head pressure conditions at any given time. Annually, about 131 000 kWh could be generated with this unit, which is enough to supply 10 households.

What is a cross-fl ow turbine? A cross-fl ow turbine (Banki-Michell turbine or Ossberger turbine) is a water turbine where the water passes through the turbine transversely or across the turbine blades, un-like most water turbines, which have axial or radial fl ows.As with the water wheel, the water is admitted at the turbine’s edge. After passing the runner, it leaves on the opposite side. Going through the runner twice provides additional effi ciency. When the water leaves the runner, it helps to clean it of small debris. The cross-fl ow turbine is a low-speed machine that is well suited for locations with a low head but high fl ow. The subdivided regulating unit, the guide vane system in the turbine’s upstream section, provides fl exible operation. Low operating costs are ob-tained with the turbine’s relatively simple construction.

What are the advantages of utilising a cross-fl ow turbine?The peak effi ciency of a cross-fl ow turbine is somewhat less than for a Kaplan, Francis or Pelton turbine. However, the cross-fl ow turbine has a fl at effi ciency curve under varying loads. With a split runner and turbine chamber, the turbine maintains its effi ciency while the fl ow and load vary from 15 to 100%.Since it has a low price and good regulation, cross-fl ow turbines are mostly used in mini-and micro-hydropower

units of less than 2 MW and with heads of less than 200 m.The simple construction makes it easier to maintain than other turbine types: only two bearings must be maintained and there are only three rotating elements. The mechanical system is simple, so repairs can be performed by local mechanics.Another advantage is that the turbine can often clean itself. As the water leaves the runner, grass and leaves, etc. (which are not present in the City of Tshwane’s potable water supply) will not remain in the runner, which will prevent losses.

What is a synchronous generator?A synchronous electric motor is an alternate-current motor distinguished by a rotor spinning with coils passing magnets at the same rate as the power supply frequency and resulting in a rotating magnetic fi eld, which drives it.

SITE CONDITION QUESTIONS

When is a site feasible?Feasibility studies aim to objectively uncover the strengths and weaknesses of the venture, the oppor-tunities and ‒ as presented by the environment ‒ the resources required to carry it through as well as the pros-pects for success. In the simplest terms, the two criteria to judge feasibility are the cost required and the value to be attained. For conduit hydropower projects, some may

have a monetary value providing a fast payback period, while others have additional value and service remote sites with subsequent benefi ts.

What is the risk of cavitation at the plant?There is a risk of cavitation anytime that a device or piece of equipment is placed within a pipeline. The cross-fl ow turbine is designed to limit the possibility of cavita-tion over a wide range of conditions typically found within pipelines.

What would happen if the generator or turbine fails?

Although highly unlikely, failure would cause the ‘pinch-valve up-stream of the tribune to open and water would be discharged directly into the reservoir. This will allow the control valves to close slowly and water will be redirected through the parallel pressure control valve dissipating system.

The pilot plant utilises a cross-fl ow turbine and a synchronous generator. The maximum capacity is 15 kW of renewable, zero-emission electricity.

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Can more energy be generated at this site?This pilot plant only abstracts approximate-ly 50% of the total infl ow into the reservoir via the constructed bypass. An additional parallel unit could be installed to increase the generation potential.

ELECTRICAL QUESTIONS

How are conduit hydropower plants fi nanced?The feasibility studied conducted thus far indicated that these types of hydropower installations have a relatively short payback period. The reason for this is the minimum amount of civil works required compared to conventional hydropower projects. Due to the low profi le of small-scale hydropower development in South Africa during the last two decades, there are no defi ned approaches and methods for fi nancing hydroelectric installations. Currently municipalities or water boards will utilise their own budgets to fi nance such projects.

REGULATORY AND LICENSING QUESTIONS

What are the regulatory requirements?No water use permit is required as de-scribed in the Environment Conservation Act (Act 73 of 1989) and the National Water Act (Act 36 of 1998) for most conduit hydropower projects. Any development will have to comply with the requirements of national environmental legislation and also with provincial and local govern-ment environmental legislation. Usually no Environmental Impact Assessment is required.

Do you need a licence to generate electricity in this way?The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) requires all independent power producers (IPPs) which intend to produce more than 5 GWh/year to have a licence. This means that all micro-, mini- and small hydroelectricity-producing com-ponents of most projects will have to apply to NERSA for an IPP licence.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

Turbine The pico-hydro turbine is of the cross-fl ow type of standard design. The water passages, including the runner blades and side discs, are nickel-plated and the

turbine housing is hot-dipped galvanised to limit erosion.The turbine is required to have a guide vane to regulate the water consumption. The guide vane is manually operated by a screw and turned by a removable level. The turbine operates at constant water con-sumption, which means constant power ‒ normally full load. A roller-type bearing is used on the drive side (pulley) and a ball-bearing type at the non-drive end. The latter was selected to obtain an acceptable radial load, which would be too small for a roller-type bearing.

Generator The generator is of the synchronous three-phase, 50 Hz, brushless type, with the main fi eld being supplied through a rotating diode bridge from a built-in exciter. The en-closure type is IP23, drip proof with internal fan cooling. The generator is a special hydro de-sign, which is capable of withstanding a short-term 80% over speed, in case the power is suddenly lost (during a lightning strike, for example), and the plant accelerates to runaway speed. The generator is rated 17 kVA, 380/220 V, rotating at 1 500 rpm.

Belt driveThe generator is belt-driven from the turbine, with a pulley ratio to rotate the tribune at maximum effi ciency (642 rpm) with reference to the synchronous speed of the generator (1 500 rpm). The belt is a fl at type of polyamide synthetic material with a leather-coated running surface.

Speed/load controlSpeed/load control by a governor is not possible in this specifi c setup. Thus, the turbine is operated at constant load, normally full load, consuming a constant rate of water. A ballast tank with water-cooled heating elements is provided and can accommodate full load power. Thus, any diff erence between generated power and power consumed is regulated in the ballast tank.During normal operation, stability of the power supply without hutting is ensured as described above. However, in an emer-gency when power is suddenly lost, a by-pass is provided ahead of the turbine inlet, which automatically opens and diverts the fl ow and pressure away from the turbine. The solution adopted is the use of a ‘pinch valve’, using the water pressure to open the pinch valves in an emergency.

54 MAY/JUNE 2012

Overstrand MunicipalityPROJECT

The handover that took place late in 2011 includ-ed a wellfi eld inspection by the municipality and Umvoto Africa, followed by a tour and cel-ebration with invited guests. Wellfi eld operators

received ‘graduation in wellfi eld operation’ certifi cates and a celebratory champagne roof wetting was held at the pump house. Cape Town-based consultants Umvoto Africa moved from overseeing the operations to an op-erational support role. It continues to be responsible for aquifer management.The handover followed a complete infrastructure redesign of the Gateway wellfield in order to double the abstraction capacity and ensure there was suf-ficient water for Hermanus residents and businesses. Municipal ‘wellfield manager’ Hanré Blignaut (deputy director: Engineering Services) will now be responsible for compliance with the recently awarded Water Use

Licence from the Department of Water Affairs. The wellfield operating manager is De Wet Nel (Engineering Technician), with assistance from Peter Burger, op-erational manager: Hermanus. The wellfield operators are Isak Henecke (superintendent of water and sewer-

age) and Jimmy du Plessis (senior foreman of water and sewerage). Umvoto hydrogeologist Emilie Galley, who oversaw the staff training, said that Henecke and Du Plessis had increasingly taken over responsibilities during the past

Taking control of wellfi eld operationsJust over one year after the Overstrand Municipality instructed its groundwater consultants, Umvoto Africa, to upgrade the infrastructure at the Gateway Wellfi eld, operation and maintenance of the sophisticated new wellfi eld has been offi cially handed over to the municipal staff. Water&Sanitation Africa provides an insight into the project.

De Bos Dam

In November 2010 it was predicted that the De Bos Dam, which supplies Hermanus, would empty by April 2011

MAY/JUNE 2012 55

PROJECT

two years, with formal training taking place from March this year. The operators’ tasks include continuous checking of wellfi eld data such as water level and fl ow rates, com-pleting a daily operational monitoring form, a weekly report and an error log form, as well as troubleshooting and routine maintenance using reference material pro-vided by Umvoto.Umvoto will continue to assist the wellfi eld manager on matters such as hydrogeological and engineering support and numerical modelling.Umvoto senior hydrogeologist Helen Seyler said the December handover followed a six-month retention period after a complete wellfi eld infrastructure redesign. This was part of a series of pre-emptive measures under-taken by the Overstrand Municipality after lower than average rainfall in the Western Cape in 2009 and 2010.The measures included a successful 12-point Greater Hermanus Water Conservation Programme to manage water demand and conjunctive use of groundwater and surface water. The latter increases drought resilience as groundwater is often buff ered from the impacts of drought, especially groundwater in deep confi ned aqui-fers with large storage potential.However, even with these measures in place and with the Gateway Wellfi eld delivering the maximum that the infrastructure could previously supply, in November 2010 it was predicted that the De Bos Dam, which sup-plies Hermanus, would empty by April 2011. If a demand saving of 25% could be realised, and the delivery from Gateway wellfi eld could be increased to the maximum licensed abstraction of 60 ℓ/s within six months, then it was predicted that the dam would not empty until December 2011 ‒ well after the 2011 winter rainfall, al-lowing the dam to refi ll. Under the pressures of a critical water situation, with failure having serious consequences for water supply to Hermanus, the wellfi eld rapidly underwent a complete infrastructure redesign, said Seyler. “A system of in-line booster pumps was implemented, which took into account the fi xed limited diameter of the high-yielding existing boreholes and the requirement for in-line pre-treatment. Sophisticated automated controls operate the wellfi eld based on fi xed head conditions rather than the normal fi xed rate, in order to maximise yield and manage the risk of saline intrusion.” Four boreholes now supply water to a pumphouse, in which two booster pumps deliver the water to the treat-ment works. Engineering design was undertaken by RLH consulting engineers, while Umvoto was responsible for the hydrogeological design.The upgraded wellfi eld was commissioned in June 2011 shortly after the dam reached its minimum level of 18%. Between June 2011 and September 2011, the dam level increased to 43% due to winter rainfall together with increased groundwater use.Seyler says: “The experience of Gateway has shown that appropriate technology is available to support eff ective management of groundwater, allowing groundwater to

be a reliable resource solu-tion. There has been close cooperation with stakeholders throughout and this has ena-bled the project to progress swiftly and effi ciently.”

Background information on the Gateway Wellfi eldThe Overstrand Municipality appointed Umvoto in 2002 to explore underground water resources to augment the municipal water supply. The municipality faced a growing water shortage due to burgeoning residential, business and leisure de-mands. It was developing from a holiday town with a large seasonal variation in water consumption to the

economic and administrative hub of the wider Overberg District Municipality.Umvoto focused on the Gateway Wellfi eld target area, named after a nearby shopping centre. The local contrac-tor, TA Hennings & Associates, drilled several boreholes deep into the Peninsula aquifer, a layer of water-bearing, permeable rock capable of providing signifi cant amounts of water. A borehole was found to be one of the highest yield-ing in South Africa ‒ blowing out at more than 100 ℓper second ‒ and infrastructure such as pumps, a pipeline and a pre-treatment plant (to ensure water quality) were constructed. Water was then extracted from the aquifer continuous-ly for a year and the response of the aquifer was meas-ured to judge the long-term sustainability. The water was pumped into the reticulation system of the town.Umvoto also installed a telemetry system for remote monitoring and controlling, which ensured that real-time data could be accessed by the municipal staff in Hermanus and from Umvoto’s offi ces in Muizenberg.

ABOVE The pumphouse: outside and inside

BELOW The new borehole

56 MAY/JUNE 2012

SANCIAHS

I t investigates the kinds of indices that are important in assessing a complex socio-economic, environmental and political set-ting presented as trans-boundary water re-

sources projects. It also addresses the current practice of presenting piecemeal accounts of sustainability in the implementation of trans-boundary water resource management. Severe social, environmental and po-litical problems are accumulating in many international basins as competition for scarce resources and economic pressures increase. A frequently-used standard for determining the success of water resources projects, and a stated outcome of the majority of these, is the project’s sustainability. Generic tools for measuring the sustainability of such projects have been reviewed within this study, show-ing that generic indicators of the sustainability of water resources projects exist, but no appropriate tools exist for trans-boundary projects, incorporating the specific difficulties that arise in such projects.

Introduction Nearly half of the world’s population lives in river basins that are shared by more than two countries and depend on water originating in upstream coun-tries (Bjorklund, 2006; Jagerskog and Zeitoun, 2009). Social, environmental and political problems are accumulating in many international water basins as competition for scarce resources and economic pres-sures increase (Molle et al., 2007). Stakeholders within and across boundaries take different interests in basin resources and the resources are managed differently because of different cultural, political, economic, legal, geographical, technical, historical and institutional contexts (Trottier, 2003). Neighbouring countries fre-quently have competing water use requirements and ecosystems that depend on different water balances for ecological functioning. The legal frameworks that govern water management differ from country to country and are weaker regionally than they are within countries (UNESCO, 2006; Jagerskog and Zeitoun, 2009).This is further complicated by the fact that the

economic circumstances of basin stakeholders vary within and across boundaries (Trottier, 2003; Jagerskog and Zeitoun, 2009). Yet, while the needs and wants of basin stakeholders vary within and across boundaries, stakeholders need to reach agreements for their con-tinued survival. Legal principles are deeply rooted in moral principles that are difficult to apply across more than one country and do not always result in practical basin management (Cosgrove, 2003). Challenges that arise when managing trans-boundary waters include

reconciling the needs of the country's population with regional requirements, ensuring equitable access and benefit sharing from trans-boundary water resources and establishing mechanisms to ensure that long-term agreements are sustainable (Zeitoun and Warner, 2006). Efforts to implement integrated, shared water resources management are often undermined by the changing societal value of water, by overexploitation of water resources in one country leading to water scarcity in

Sustainability assessment of trans-boundary water resourcesThis technical paper discusses an approach to the development of sustainability assessment tools in a trans-boundary water resources context.

By K King1 and K Winter2

TECHNICAL PAPER

FIGURE 1: Differing river basin and political boundaries

Nearly half of the world’s population lives in river basins that are shared by more than two countries and depend on water originating in upstream countries

another, and by pollution of shared water-ways from one country that harms another (UNESCO, 2006). Compounding these problems is the complication of basin data that is scattered and fragmented within and across boundaries. Different ap-proaches to data collection facilities from one country to another frequently result in data discrepancies and inconsistencies (Cosgrove, 2003; Reuss, 2003). Governance of a trans-boundary basin refers to the sphere of public debate, part-nership, interaction, dialogue and conflict entered into by local government, local communities and organisations associ-ated with the basin. Effective governance can improve the manner in which deci-sions pertaining to a basin are taken, can provide greater influence and resources to excluded stakeholders, and is a pre-condition for sustainable development. The competing economic, environmental and social roles that trans-boundary water basins fulfil make governance particu-larly challenging (Sneddon and Fox, 2006; Jagerskog and Zeitoun, 2009). Problems

in trans-boundary water resources pro-jects often result from a crisis in govern-ance, not a crisis in the water resource (K’Akumu, 2006; Zeitoun and Warner, 2006). Inadequate access to water could be addressed by public policy so as to help alleviate water scarcity. Scarcity is often a result of differing goals and usage pat-terns of different actors, the distribution of water resources and the prioritisation of needs at local, national and global levels. Issues of water scarcity, allocation and ac-cess are primarily questions of governance with clear policy-making implications (Gleick, 2005). Weaknesses in trans-bound-ary water governance are, in part, due to the sheer scale of issues encountered and the frequent gaps between policies, plans and practices. The multiple agencies and organisations involved in trans-boundary water governance make decision-making difficult to achieve (Nillson, 2003).The abovementioned issues have arisen in trans-boundary water projects worldwide and some have been dealt with better than others. Co-operative

management approaches have encoun-tered difficulties that arise as a result of cultural, political, economic, legal, geo-graphical, technical, historical and insti-tutional differences among stakeholders within and across boundaries (Asamoah et al, 2010). Local and national government water management agencies frequently disagree, as these agencies respond to dif-ferent interest groups. Experts agree that the appropriate administrative entity for water management is the river basin, but river basin boundaries seldom coincide with political boundaries (Draper, 2007) (Figure 1). While many developed nations have systems in place to investigate and monitor trans-boundary water projects, further research into these fields is nec-essary in developing countries (Parker, 2007). Most trans-boundary water projects in southern Africa have encountered con-siderable difficulties that have not been adequately addressed (Wirkus and Thilo-Korner, 2006). Aside from the challenge of establishing institutions and managing the interactions between various parties,

TECHNICAL PAPER

MAY/JUNE 2012 57

58 MAY/JUNE 2012

TECHNICAL PAPER

the main difficulties encountered intrans-boundary basins are related to the gener-ation, distribution and use of information for basin management (Kranz et al., 2005). See Figure 1.As the challenges to trans-boundary water resources projects are varied in nature, the success of trans-boundary water projects requires consideration of the environment, society, institutions, politics and economics as imperatives to the long-term sustainability of managing water resources (Sneddon and Fox, 2006; Jagerskog and Zeitoun, 2009), in a manner that accounts for the overlap between these areas. Historically, many water re-sources projects have been inadequately assessed because social and environmen-tal impacts were not included in assess-ment frameworks (World Commission on Dams, 2000).

Sustainability in the context of trans-boundary water resources projectsA frequently used standard for determin-ing the extent of success or failure of a trans-boundary water resources project, and a stated outcome of the major-ity of these, is the system’s sustainability (Komives et al, 2008). While there contin-ues to be debate about what sustainabil-ity means, there is agreement that it takes cognisance not just of the economics of a project or region, but also of the social and environmental systems in which eco-nomic activity exists (Norton and Toman 1997; Allan, 2005; Marshall and Toffel, 2005; Kates, 2010). This broad understand-ing, however, does not answer questions related to the measurement and as-sessment of sustainability (Tomanet al, 1998). Many adopt the World Commission on Environment and Development definition of sus-tainable development when referring to sustainability, which states that, for devel-opment to be sustainable, it must meet the needs of the present generation without compromising those of future generations (Razmanet al., 2011). In the context of trans-boundary water resources, sustainability is viewed as a combination of the economic, environmental and so-cial sustainability of a water resources management initiative, combined with evidence of institutional effectiveness and equitable power sharing between

the countries involved (Marshall and Toffel, 2005).Cato(2009) states that for a course of action to be described as sustainable, it needs to achieve an acceptable, consist-ent environmental standard without exhausting the resources it requires to be

maintained. Thus sustainability is not an absolute concept. Subjective terms like ‘acceptable’ appear in legislation gov-erning sustainability of water resources projects (Knox, 2002). As trans-boundary water resources projects generally involve many stakeholders and many groups of people affect and are affected by such projects, there are multiple perspectives on acceptable standards, as well as objec-tives, time and spatial scales, expected outcomes and levels of risk involved (Kates, 2010). What becomes clear when looking at a number of trans-boundary water re-sources projects is that the various aspects and issues involved are inextricably linked, thus interdisciplinary perspectives are recommended in order to understand the

complex social, geographical and political environments of trans-boundary river ba-sins (Moerlins, 2008), including ecological trans-boundary institutional arrange-ments, the way stakeholders in trans-boundary basins construct geographical scales and how control over water is

represented and exercised within the responsible institutions. To date, trans-boundary water resources management has been handled in a very piecemeal manner. Countries frequently refuse to communicate or share data, so activities within the basin are not coordinated (Barbut, 2011). The various aspects of trans-boundary water resources manage-ment have been treated separately and basin management plans have previously ignored historical values and stakeholder identities, opting to rely on the outcomes of incomplete scientific models (Cosgrove, 2003; Reuss, 2003). Piecemeal governance of trans-boundary water resources is inad-equate to meet the needs of sustainable use (Eckstein, 1998; Barbut 2011).There exists a gap in knowledge about how to assess the sustainability of trans-boundary water management projects, as shown by the problems encountered within such projects, which often lead to projects being assessed as unsustain-able in at least one area. This gap exists because of the many abovementioned challenges to trans-boundary water resource management, persever-ance with piecemeal methods of assessing trans-boundary water resources projects that offer no account for how change in one basin environment may affect many others, a very broad and unclear general understanding of sustain-ability and the lack of appropriate tools available to assess sustainability in a trans-boundary context. Within water management plans

for trans-boundary resources, the potential benefits and risks involved must be assessed (Conley and van Niekerk, 2000), yet

FIGURE 2: An ASPIRE example output keystone diagram

A frequently used standard for determining the extent of success or failure of a trans-boundary water resources project, and a stated outcome of the majority of these, is the system’s sustainability

MAY/JUNE 2012 59

not everyone’s concerns will be addressed within such a project and trade-offs are inevitable.

Sustainability measuring tools in the context of water resources projectsFour different tools that claim to measure the sustainability of water resources management projects include modelling software, a series of equations, a theoreti-cal framework and an index.

The ASPIRE softwareASPIRE (Engineers against Poverty, 2010) is a software-based tool for assessing the sustainability of infrastructure projects. Poverty reduction is the overarching objective of the tool and it accounts for the environment, society, economics and institutions. The environment is considered in terms of impacts on air, land, water, biodiversity, and materials. Society is con-sidered in terms of the assets required to meet needs and alleviate poverty through access to services, public health, culture and in terms of stakeholder participation.

Two additional themes ‒ vulnerability and population ‒ include issues such as confl ict, exposure to natural hazards and displace-ment. Economics includes four themes: project viability, long-term macroeco-nomic eff ects, livelihood opportunity and equity of economic opportunity. The rel-evant institutions include four themes that consider the capacity of the institutional environment to support the delivery of in-frastructure that contributes to sustainable development: policy, governance, skills, and reporting. The output of the assess-ment is the keystone diagram (Figure 2). This graphically shows the various themes’ scores with a colour-coding system that clearly shows the strengths and weak-nesses of the project in question (Engineers Against Poverty, 2010). See Figure 2.

The panarchy frameworkThe panarchy framework (Gunderson and Holling, 2002) is based on a complex system dynamics theory. The core of the framework is the adaptive cycle (Figure 3), which comprises four phases through

which systems pass: exploitation (r) in which recently disturbed areas are rap-idly colonised; conservation (K), in which energy and material are slowly accumu-lated; release (Ω), in which the tightly bound accumulation of biomass becomes increasingly fragile until it is released by external agents, and reorganisation (α), in which resources are reconfigured to take advantage of new opportunities. The framework is cross-scale, interdisciplinary and dynamic. It can be used to assess the relationships between change and persistence, and the predictable and unpredictable. The model highlights the trade-off between potential and connect-edness, which largely occurs where one has to choose between levels of sustain-ability and productivity. The model does not distinguish between ecological and human components of the system, and captures how relationships change over time (Gunderson and Holling, 2002).

The Ukrainian equationThe Ukrainian equation (Yuliya and

TECHNICAL PAPER

Volodymyr, 2010) is intended as a simple, integrated indicator of water use ef-ficiency at regional and national levels. The following major water-use indicators were accounted for within the equation: the water value of the GDP, total water consumption, polluted water discharged, the population that has access to water and the efficiency of water treatment processes. Economically speaking, the fewer water resources a country needs for formation of a GDP unit, the more efficient the water management is. Environmental efficiency of water use is defined here as the rate of return of untreated water into the natural environ-ment. Thus the environmental indicator of water use sustainability is calculated as the proportion of total untreated water that makes up the total volume of water consumed in the country. Conceptually, the social efficiency of wa-ter use is based on the lowest consump-tion level required to satisfy the needs of society. This is higher in urban areas than in rural areas, yet the water use efficiency varies. This indicator also depends on cultural differences, environmental and climatic conditions, the structure of an economy, policies of a government, the legal system in place, and so on. The so-cial efficiency of water use has thus been defined as the ratio of the water consump-tion level per person in a region to the av-erage water consumption level per person in the Ukraine. See Figure 3.

TECHNICAL PAPER

The USA sustainability indexThe USA sustainability index (Sandoval-Solis et al., 2010) is focused on the effect that various policies have on the sustain-ability of a trans-boundary water resourc-es project. This index makes it possible to evaluate and compare different water management policies with respect to their sustainability. The index identifies policies that preserve or improve the

desired water management characteristic of the basin in the future. Group sustain-ability indices are calculated to summa-rise the results for groups of water users in each country, the environment and the basin as a whole.

DiscussionThe ASPIRE software identifies and ac-counts well for the various aspects of a water resources management project, and thus the sustainability of these areas. However, it treats the social, environmen-tal, economic and institutional aspects of the project’s sustainability separately, whereas, as highlighted in previous sections, in trans-boundary water re-sources management projects these various aspects are affected by and affect each other continuously. It is also very

data-intensive and, as mentioned, data problems are common in trans-boundary projects. A weakness of the Ukrainian equation is that it also accounts for the economic, environmental and social aspects of a water resources project separately, but it requires limited data accessible in the Ukraine. It was created as a trans-boundary sustainability meas-urement tool, but can only be appropri-

ately used for trans-boundary projects between the Ukraine and its neighbours as it was designed for the specific data availability and institutional environment encountered in that region. The USA sustainability index’s strengths lie in its ability to assess the sustainability of a basin from an institutional and political viewpoint by evaluating the policies that govern the project. The index cannot, however, account for these policies being inadequately applied or for cases where the policies of the various countries involved in the project do not agree with one another. The approach ensures that it does not encounter data availability dif-ficulties and it is integrated to the extent that the policies it evaluates are. The pan-archy framework is useful in that it can be used to determine how relationships may change and gain or lose relevance as the project evolves; recognises the interconnectedness of the sociological, ecological, economic and institutional aspects of systems; and highlights pat-terns in systems. The framework has, however, been found to inadequately account for influences such as population size, technological advances, oppressive regimes and external influences on a system, including government interven-tions (Gotts, 2007). These influences are often unavoidable in the case of a trans-boundary water resources project. Despite its drawbacks, the panarchy framework is the best of the four tools reviewed here because it accounts for the links between the various areas of a trans-boundary water resources system and is not heavily reliant on data availability.

ConclusionsTools exist that measure the sustainability of water resources management projects,

FIGURE 3: The Panarchy framework cycle of adaptive change

Economically speaking, the fewer water resources a country needs for formation of a GDP unit, the more effi cient the water management is

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MAY/JUNE 2012 63

References• Asamoah, A.,Frimpong-Mensah, K.&Antwi-Boasiako, C. (2010).Getting Riparian States to Co-operate in Transboundary Groundwater Management: Challenges and Opportunities to Water Security. In: Proc. Transboundary Aquifers: Challenges and New Directions. (6-8 December 2010. Ghana).• Allan, J.A. (2005). Water in the Environment/ Socio-Economic Development Discourse: Sustainability, Changing Management Paradigms and Policy Responses in a Global System. Government and Opposition Ltd. NY, USA.• Barbut, M. (2011).Global Environment Facility Project Information Description. Regional Coordination on Improved Water Resources Management and Capacity Building Horizontal Adaptable Programmatic Programme. GEF. 13 April 2011.• Bjorklund, G. (2006). Water Management in Developing Countries ‒ Policy and Priorities for EU Development Cooperation. A Background Document for an EC Communication on Water and Development. The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI).USAid.• Cato, M. (2009).Green Economics. London: Earthscan, 36‒37.• Conley, A.H., & van Niekerk, P.H. (2000). Sustainable management of international waters: The Orange River case. Water Policy.2, 131-149. • Cosgrove, J.W. (2003). Water Security and Peace ‒ A Synthesis of Studies Prepared under the PCCPWater for Peace Process. PCCP Publications, SC-2003/WS/39. 32.• Draper, S.E. (2007). Administration and Institutional Provisions of Water Sharing Agreements. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management. September/October 2007, 446-454.• Eckstein, G. (1998). Hydrologic Reality: International Water Law and Transboundary Ground-Water Resources. In: Proc. ‘Water: Dispute Prevention and Development’ Conference. (American University Centre for the Global South, Washington, D.C. October 12 - 13, 1998).• Engineers Against Poverty (2010). ASPIRE - A Sustainability Poverty and Infrastructure Routine for Evaluation. User Manual. Institution of Civil Engineers Research & Development Enabling Fund and Arup’s Design Technical Fund.• Gleick, P. (2005). Freshwater and Foreign Policy:

New Challenges for the 21st Century, Oakland: The Pacifi c Institute, 2005.• Gotts, N. M. (2007). Resilience, Panarchy, and World-Systems Analysis. Ecology and Society12(1).• Gunderson, L.H.& Holling, C.S.(eds.). (2002). Panarchy: Understanding Transformations in Human and Natural Systems. Island Press, Washington, D.C., USA.• K’Akumu, O.A. (2006). Privatisation Model for Water Enterprise in Kenya.Water Policy.8, 539-557.• Kates, R. W. ed. (2010).Readings in Sustainability Science and Technology - an introduction to the key literaturs of sustainability science. CID Working Paper No. 213. Center for International Development, Harvard University. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, December 2010.• Knox, J.H. (2002). The Myth and Reality of Transboundary Environmental Impact Assessment.The American Journal of International Law.96(2), 291-319.• Komives, K., Akanbang, B., Thorsten, R., Tuff uor, B.,Wakeman, W., Larbi, E., Bakalian, A. & Whittington, D. (2008). Post-Construction Support and the Sustainability of Rural Water Projects in Ghana. In: Proc: The 33rd WEDC International Conference - Access to Sanitation and Safe Water: Global Partnerships and Local Actions.(Accra). • Kranz, N.,Interwies, E. &Viduaurre, R. (2005).Transboundary River Basin Management Regimes: The Orange Basin Case Study. Background Report to Deliverable 1.3.1.NeWater.Ecologic-Institute for International and European Environmental Policy. 1 October 2005.• Marshall, J.D. &Toff el, M.W. (2005).Framing the Elusive Concept of Sustainability: A Sustainability Hierarchy.Environmental & Scientifi c Technology39(3): 673‒682.• Moerlins, J.E. (ed.) (2008). Transboundary Water Resources: A Foundation for Regional Stability in Central Asia.123-129. Springer.• Molle, F., Wester, P., Hirsch, P. Jensen, J.R., Murray-Rust, H., Paranjpye, V., Pollard, S.& van der Zaag, P. (2007).Water for Food, Water for life.16. River Basin Development and Management. IWMI Part 4. Chapters 8-16.• Nilsson, S. (2003).The Role and Use of Information in Transboundary Water Management. Department of Land and Water Resource Engineering, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm.

• Department of Land and Water Resource Engineering, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm.• Norton, B.G. & Toman, M.A., (1997). Sustainability: Ecological and Economic Perspectives. Land Economics. 73(4).553-568.• Parker, M. (2007). Environmental Change and Security Programme. Water Confl ict and Cooperation: Looking over the Horizon. Navigating Peace Initiative: Water Working Group II.• Razman,M.R., Yusof, S.S.A,Suhor, S, Ismail, R., Aziz, A.A & Khalid, K.A.T. (2011). Research Journal of Applied Sciences. 6(3).179-183.• Reuss M., (2003). Historical Explanation and Water Issues. PCCP Publications, SC-2003/WS/39.6.• Sandoval-Solis, S., McKinney, D.C.&Loucks, D.P. (2010).Sustainability Index for Water Resources Planning and Management. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management. 10,1943-5452. • Sneddon, C. &Fox, C. (2006).Rethinking Transboundary Waters: A Critical Hydropolitics of the Mekong basin. Political Geography. 25, 181-202.• Trottier J. (2003).The Need for Multiscalar Analyses in the Management of Shared Water Resources. PCCP Publications, SC-2003/WS/39.p 6.• UNESCO (2006). The 2nd United Nations World Water Development Report: Water, a shared responsibility’. Chapter 11: Sharing Water. World Water Assessment Programme. United Nations Educational, Scientifi c and Cultural Organisation.• Wirkus, L. &Thilo-Korner, M. (2006). BICC Research on Trans-boundary Waters and Crisis Prevention, Bonn International Centre for Conversion, Bonn, Germany.• World Commission on Dams (2000). Dams and Development: A New Framework for Decision-Making 2000. A Report of the World Commission on Dams.• Yuliya V. & Volodymyr, G. (2010). Integrated Socio-economic Criteria of Trans-boundary Water Use. Kharkiv National Academy of Municipal Economy, Kharkiv, Ukraine.• Zeitoun, M. & Warner, J. (2006). Hydro-hegemony ‒ A Framework for Analysis of Trans-boundary Water Confl icts, Water Policy. 8, 435‒ 460.

but no tool exists that sufficiently ac-counts for the specific and complex envi-ronmental, social, economic, institutional and political sustainability issues that arise in trans-boundary water resources management projects ‒ most impor-tantly, the links between these issues.Linear, one dimensional assessment tools are limited in the context of trans-boundary water resources sustainability assessments because even those that ac-count for many aspects of trans-boundary water resources projects do not account for areas of overlap between the various

aspects of the project and how these aspects influence each other. Within a sustainability assessment tool one may account for a change in the economics of the basin or the project, but these tools are not then able to account for how this change affects the other aspects of the basin. Furthermore, these tools do not account for the effects of neglect in governance. Development of a complex, systems-based tool is necessary in the context of trans-boundary water resourc-es projects because systems theory ac-counts for how the various components

of a system interact among and influence one another, and is able to incorporate complex basin aspects such as govern-ance. Assessment tools are complicated to devise for a trans-boundary context, however, and generic approaches might not work. This is ongoing research and the discus-sion in this paper is confined to a litera-ture review.

1 Karen King, SRK, Johannesburg 2 Dr Kevin Winter, University of Cape Town

Since 1994, access to basic water in South Africa increased from 59% to 93% whilst access to sanitation services increased from 48% to 79%. The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) has been a contributing partner to this turnaround, enabling access to

The DBSA also recognises the institutional capacity and skills challenges faced by the water

partnered with the Department of Water Affairs, water services authorities, the private sector and donor agencies, in advancing strategic capacity building and development support in water and sanitation.

Such participation accords with our vision to build a prosperous and integrated region, progressively free of poverty and dependency.

DBSA, we are not just a money Bank, we are a Development Bank

Development Finance for water and sanitation infrastructure development

SECTORS THAT FORM THE DEVELOPMENT BANK OF SOUTHERN AFRICA’S DEVELOPMENT AGENDA INCLUDE:WATER AND SANITATION | HEALTH | EDUCATION | ENERGY | AGRICULTURE | ICT | TOURISM | MINING | TRANSPORT | ENVIRONMENT | HUMAN SETTLEMENTS

For more information visit www.dbsa.org or call +27 11 313 3911

PROFILEDevelopment Bank of Southern Africa

MAY/JUNE 2012 65

The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) is a development fi nance institution. Its purpose is to accelerate sustainable socioeconomic devel-opment by funding physical, social and economic

infrastructure. The DBSA’s goal is to improve the quality of life of the people in the region.

What are the challenges faced by the DBSA in providing fi nance for municipal infrastructure?Any infrastructure project needing funding from fi nanci-ers has to be bankable, that is, the borrower must assure the lenders that repayments for the fi nance will be met. For a development bank, the infrastructure projects have to also deliver development impact as well. Hence, considerations for the institutional capacity to implement and maintain the infrastructure are critical aspects when dealing with municipal infrastructure. In addition, the us-ers’ ability to pay for the service is crucial as it determines sources of loan repayment and how sustainable the ser-vice rendered will be. Since the DBSA is largely mandated to address infrastructure development in areas of market failure, common challenges that limit providing fi nance for municipal water infrastructure projects relate the lack of projects that are bankable, or fi nancially viable.

What specifi c products and services are off ered by the DBSA for the fi nancing of municipal infrastructure in the water sector?Given the bankable challenges in many municipal water projects, the strategic product that the DBSA provides is that of project preparation (packaging) assistance loans which are capitalised once the Capex loan is approved. These loans also support compliance with legislative requirements such as environmental matters. An emerging product being provided by the DBSA to leverage government’s annual municipal infrastructure grants (MIG) transfers is the conditional bridging loan fi nance. It allows municipalities borrowing against future conditional MIG allocations. The DBSA is also implement-ing this instrument in other sectors, such as energy (elec-tricity). However, with MIG leveraging, municipalities have to apply to National Treasury and demonstrate the ben-efi ts off ered by the bridge fi nancing. The DBSA provides

capacity support to municipalities when they are preparing for such applications.Project fi nance is also pro-vided where municipalities have engaged the private sector to

Debbie Besseling speaks to Godfrey Mwiinga, a DBSA Professional Civil Engineer and Water & Sanitation specialist, about the role of the DBSA in providing development fi nance for water and sanitation infrastructure development.

The DBSA’s Role in development fi nance for water infrastructure

ABOVE Godfrey Mwiinga, DBSA Water & Sanitation Specialist

BELOW The Durban Water Recycling Plant was funded by the DBSA

MAY/JUNE 2012 67

PROFILE

deliver projects on their behalf. In this case the funding will be provided based on the viability for the revenues from the project to meet the obligations of the loan repay-ments. Conventional loan funding which is based on the fi nancial status of client with respect to the capacity to borrow is also provided. However, given the higher risks characteristic of water projects, syndicating is one approach that Bank uses in minimiz-ing its risk exposure.

South Africa’s water utilities are currently owed more than R2 billion by municipalities. What are some of the challenges faced by water utilities in terms of fi nancial management and recovering costs?The main challenge relates to weak institu-tional capacity to manage collections of rev-enues, exacerbated by poor billing systems. The low economic base relating to some municipalities in addition to having suit-able measures, through by-laws, are also key

challenges. This weak institutional capacity is exacerbated by chronic shortages of tech-nical and fi nancial skills in municipalities. There are concerns around the provision of water services not being managed on business/commercial basis. Cost-recovery messages do not seem to be strong enough; hence the lack of willingness to pay for wa-ter and sanitation services remains a chronic problem in many municipalities.

What is the role played by the DBSA in the effi cient delivery of bulk potable water?DBSA usually plays its primary role of provid-ing funding for fi nancing of infrastructure development that provide bulk potable water such as potable water production works, pump stations and pipelines that transport the water to areas of need. In many instances this is achieved through loan fi nance made available to water boards and other utilities. The Bank also supports clients with the technical assistance loans

towards the project preparation that en-hances the fi nancial viability of projects. During implementation, the Bank also gets involved in the monitoring and evaluation phases that ensure sustainable delivery in accordance with best practice.

Signifi cant progress has been made in terms of water service delivery to the South African population, what specifi c progress has been made in the area of development fi nance?Development fi nance has largely been

limited to planning and funding public infra-structure; as such, the provision of funding has been limited to development fi nance in-stitutions. Lately, the global fi nancial crisis is leading commercial lenders to also enter the development fi nance arena. Consequently the availability of development funding for the water sector is on the increase. However, the high risks characterised by water sector projects still require most lenders to team up in order to share the risks.

What does the Blue and Green (B/G) drop certifi cation programme mean in the business of the DBSA?The B/G Drop certifi cation programme has now provided the DBSA a means to enhance the appraisal of Water Services Authorities (WSAs). The Bank now requires its appraisal process to include a review of the B/G drop assessment results so that it can enhance ensuring the sustainability projects. The programme has also given an opportunity for DBSA to play an Implementer role; the Department of Water Aff airs recently ap-pointed the DBSA as an Implementing Agent for the development of a database of experts to support the implementation of the programme.

What capital infrastructure programmes has the DBSA fi nanced?Since 1994, the DBSA has provided in excess of R10 billions of development fi nance for water and sanitation infrastructure develop-ment projects.On the bulk raw water resources infrastruc-ture development projects, the bank co-fi -nanced the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (Phase 1), the Berg Water Project (Western Cape), the Mooi-Mgeni Transfer Scheme (Kwa-Zulu Natal) and the Komati Water Scheme Augmentation (Mpumalanga). Selected examples of water services (Municipal) infrastructure programmes include: Tswselopele Municipality (Free state)’s construction of a Waste Water Treatment Plant; the North West Water & Sanitation Programme involving the eradi-cation of bucket sanitation systems and ad-dressing water and sanitation infrastructure backlogs; and the Ugu District Municipality Water and Sanitation Infrastructure Programme (KZN) which comprises of the Umzimkhulu Water Augmentation Scheme and implementation of water loss capital projects. www.dbsa.org

Common challenges that limit providing fi nance for municipal water infrastructure projects relate the lack of projects that are bankable, or fi nancially viable

Berg Water Project

MAY/JUNE 2012 69

Odour management TECHNOLOGY

Odour Control Solutions and the other associ-ated companies of the Odour Control Group (OCG) have successfully implemented odour controls systems in varied industries

throughout Southern Africa. Applications include installations in diverse industries such as wastewater treatment, solid waste processing, landfi lls, food/feed processing and oil refi neries.The company off ers a range of odour control technolo-gies in order to ensure optimal fi t between customer requirements and system features. The optimal solution depends on factors such as available budget, specifi ed performance parameters, nature of the odorous com-pounds, physical nature of the odour source and loca-tion of complainants.According to Johan du Bruyn, marketing director of Odour Control Solutions: “Successful implementation of odour control projects requires not only selection of the appropriate technology, but also eff ective isolation and air extraction from the odour source. We off er turnkey solutions where selection of the appropriate technology, isolation of the odour source and air conveyance are addressed.”

ProjectsA recently completed installation at the Green Point Marine Outfall in Cape Town involved all the facets of a typical odour control project. Over the years residents and passersby associated the outfall with malodours. The outfall is also located in the vicin-ity of the Green Point Soccer World Cup Stadium and the authorities were concerned about the presence of malodours so close to the stadium. The contract specifi ed that all chan-nels must be covered. A distinction was made between low- and high-odour concentration sources. All cov-ered channels were considered high odour concentration sources and room air (area above the channels) was considered a low odour con-centration source. Air extracted from high-odour concentration sources was ducted to a bio-trickling fi lter and all room air (low-odour concen-tration air) was ducted to a carbon adsorber. The exhaust air from the bio-trickling fi lter was also chan-neled through the carbon adsorber.

Tackling odour controlMore and more emphasis is being placed on fi nding solutions and technologies for odour management. Water&Sanitation Africa speaks to Odour Control Solutions to gain an insight into the topic.

The specifi ed air extraction rates for the bio-trickling fi lter and carbon ad-sorber were 6 200 and 16 200 m2/hour respectively. The required hydrogen sulphide removal performance was 99% for both systems.Installation of the covers, ducting, fans, bio-trickling fi lter and carbon adsorber was completed just in time for the start of the Soccer World

Cup. Tests proved that the odour control system met all specifi ed performance parameters. Since commissioning there has not been a single complaint. And this despite the fact that an open-air restaurant has opened right

next to the outfall.Other recently completed projects involved the instal-lation of biofi lters at the Hermanus wastewater treat-ment plant inlet works, new primary sedimentation tanks at the Athlone wastewater treatment works and Potsdam wastewater treatments works dewatering plant.

ABOVE Potsdam WWTW Dewatering Plant

BELOW Hermanus WWTW Biofi lter

Successful implementation of odour control projects requires not only selection of the appropriate technology, but also eff ective isolation and air extraction from the odour source” Johan de Bruyn, marketing director, OdorCure

70 MAY/JUNE 2012

PROFILEMhlathuze Water

The organisation, established in 1980, also pro-vides purifi ed water and a wastewater disposal service to industries in and around Richards Bay. Providing services to an area of 37 000 km2,

from the uThukela River in the south to the Mozambique and Swaziland borders in the north, the organisation has extended its services to include analysis and testing facilities, which compare with international standards,

The water services provider Mhlathuze Water, one of the leading water utilities in South Africa, has over the years maintained a reputation for providing safe and dependable water and water-related services at world-class standards to the northern regions of KwaZulu-Natal and beyond.

for both internal and external cus-tomers. Mhlathuze Water has also developed expertise in all areas of the water sector and, in collabora-tion with existing and future partner-ships, is implementing projects to meet government mandates for the provision of water and related ser-vices. Furthermore, the organisation owns, operates and maintains the largest wastewater disposal outfall in South Africa.

Vision To be the water services provider of choice for all stakeholders in the water value chain.

Mission To provide and expand aff ordable, sustainable, quality and reliable water services to stakeholders, to improve quality of life and to contribute to development.

Certifi cation and accreditation achieved to date• ISO 9001 Quality Management System • OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety System

• ISO 14001 Environmental Management System • SANAS 17025 Accredited Laboratory

Major projects under Mhlathuze Water’s bannerSouth African education has many challenges and opportunities, resulting in some schools needing im-mediate intervention. Prime amongst the challenges for immediate intervention was the need for acceptable and dignifi ed water and sanitation facilities, to provide sus-

tainable health and hygiene education, and to provide operation and maintenance methods for the schools in the rural sector. Based on worldwide research, schools that lack access to basic water supply and sanitation services display increased incidents of major childhood diseases, resulting in signifi cant loss of learners’ time for education.

Providing proper water and sanitation facilities for the rural schools is imperative

Key performance area

Strategic objective

Customer • Grow revenue and customer base

• Partnerships with DWA, Water Services Authorities and provincial government in bulk water and sanitation

• Stakeholder engagement• Compliance to statutory and

other requirements

Business process optimisation

• Functional excellence• Increased capacity and quality• Risk management

Learning and growth • Maintain strategic eff ectiveness• Operational competence• Compliance to national

objectives

Financial • Ensure fi nancial viability and sustainability

• Improve return on assets• Improve shareholder value

Nsezi water Treatment plant during upgrade

MAY/JUNE 2012 71

PROFILE

Providing proper water and sanitation facilities for the ru-ral schools is imperative ‒ not only for government but for all sectors operating within the country. Therefore when the initial request was made by the Department of Water Aff airs (DWA) for Mhlathuze Water to be an implementing agent for the sanitation project, the organisation grasped this opportunity to support government initiatives. Having exceeded the expectation of DWA regarding customer service and service excellence in a similar completed project, Mhlathuze Water thus secured an ad-ditional contract with the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education to continue the programme for three years as well as to take on three further districts. The organisation is an implementing agent for the schools ablution facilities in the district municipalities of uThungulu, uMkhanyakude, Zululand, Amajuba, uMziny-athi, Ugu, Sisonke, uMgungundlovu.

The upgrade of the Nsezi Water Treatment PlantThe Nsezi Water Treatment Plant forms the fl agship instal-lation of Mhlathuze Water and is situated on the banks of Lake Nsezi. The current consumers of the Nsezi Water Treatment Plant are the City of uMhlathuze and Mondi Paper. Mhlathuze Water provides bulk water services

allowing Richards Bay and its surrounds to maintain its position as an industrial hub within KwaZulu-Natal.Due to the nature of its customers, reliable levels of assurance of supply are required, hence the necessary upgrade of Nsezi. Studies are in place to meet the water demands for the area till 2030. Various industry and neighbouring industries have made indications of additional water requirements re-sulting in the augmentation of the water treatment plant from 150 to 205 Mℓ/d. Also anticipated is the growth and expansion of water demands from uMhlathuze Municipality. The natural growth in the towns and cities within the Nsezi Water Treatment Plant’s area of supply is also expected, with the expansion of residential areas, industry and commerce resulting in an expected increase in total water demand. The plant currently supplies a back-up for the City of uMhlathuze, for the Richards Bay area, daily water supply for Empangeni and for Foskor, through the City of uMhlathuze system. Mondi paper cur-rently draws up to 85 Mℓ/d directly from the Nsezi Water Treatment Plant. Therefore, in order to meet the water requirements of the various consumers for the 2014 planning horizon, it was imperative that the multi-million rand treatment plant was upgraded to increase the purifi ed water capac-ity of the plant. It will also ensure better quality water

directly from the Mhlathuze River rather than the water from Lake Nsezi.

Mhlathuze wastewater disposal systemMhlathuze Water owns and operates the biggest off -shore wastewater disposal system in South Africa. Two pipelines extend four and fi ve kilometres out to sea, transfering wastewater from the industries in Richards Bay and its environs, sludge removed during the treat-ment process at the Nsezi Water Treatment Plant and macerated sewage from the uMhlathuze Municipality. The main wastewater disposal licence issued to Mhlathuze Water by the then Department of Water Aff airs and Forestry in November 2002 makes Mhlathuze Water accountable to the department for quality and quantity standards.Agreements have been signed with all the organisa-tion’s customers that contribute bulk wastewater for disposal through the off shore pipeline. The wastewater agreements are subject to conditions relating to qual-ity, sampling and monitoring, which are imposed on Mhlathuze Water by the DWA. Off shore monitoring of the pipeline has been done since 1984 by an external research institution ‒ the CSIR ‒ and the latest report (No. 21) indicated that there has been no severe impact on the off shore environment. Mhlathuze Water is well established and prepared to meet its commitments to water supply and disposal of wastewater to meet the future demands of the area.

of choice

Contact Mhlathuze WaterCorner of South Central Arterial and Battery Bank, Alton Industrial Area, Richards Bay, 3900 Private bag X1047, Richards Bay, 3900Tel: +27 (0)35 902 1000Fax: +27 (0)35 902 1111Website: www.mhlathuze.co.za E- mail: [email protected]

Mhlathuze Water owns and operates the biggest offshore wastewater disposal system in South Africa

Female employees at work

72 MAY/JUNE 2012

CASE STUDYTechnology

Apollo Tyres South Africa is a major producer of tyres for light trucks and passenger vehicles. The region has a strong automotive industry, and the plant is located at the centre of a

number of major automotive manufacturing sites ‒ well-placed to supply the entire industry across the region. Management at the plant have put specifi c programmes in place to reduce the consumption of natural resources and the creation of waste. In addition to these ongoing sustainability commitments, legislation continues to put increasing pressure on all manufacturing companies to lower their consumption of natural resources and to reduce associated emissions and waste. Commercial pressures are ever-present and continue to drive reductions in cost where ever possible. The com-pany expects the best on-site expertise from its supplier partners, innovation in new technologies and improved sustainability performance through better water, energy and waste management. The focus on operational excel-lence drives continued improvement of all environmen-tal, health and safety systems, and activities, with the

Delivering superior sustainability

One of South Africa’s major producers of tyres for light trucks and passenger vehicles recently installed Nalco’s new innovative 3D TRASAR technology for its cooling system in order to achieve considerable water savings and cost reductions.

intention of conserving energy and natural resources, preventing pollution and protecting the health, safety and security of employees and the public.A local service provider was on site applying a tradi-tional water treatment programme. The company was, however, interested in identifying new ways to reduce water consumption on site, intensifying the fl ow of data for plant operation and decision-making, having real-time monitoring of plant conditions and using the newest innovative technology available.

What were the company’s goals?Finding new ways to deliver water savings was the key. The cooling water system for the chiller plant was con-sidered the biggest potential area for savings. The cy-cles of concentration of the cooling system were quite low, at an average of 2.8, and it was clear to manage-ment that higher cycles could deliver more than 20% reduction in water demand. The plant was located in a water-stressed area and any improvement in water use efficiency would help to safeguard local water supplies.

MAY/JUNE 2012 73

CASE STUDY

performance

The key performance indicators for the company were to assure both plant and community water supplies by identifying alternative supply strategies, meet corporate commitments to the recycling of wastes, conserve as-sets, reduce maintenance and downtime, and reduce the total cost of operation (TCO). This would allow the plant to continue to operate at current levels of produc-tion and profitability, maintaining productivity while protecting the integrity of the system and the health of the local community (a large proportion of which in-cluded staff at the plant), in line with its corporate social responsibility commitments.

Action planNalco was invited to site by utilities staff and worked together to carry out a full mechanical, operational, chemical and sustainability audit of plant operations. The objective was to provide an assessment of the current water management applications and practices with particular focus on how these were controlled and could be improved in line with industry best practice. The current applica-tion strategy in place with the existing supplier employed the more traditional use of the dosing of chemistry proportional to water makeup and the control of system blowdown on the basis of conductivity. It was very clear that the application of the new innovative 3D TRASAR technology for the cooling system would deliver the benefits required.

3D TRASAR technologyThe 3D TRASAR cooling water management pro-gramme delivers on-demand control and optimisation of cooling water chemistry and microbiology, continu-ously protecting the system from corrosion, scale for-mation and microbial infection. • Asset protection avoids premature and costly re-placement of non-renewable materials.

• Scale and fouling control maximises energy efficiency and minimises CO2 emissions and their global warm-ing impact.

• Precise control of system microbiology assures opti-mum system operation and protects public health.

• Better water resource management minimises the demand for costly renewable resources and safe-guards public water supplies.

3D TRASAR control system3D TRASAR technology meets the requirements of the Best Available Techniques for Industrial Cooling Systems under the European Union Integrated Pollution Prevention & Control legislation in the categories of increasing overall energy efficiency, as well as reducing water use, emissions to air and emissions to water.3D TRASAR technology is used by thousands of corpo-rations around the world to:• secure improvements in their environmental and eco-nomic performance• optimise cooling system efficiency• help them to meet their sustainability goals, specifi-cally in the areas of water and energy use reduction.3D TRASAR technology control systems take account of the inherent variability in system water conditions,

maintaining protection from corrosion and scale by prediction of problems and intervening before they occur. The programme controls system chemistry, dosing on-demand and minimises the amount of materials added to the system, thus minimising costs without prejudicing system integrity. The company accepted the proposal from Nalco and the 3D TRASAR system was installed and commissioned in place of the system from the existing supplier. This included a comprehensive

Environmental indicators• Fresh water demand reduced by 5 600 m3/year (23%)

through water use optimisation• Wastewater discharge reduced by 5 600 m3/year

protecting the quality of the local environment

Economic results• Water costs savings of R44 800 per year delivered• All data verified by the customer

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multifunc-tional treatment programme to control the scale, cor-rosion and fouling from microbiology.At first the challenge of fouling of the 3D TRASAR sensors by residual contaminants in the system had to be dealt with, however this was soon eliminated by use of the necessary in-line filters. From then on, Nalco staff were able to continuously optimise the overall performance of the system.However, problems were seen at the beginning of every new week of plant operation: on Monday mornings the conductiv-ity in the system, and the cycles of concentration, were unex-pectedly low. These results were discussed with the customer in order to discover the reason behind the episodes of low conductivity. It became clear that during the weekends, when the system was not running, the cooling water in the system pipework was running back into the cooling tower sump under gravity. This resulted in an overflow of the cooling system water as the pipework emptied. When the system was restarted, a large volume of fresh water had to be added to fill the system. This was the reason behind the low conductivity.As a result of this problem-solving discovery, the customer ad-justed the non-return valves in the system so that no return of water was possible during the weekend stops. This had the im-mediate result of delivering stable conductivity and optimised water demand.

Results The 24/7 monitoring and control of the 3D TRASAR technology made it possible to consistently increase the cycles of concen-tration from 2.6 to 4.5. After further optimisation of the cooling system, this has now been increased to 5.2. The customer has now reported total water savings of 5 600 m³/year (23%) in this water-stressed area, equivalent to a total annualised cost saving of R44 800.

ConclusionThe strong combination of on-site expertise, advanced innova-tive 3D TRASAR technology, the Nalco problem-solving ap-proach and cost-efficient programme deployment has enabled this new Nalco customer to work towards meeting its sustain-ability goals, protect precious water resources and reduce the TCO of the plant.

3D TRASAR monitoring and control technology delivers superior sustainability performance through water savings and cost reduction at a tyre plant in Southern Africa

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MAY/JUNE 2012 77

Technical paper

For more than a decade, environmental, herit-age and planning legislation in South Africa has been challenged to evolve in a manner that can support sustainable development, while

protecting constitutional imperatives. Shippey (2006:1) states that “despite considerable legal reform to meet this challenge, we are still floundering”. This leads us to ask whether our approach to implementation of the philosophy of sustainable development is appropriate

(Shippey, 2006:1). Sustainability assessment has be-come a rapidly developing area (Ness et al., 2007). An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is one of a number of tools that have a role to play towards achieving the sustainability or sustainable development vision. Other tools which have a role to play in sustainability include, but are not limited to, Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEA), Environmental Management Frameworks (EMF), Environmental Management Programmes, Environmental

The role of EIAs in achieving sustainable development

By Simon van Wyk*

South Africa has one of the world's most advanced environmental legal frameworks, which is entrenched with the environmental right to ‘ecologically sustainable development’. This paper looks at the role that EIAs are presently playing and can potentially play in promoting sustainability in South Africa.

ENVIRONMENTAL

78 MAY/JUNE 2012

ENVIRONMENTAL

Management Systems (EMS) and Environmental Risk Assessment. Before the role that EIAs play in sus-tainability can be critically assessed, a general understanding of the concept is necessary. Weaver et al. (2008:92) states that “sustainability, or sustainable devel-opment, is a notoriously ‘fuzzy’ concept that arguably has different meanings at different levels of application and in dif-ferent contexts”. Addressing this, in 1987 the Brundtland Commission provided its

definition for sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED, 1987:41). The South African Constitution makes it clear that “ecologically sustainable development” is to be secured, while “promoting justifi-able economic and social development”1. The country’s National Environmental Management Act2 (NEMA) defines sustain-able development as “the integration of social, economic and environmental factors into planning, implementation and decision-making so as to ensure that development serves present and future generations”.

The concept of sustainability and sustainable developmentThe concept of sustainable development has been on the international agenda since the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1971. However, the terms sustainability and sus-tainable development have been used and interpreted in widely diff erent ways. Sustainability has been defined as “the level of human consumption and activ-ity that can continue into the foreseeable

future, so that the systems which provide goods and services to humans persist indefinitely” (WCED, 1987; US National Research Council, 1999 cited in Mayer, 2008:278). Mayer (2008:278) goes on to argue that “sustainability research has become more quantitative and includes more dimensions of sustainability si-multaneously, which will allow for more targeted policies to be implemented and their successes tracked more closely”. This complexity is illustrated in Figure 1, and Mayer (2008:278) explains that “the trajec-tory of a system and the position of the system with respect to multidimensional sustainable boundaries are both neces-sary to determine system sustainability. A

system that is unsustainable in one dimen-sion is not generally sustainable. Multiple indicators are measured for each dimen-sion and aggregated into an index that identifies the overall position and trajec-tory of the system (modified from Cabezas et al., 2003).” See Figure 1.Mayer (2008) argues that sustainability comprises three distinctive dimensions, namely resilience, desirability and scale. O’Connor (2006) proposes a different model for sustainability in what he refers to as the ‘four spheres’ framework for sustainability and considers both ethical integrity and systems integrity, although complex, to be complements. O’Connor (2006:285) states that “sustainability is characterised as coevolution of economic, social and environmental systems respect-ing a dynamic ‘triple bottom line’3, i.e. the simultaneous satisfaction of quality/performance goals pertaining to each of the three spheres”. The fourth category of organisation is the political sphere, which O’Connor (2006:286) defines as the regula-tion of the social and economic spheres (all of which takes place within the envi-ronmental sphere). To illustrate the ‘four spheres’, O’Connor (2006:286) proposes the tetrahedral model of sustainability (refer to Figure 2).The fourth sphere ‒ government and/or politics ‒ has the role of what O’Connor refers to as a referee in that the various spheres (social, economic and environmental) are often incompatible and thus the political sphere needs to regulate the interrelations between the different actors. The above views by Mayer (2008) and O’Connor (2006) on sustainability ring-fence the varying indices/spheres that one could consider when grappling with sustainability. Therefore, the notion of sustainability theory nudges over into the ideal4 which is dubbed ‘sustainable devel-opment’. Both developed and developing countries are grappling with sustainable development in varying ways and with varying degrees of success.

National Environmental Management Act principlesPresently, the defining legislative context for giving effect to sustainability in South Africa is encapsulated in Chapter 2 of NEMA. The principles, as laid out in the chapter, address sustainability and sus-tainable development to varying degrees. The efficacy of this principle-based approach to the implementation of the

FIGURE 1: Dimensions of sustainability Source: Mayer, 2008:278

Sustainability has been defi ned as “the level of human consumption and activity that can continue into the foreseeable future, so that the systems which provide goods and services to humans persist indefi nitely”

ENVIRONMENTAL

MAY/JUNE 2012 79

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NEMA mandate in achieving sustainabil-ity is questionable. Ultimately, the NEMA principles remain high-level guidelines ‒ devoid of any tangible form or precise normative content in terms of which the evaluation and measurement of sustain-ability can be undertaken. While the prin-ciples are fundamentally important, they must still be the subject of interpretation without regard to tangible sustainability criteria and indicators.

EIA: Its role in sustainabilityCashmore et al. (2004) state that “EIAs are a decision tool employed to identify and evaluate the probable environmental consequences of certain proposed de-velopment actions in order to facilitate informed decision-making and sound environmental management” (Glasson et al, 1999; Morgan, 1998; Sadler, 1996 cited in Cashmore, 2004). EIA in South Africa is defined as “the process of collecting, or-ganising, analysing, interpreting and com-municating information that is relevant to the consideration of that application” (NEMA Regulation 543, 2010:10). EIAs have progressed steadily in South Africa since the 70s in terms of the process as well as the listed activities that apply in terms of the respective listed activities. Currently, the EIA regulations as promul-gated in terms of regulations 543, 544, 546 and 547 are the regulations that apply in the event of a development triggering the need for an assessment. EIAs as a tool have pros and cons with re-gard to their role in achieving sustainabil-ity and sustainable development viz. limi-tations and eff ectiveness. Cashmore et al. (2004) state: “EIA has inherent limitations, but it has the potential to promote sustain-able development in multifarious ways,

many of which have been largely ignored within the literature. Thus, the contribution of EIA to consent and design decisions can be viewed resolutely as one component of incremental changes in institutions, organisations, philosophy, science and culture.” Cashmore et al. (2004:306) provide a schematic representation of the relation-ship between the conception of EIA to sustainable development goals and society. Cashmore et al. (2004:308) continue, saying “the potential for EIA to contribute to sus-tainable development, it is suggested, has been widely underestimated”. EIAs in South Africa may be hampering our attempts at promoting environmental

sound, and ultimately sustainable, development (Spinks et al., 2003:306). The reasoning for this assertion is, as Spinks et al. (2003:315) put it, due to the fact that “EIAs have limitations and thus environmental practitioners need to arm themselves with a greater range of envi-ronmental tools to assist them (and key stakeholders) in understanding the full environmental ramifications of specific development proposals”. Subjectivity also plays a factor in the reliability and robustness of EIAs in terms of public and decision-making authority scrutiny. As such, Wilkins (2003) states that “knowledge of the environment will never

FIGURE 2: Tetrahedral model of sustainability (also known as the “four spheres” of sustainability) Source: O’Connor, 2006:286

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MAY/JUNE 2012 81

be sufficient to accurately predict the ex-act impacts of a project. Assessors are therefore forced to decide on how best to make predictions on future impacts. The

personal values of assessors are used in deciding what methodologies to use and how to approach the assessment.”

Concluding remarksThe often sole reliance on project-level EIA saddles EIAs with the very difficult challenge of having the project promote sustainability, often within a planning vac-uum that has not addressed sustainability. Day-to-day practice should immediately be improved to better address sustainabil-ity within the current planning legislative framework, to provide a more credible context within which to undertake and consider EIA applications. It is imperative to promote the use of ‘sustainability enhanced’ planning tools and maps (which includes greater use of

EMFs, bioregional plans and SEAs), focus on strengthening SDFs (based on EMF) and provide a fast-track process where projects ‘fit’ SDFs and strengthen linkages

between local and provincial plans. There should be a link of ecological sustainabil-ity objectives to performance and delivery outcome agreements, identification and redefining of environmentally damaging government policies and programmes (including inter-generational aspects), and full integration of environmental policy via budgetary, planning and auditing pro-cesses as well as to allow civil society to monitor performance against ecological sustainability objectives (Coetzee et al., 2011:9). This notwithstanding, EIAs do have a role to play towards achieving sustain-ability and sustainable development; however it is prevalent that the pursuit of sustainable development must firstly be mainstreamed into our planning at

It is prevalent that the pursuit of sustainable development must fi rstly be mainstreamed into our planning at the national, provincial and municipal levels, as well as into national, provincial and municipal development programmes and projects

FIGURE 3: EIA as an agent of incremental change Source: Cashmore et al. (2004:307)

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References• Cashmore, M, Gwilliam, R, Morgan, R, Cobb, D

and Bond, A. 2004. The interminable issue of eff ectiveness: substantive purposes, outcomes and research challenges in the advancement of environmental impact assessment theory. Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, volume 22, number 4. Beech Tree Publishing. pp 295‒310.

• Cashmore, M. 2004. The role of science in environmental impact assessment: process and procedure versus purpose in the development of theory. Environmental Impact Assessment Review 24. pp 403‒426.

• Coetzee, I, Nel, G, Morris, M.J and Cullinan, C. 2011. Integrating the Legal Tapestry for Ecological Sustainability. IAIAsa National Conference. pp 1-15 .

• Department of Environmental Aff airs. 2010. Draft National Strategy on sustainable Development and Action Plan 2010 ‒ 2014. Notice No. 393 of 2010. pp 1 ‒ 42.

• Mayer, A.L. 2008. Strengths and weaknesses of common sustainability indices for multidimen-sional systems. Environment International 34.

pp 277‒291.• Ness, B, Urbel-Piirsalu, E, Anderberg, S & Olsson, L.

2007. Categorising tools for sustainability assess-ment. Ecological Economics 60. pp 498 ‒ 508.

• O’Connor, M. 2006. The ‘‘Four Spheres’’ framework for sustainability. Ecological Complexity 3. pp 285 ‒ 292.

• Shippey, K. 2006. Legislating for Sustainability- Is South Africa Heading in the Right Direction? Southern African Planning Institute Conference, Cape Town, March 2006. pp 1-16.

• Spangenberg, J.H. 2002. Environmental space and the prism of sustainability: frameworks for indicators measuring sustainable development. Ecological Indicators 2. pp 295‒309.

• Spinks, A, Luger, M, Shippey, K and De Villiers, C. 2003. EIAs as an Obstacle to Sound Environmental Management in South Africa: A Practitioners Perspective. IAIAsa National conference 2003. pp 305 - 316.

• Summers, R. 2011. Defi ning Sustainability: A Legal Perspective on the Utilisation of Sustainability Criteria and Indicators to Enhance the Achievement of Sustainable Development in

Environmental Decision-Making. IAIAsa National Conference. pp 1-13.

• Troell M, Pihl L, Rönnbäck P, Wennhage H, Söderqvist T, Kautsky N. 2005. Regime shifts and ecosystem services in Swedish coastal soft bottom habitats: when resilience is undesirable. Ecology and Society 10(1): 30 [online] ‒ 19/08/2011.

• Vanclay, F. 2004. The Triple Bottom Line and Impact Assessment: How Do TBL, EIA, SIA, SEA and EMS relate to each other? Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management. Vol. 6, No. 3. pp. 265‒288.

• Venturi, F. 2011. Debating the Practical Use and Value of Sustainability Criteria in Providing Guidance to Improve EIA Practice ‒ the perspective of the Environmental Assessment Practitioner. IAIAsa National Conference.

• WCED, 1987. Our Common Future. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

• Weaver, A, Pope, J, Morrison-Saunders, A & Lochner, P. 2008. Contributing to sustainability as an environmental impact assessment practitioner. Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal 26(2). IAIA. pp 91 ‒ 98.

Footnotes:1 Section 24 of the Constitution refers: “Everyone

has the right ‒ (a) to an environment that is not

harmful to their health or well-being; and (b) to

have the environment protected, for the benefi t

of present and future generations, through

reasonable legislative and other measures that- (i)

prevent pollution and ecological degradation; (ii)

promote conservation; and (iii) secure ecologi-

cally sustainable development and use of natural

resources while promoting justifi able economic

and social development.”2 Act No. 107 of 1998.3 For further reading on Triple Bottom Line theory,

Vanclay (2004), in his journal titled “The Triple

Bottom Line and Impact Assessment: How do

TBL, EIA, SIA, SEA and EMS Relate to Each Other?”

further discusses the Triple Bottom Line theory in

relation to other impact assessment tools.4 Assuming an anthropocentric ethic base.5 Act No. 107 of 1998.6 National planning level: economic, industrial and

rural development strategies, etc.7 Provincial planning level: Provincial Growth

and Development Strategies, Provincial Spatial

Development Framework, etc.8 Municipal planning level: Integrated

Development Plans, Spatial Development

Frameworks, District Growth and Development

Strategies, and Local Economic Development

Strategies, etc.

the national5, provincial6 and municipal7 levels, as well as into national, provincial and municipal development programmes and projects. Day-to-day practice should immediately be improved to better address sustainability within the current planning legislative framework and to provide a more credible context within which to un-dertake and consider EIA applications.Hardcastle & Gerber (2011:13) appropri-

ately ring-fence the notion of sustainable

development in the South African context in that current issues that inform ‘sustain-able development’ debates must also be addressed in forward planning and EIA practices. While it is acknowledged that EIA is not the only tool to achieve sustainability, the EIA process is still a very eff ective tool in evaluating the sustainabil-ity of development proposals. However, to measure the extent to which EIAs substantially addressed ‘sustainability’,

the sustainability criteria must go beyond adherence to procedural requirements and address substantive considerations such as the sustainable use of resources, poverty and inequality. • Simon van Wyk is a senior risk consultant at Aurecon South Africa

MAY/JUNE 2012 83

84 MAY/JUNE 2012

Klamfl exPROFILE

The company was established in 1962 by Stewarts & Lloyds of South Africa and Hall Longmore, who purchased Howell

Couplings, with Hall Longmore being the minority shareholder. The new company was named Pipe Couplings. Five years later, in 1967, the company entered into a shareholding and license agreement with the Victaulic Company of the UK to manufacture Viking Johnson couplings in South Africa. This agreement continued

until 1979, when Victaulic sold their share-holding of 15% to Stewart & Lloyds, and the license agreement remained in place. In 1986, Dorbyl in South Africa acquired Stewarts & Lloyds, and in 1990 Dorbyl purchased Hall Longmore’s shares and the company Pipe Couplings was now 100% owned by Dorbyl. In 1992, the licensing agreement between Pipe Couplings and Victaulic was terminated. At the time, our territory was restricted to South Africa and we could not export our products. That

was when the Klamflex brand was intro-duced, essentially comprising the same product, a Viking Johnson coupling, but we simply changed the name to Klamflex.

What is your career history in the organisation?I was involved with and employed by Stewarts & Lloyds from the 70s. When Stewarts & Lloyds was bought out by Dorbyl, I headed up what was in those days called Dorbyl Water, where I was an executive director, which included all its water manufacturing companies, valve manufacturing, pump manufacturing and windmills. However, there came a time when Dorbyl decided that water was not part of its strategic focus. By then I had some 26 years’ service with the group and it was in 1999, with equity partners in Singapore, that I concluded a manage-ment buy-out of the company.This signifi cant milestone in history has an interesting story relating to Nelson Mandela. After his release in 1994, during his world tour, Mandela was encouraging foreign companies to invest in South Africa. Singapore had committed billions of rand to invest in South Africa with strict condi-tions, one of which was that they must have Singaporean investors. At that time, I had coincidently made a trip to Singapore to visit some of our distributors and had briefl y mentioned if they would be interested in backward integration. As it turned out, we did the deal with Singaporan partners. It

Klamfl ex, the largest manufacturer of pipe couplings, fl ange adaptors, stepped couplings and dismantling joints in the southern hemisphere, will celebrate 50 years in business this year. Debbie Besseling speaks to Andy Lawrence, the managing director, about this signifi cant achievement.

50 years in the making

LEFT Klamfl ex Dismantling Joint connecting two valves in the Dubai Jebel Ali Sewerage PlantMIDDLE Klamfl ex Couplings and Flange Adaptors on a pipeline in South AfricaBOTTOM Klamfl ex Flange Adaptors connecting a Butterfl y Valve to a pipeline in South Africa

MAY/JUNE 2012 85

PROFILE

was a favourable deal as it was part of their commitment to Mandela, to invest in our country and help grow the economy. Today we are a wholly-owned private company.

MilestonesOne of the company’s milestones relates to our export operations, which started in 1992 and grew steadily until 1999, when exports surged after the MBO. It was in 2002 that we were awarded the Exporter of the Year Award by the Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In 2003 our exports sales grew to 60% of our total production compared with 29% in 1999, when I took over the company. In 2007 we were finalists in the Mogale City Business Achievers of the Year, in the category Medium Business Exporters, manufacturing sector. In 2008 we grew our turnover by 37% and our profit before tax by 79%, which can be attributed to our exports. Our best year was 2009, where our turnover increased by 52% over the previous year and profits increased by a further 78%. We continue to grow both local and export markets, and look forward the excellent year ahead.

What market do you supply?Our market has two distinctive areas: one is the day-to-day maintenance and repairs to the municipalities and water supply authorities that make use of our products continuously. The other side of the business is project orientated, where we are involved in the supply of product to large water and wastewater supply projects. This also includes the small dis-tribution lines where the municipalities are involved.

What are some of the company’s most significant projects?One of the highlights in our 50 years of business was the great man-made river project in Libya, where we manufactured couplings with a diameter of 3.1 m, and a working pressure of 10 bar. In 2009, we were awarded the entire Jebel Ali Sewage treatment project in Dubai, which at that time was the most modern sewage treat-ment that had been constructed. Some of the other significant projects that we have been involved in include:• North-South Carrier 1• Richards Bay Industrial Water Main Upgrade

• The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority Project.

To what do you attribute the success of the company?The success of our company is without a doubt a result of our uncompromis-ing quality, this is despite the pressures that we have from some of the cheaper products that are being imported. We have never dropped our standards, and we have maintained our quality service for which we are well-known. I must talk about staff when it comes to the success of the company. We have some very long-serving staff members; resignations are few and far between. At Klamflex we are a family, some of the people in the factory have received 30- and 35-year service awards. That is part of the success and the experience and knowledge that we have built up over the years. Our company slogan is ‘Couple with Confidence’; we have been manufacturing couplings since 1962.

Tell us about your African footprintIn terms of the African market, we tradi-tionally sell through local export houses. We have always split ourselves into local, which includes surrounding Africa ter-ritories, and exports ‒ everything north of the equator. To give you an idea, in 2009 our footprint was 70% exports and 30% local. Today it is 50/50. This is one of our strategic areas of focus and we certainly want to get more involved directly in the African market.

What makes you stand out from your competitors?We have a completely different set of competitors internationally compared to locally. What sets us apart from our competitors is approvals. In most de-veloped nations they are very particular about what product comes in contact with fresh drinking water. There are strict regulations in terms of approvals and the process is costly. This is provided by the Water Regulatory Advisory Service (WRAS). Without WRAS approval we would not be able to export our products. In South Africa there is no specification

for couplings that come into contact with fresh drinking water. We do not manufac-ture separate products for the local and export markets, there is one product for both markets, therefore the local market gets a top quality-approved product.Our manufacturing process also sets us apart. We manufacture to a USA specifica-tion ‒ the AWWA C219 specification. This process involves cold expansion, which ef-fectively tests every single component of our product 100%. It eliminates the need for us to take water and hydrostatically test our products. No one else in South Africa manufactures like this and this is a significant distinguishing factor.

What are the company’s strategic plans for the next five years?Over the next five years we want to expand our international distribution net-work and one of the methods we are look-ing at is a strategic partnership with an international company in the water busi-ness, which will allow us to springboard by using their existing distribution network and add complementary products. We are already in discussion with international companies to develop a strategic alliance to leapfrog our exposure into more inter-national markets.We are also looking at an off-shore fin-ishing and warehousing facility. Shipping is now becoming very costly. South Africa is our only base and from here we ship all over the world.

Contact details:Wayne PoissonMarketing ManagerTel: +27 (0)11 762 5326E-mail: [email protected]: www.klamflex.com

“One of the highlights in our 50 years of business is the largest diameter coupling that we have ever manufactured, which is 3.1 m in diameter, with a 10 bar working pressure” Andy Lawrence

86 MAY/JUNE 2012

TECHNOLOGYTlokwe Municipality

What is known is that a ‘modern’ water works that comprised a filtration plant and reservoir was completed in 1924 and the pipe in question, which still con-

veys water from the reservoir into the town centre, was most likely installed at the same time.According to Kleintjie Kleinhans, assistant city engi-neer of the Tlokwe (Potchefstroom) City Council, it is possible that the pipe was installed in 1900 when six steel water tanks were erected on the site of the puri-fication plant.“The pipe may well have even existed before this. However, I think it is safe to say that it has been supply-ing potable water at a maximum rate of 4 910 m3/d to Potchefstroom residents for at least 87 years.”

Pipe still pumping after nearly 100 yearsJust another 13 years and a 225 mm (9″) 3 km concrete water pipe will have been in operation for 100 years in the university town of Potchefstroom. In fact, it’s possible that the pipe could already be over 100 years old, but documentation to verify this claim is unfortunately not to hand. By David Beer

This information came to light when the Concrete Manufacturers Association (CMA), in collaboration with IMIESA, ran a competition in its September and

October editions to locate some of the coun-try’s oldest concrete

RIGHT Architectural plans of Potchefstroom’s fi rst water fi ltration, which was built in 1924BELOW Two outlet pipes inside the original reservoir; one feeds the 225 mm concrete feeder pipe

MAY/JUNE 2012 87

TECHNOLOGY

pipe installations. So far the Potchefstroom project is the only one to have won one of the 10 cases of wine on offer for successfully meeting the CMA’s competition criteria. According to CMA director, Hamish Laing: “The du-rability and cost-effectiveness of concrete piping have been clearly demonstrated in Potchefstroom. No other material comes close to concrete piping’s track record for the conveyance of water using pipes with diameters greater than 150 mm. Moreover, concrete piping is self-supporting, unlike plastic piping, which is flexible and a conduit only, requiring additional material for structural support.”Kleinhans commented further, saying that Potchefstroom has enjoyed Blue Drop status for the past three years and is currently rated sixth in the coun-try. In addition, its current Green Drop status is number one in the country.“This bears testimony to the engineering of the 20s

as the 1924 filtration plant is still fully operational,” says Kleinhans.The bulk of Potchefstroom’s water is sourced from Mooi River system, which includes the Potchefstroom and Boskop dams. As the town grew during the 20th century, so did its water requirements and the output of the water

purification plant was doubled in 1941, when flushing toilets were first installed. Capacity was doubled again in 1952 and a feeder canal built in 1962. A new filtration and storage plant, Lakeside, was established in 1966, with additional Lakeside expansions taking place in 1976 and 1984. The most recent addition was a new pumping plant, which was built in 1984 to pump water from the Potchefstroom Dam to the purification plant.

ABOVE The original Potchefstroom pump station, which was built in 1924 and closed down in the 60s

LEFT Part of Potchefstroom’s water-fi ltration works built in 1924

BELOW Potchefstroom’s original water fi ltration plant as see from the top of the fi rst reservoir. Both were built in 1924 and are still functioning perfectly

FROM LEFT, Hamish Laing, CMA director; Lance Carson, superintendent water and sanitation of the Tlokwe (Potchefstroom) City Council; and Kleintjie Kleinhans, assistant city engineer of the Tlokwe (Potchefstroom) City Council, seen here at the entrance to the original Potchefstroom pump station

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MAY/JUNE 2012 89

TECHNOLOGYCity of Tshwane

The Roodeplaat Dam, situated approximately 20 km north-east of the Tshwane CBD was identified as the preferred local source, and a licence to abstract raw water from this dam

was issued by the (then) Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) to the City of Tshwane, thereby approving the implementation of the bulk water sup-ply scheme. Implementation of the project was funded off-balance sheet by a number of commercial banks for the Temba Roodeplaat Water Services Trust, a Special Project Vehicle (SPV) created especially for the project, with the City of Tshwane being the main stakeholder and sole benefactor. The cost of constructing the first phase of the scheme was approximately R250 million.The Roodeplaat Dam, raw water source for the Roodeplaat Water Treatment Works (RWTW), can be

Advance treatment processes implemented

classified as highly eutrophied due to the substantial influx of (in most cases well-treated) effluent from two large wastewater treatment facilities situated in the dam’s catchment, owned and operated by the City of

RIGHT New ozone contact chamber (right) and GAC fi ltration building (left) during construction

The fi rst phase of the 60 Mℓ/d Roodeplaat WTW was commissioned in 2005 as part of the Roodeplaat Bulk Water Supply Project, implemented to augment water supply to the rapidly expanding northern areas of Tshwane from local sources in lieu of extending its existing supply scheme from Rand Water.

90 MAY/JUNE 2012

TECHNOLOGY

Tshwane. Apart from excessive algal growth, which is a direct consequence of eutrophication and rela-tively easy to remove via treatment processes such as flotation, removal of associated algal toxins, complex dissolved manganese and iron, organic constituents responsible for taste and odour-causing compounds and chlorine-resistant pathogens are more difficult and require a series of treatment steps, many of which are generally viewed as advanced processes.Although all the treatment processes were included during initial planning of the treatment facility nec-essary to treat the Roodeplaat water to acceptable potable standards, the City of Tshwane decided to im-plement the advanced processes in the form of ozona-tion and Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) proactively in anticipation of further deterioration in raw water quality. The Temba Roodeplaat Consulting Consortium, of which Bigen Africa is the lead consultant, was

subsequently appointed to design the new processes and a pilot plant was installed at the RWTW and operated for approximately three months to determine various site-specific design parameters, which was ultimately used for the detail design and specification of the new processes. The use of ozone in conjunction with GAC filtration offers a number of benefits. Apart from its strong disinfection power, ozone has the ability to alter the molecular struc-ture of complex organic compounds making them more amicable to biological degradation and re-moval. In addition to its adsorbent properties, GAC is also an excellent medium for the development and proliferation of bacteria that remove organic compounds, many of which

are responsible for potentially unacceptable tastes and odours in the final water. At Roodeplaat, ozone will mainly be used for the oxidation of dissolved organic

constituents, improved GAC adsorption of organic compounds, disinfection of chlorine-resistant patho-gens and, to a lesser extent, the removal of complex iron and manganese.Ozone is a strong oxidant and disinfectant with a va-riety of applications in water treatment. Unfortunately, ozone as a highly reactive gas cannot be stored in

containers and thus need to be generated at the point of use by passing high voltage electrical current through an oxygen-rich environment. The electrical current splits the oxygen (O2) molecule into two O-atoms and a small portion (for example. 6 to 12% by weight) of the O-atoms combine with O2 molecules to form O3, that is ozone. The amount of ozone generated is dependent on various factors, one of which being the concentration of oxygen in the feed gas to the gen-erator. Three types of feed gases are normally used for large-scale gener-ation of ozone, namely pure O2 from commercially-supplied liquid oxy-gen (LOX), pure O2 produced on site from air through a process called Pressure Swing Absorption (PSA) or

BELOW Ozone Generators

The City of Tshwane decided to implement the advanced processes in the form of ozonation and Granular Activated Carbon proactively in anticipation of further deterioration in raw water quality.

TECHNOLOGY

MAY/JUNE 2012 91

normal air, which is approximately 22% O2. For the system installed at Roodeplaat, ozone will be generated from LOX.The project is being implemented through two construction contracts, one for the construction of the civil works and the other for the supply and installation of the mechanical and electrical equipment. The ozone generation equipment is the single-most expensive component of the mechanical works and was imported from Switzerland. The civil works, comprising mainly of a new ozone contact chamber, ozone generation building housing the gen-erators and a new GAC filter building, was completed in December 2011 at a cost of approximately R30 million. The installation of the mechanical and electrical works is progressing well and the commissioning of the new processes is currently sched-uled for June 2012. The completion cost of the mechanical and electrical contract is currently estimated at approximately R60 million. Once completed, the RWTW will be one of the most advanced water

treatment facilities in South Africa and certainly a flagship plant for the City of Tshwane.The civil structures and associated build-ing works was constructed by Superway Construction, while a joint venture be-tween PCI Africa, Electron and Dip Civils

(PDE JV) is responsible for the supply and installation of all mechanical and electri-cal equipment. The Temba Roodeplaat Consulting Consortium comprising Bigen Africa Services and DJJ Conradie and Partners are the engineers on the project for the employer.

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Elevated Tanks:ABECO offers full-service design, manufacture and installation of support tower steelwork. Basic towers consisting of support steelwork with a caged access ladder to the roof of the tank are offered in the absence of further specification. Walkways around the base of the tank or rest platforms on access ladders are available on request.Access is required all around the pressed steel tanks to tighten bolts. The recommended minimum space around the four sides and above the roof is 600 mm and 450 mm beneath the tank

Circular Sectional Steel Tanks:In developing sectional steel tanks, ABECO recognised a need for tanks that have the following features:

Low-cost hygienic water storage Rugged and easily transportable Minimal site preparation and foundations required Quick and easy to install Can be installed using basic equipment Durable and long lasting Can be dismantled and re-erected at new sites.

Ground-Level Tanks:Ground-level tanks are commonly supported on reinforced concrete dwarf walls fitted with steel capping strips. The purpose of the capping strip is to spread the weight over the full load of the support wall and to provide a level platform on which to erect the tank. For practical reasons, concrete cannot be cast with sufficient accuracy of level. The capping strips should be positioned in place before the installation of the tank starts. Recommended tolerance is ±2 mm. Care should be taken to ensure that foundation walls are parallel and square to each other. Foundation walls must protrude beyond the edge of the tank by a recommended distance of 150 mm. The tapered top section of the wall assists in providing access.

MAY/JUNE 2012 93

Containerised solutions TECHNOLOGY

The company has designed and manufactured an advanced containerised golf course pump station within five weeks, an impressive two weeks ahead of schedule. According to Romeo

Giannone, Incledon pumps and irrigation division national product manager, the client, Thika Greens Limited, did not have the required space to fit one standard 40-foot container in a viable position. As a

result, Incledon was approached by DDV Design Group, a golf course architecture and landscape expert, to design the containerised pump station to supply water to the sprinkler system on the fairways and greens on a permanent basis. Giannone says: “This was a real challenge as the two 20-foot containers had to be positioned next to each other with their doors side by side. This meant that the

Hitting an ‘eagle’ while manufacturing a golf course pump stationA leading irrigation and water pumping expert has successfully designed and constructed a fully containerised pump station in two adjoining 20-foot containers for the newly developed Thika Greens golf course and luxury housing estate in Kenya. Water&Sanitation Africa reports on the technology used.

BELOW A fully containerised pump station

94 MAY/JUNE 2012

TECHNOLOGY

pipe manifolds had to be accurately aligned in each box, in order to ensure that the connecting pipe mani-folds between the on-site containers would be flaw-lessly installed. To achieve the most accurate results, we made use of specialised 3D design software that aided us tremendously in achieving the correct positioning of all the components seamlessly.”

The technologyIn order to ensure that only the operator-prescribed water use would be delivered, Incledon made use of variable speed drive (VSD) inverter systems, which en-able the control of line pressure and allow the pumps to be gradually introduced to meet varying water demand, thereby removing the resultant wear-and-tear on con-ventional hard-start equipment. Giannone notes that VSD inverter systems are far more efficient than outdated methods, which entail a jockey pump to constantly keep the entire pipework network charged and between two to four slave pumps to provide the bulk water demand. “These systems are inefficient in today’s terms, given that all the slave pumps are fixed-speed and either produce too much, or not enough, water. Low pressure on a sprinkler feed-ing a green is highly destructive as the droplet sizes are inevitably too big and either compact the grass or wash the green and leave unsightly water troughs as a result,” he continues. Giannone explains that VSD inverter systems employ two jockeys, with one or two variable speed driven slaves, coupled with the required number of hard-start slaves to produce the necessary volume and pressure

on the course. “VSD inverter systems allow for precise control of line pressure and also offer unrivalled efficiencies on power consumption, as well as water usage, due to the fact that they only deliver the amount pre-scribed by the operator. The sys-tem components were sourced from South Africa and Italy, and the development and design of the system was done entirely in-house in South Africa.”

Benefi ts containerised pump stationGiannone highlights the fact that the containerised pump

station has additional benefits, when compared to traditional brick and concrete structures located below the water level. “As the container is semi-submerged, it allows the pumps to be installed much closer to the supply water levels, thereby reducing net positive

“The system had to be designed in a ‘meccano-style’ fashion, which involved the fi tting of 2 500 bolts, nuts and washers over a three-day period to secure the containers” Incledon pumps and irrigation division national product manager, Romeo Giannone

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suction head issues commonly experienced with traditional above-surface stations. What’s more, it is also less visible and easier to hide from view, ultimately improving the aesthetics on the course through smart landscaping.”Due to the fact that the containers are being transported to Nairobi by sea, international maritime law dictates that the containers also have to be seaworthy and well-balanced throughout the journey and for delivery. Giannone adds: “This was another challenge and the system had to be designed in a ‘meccano-style’ fashion, which involved the fitting of 2 500 bolts, nuts and washers over a three-day period to secure the containers. With the exception of a few minor hiccups with regards to inaccurate manifold construction, the system was connected perfectly.”After successfully manufacturing the pump station in record time, Giannone points out that Incledon plans to market the system as ‘ready-to-use’ equipment moving forward. “This

marketing approach could prove to be invaluable to clients, considering the fact that revamping or replacing an entire ir-rigation system pump station on a golf course could leave the grass and plant life vulnerable, if the changeover from old to new equipment takes longer than a week,” he notes.With this type of ready-built system, Giannone is confident that the changeover can be done within that time and that the client will not be caught out by unforeseen challenges encountered when undertaking a conventional upgrade and discovering that some equipment does not fit. “Where pos-sible, I believe that the new plant can be fully installed next to the existing system on the course, and it should take less than two days to reroute the suction and delivery lines.”Looking to the future, Giannone points out that the company is also exploring various methods to manufacture these types of plants on a smaller scale and to standardise certain compo-nents in order to cater for additional applications. “Reticulation boosters in building basements would benefit from this type of system, and we are aiming to complete the modified systems ready for distribution by the end of the year,” he concludes.

The Thika Greens golf course in Kenya

In order to ensure that only the operator-prescribed water use would be delivered, Incledon made use of variable speed drive inverter systems

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MAY/JUNE 2012 97

Water purifi cation TECHNOLOGY

What sets Zetachem apart from its competitors?Trevor Johnston (TJ): “In 2011 Zetachem enjoyed its 25th anniversary in the water treatment industry. What sets us apart from our South African competitors is that Zetachem produces the widest range of base co-agulants, covering both the inorganic and organic. By this I mean we manufacture a range of polyamines and polyDADMACs, as well as aluminium chorohydrate and ferric sulphate. These base coagulants are supplied as a fi nished product or can be used as building blocks in various blends. From this broad base, we can tailor-make solutions for the individual customer’s needs.”Susan Roodt (SR): “When we fi rst meet a new cus-tomer we conduct a detailed analysis of their needs.

Making it happenIn a recent interview with Water&Sanitation Africa, Trevor Johnston (managing director) and Susan Roodt (sales manager) outlined Zetachem’s unique position in the South African water purifi cation industry.

This involves looking at their particular water treatment plant and the raw water conditions they are faced with. Raw water varies with geography, geology, local climate and urban infl uences. The ability to treat the raw water

is impacted by the specifi c design of the water treatment plant. The Zetachem approach involves fi rst screening the standard range of products, in order to take advantage of economies of scale where possible. If this screening does not yield an ideal solution, we begin developing a unique

BOTTOM Glyphosate plantBELOW Zetachem building

98 MAY/JUNE 2012

TECHNOLOGY

solution using the building blocks available.”TJ: “We believe Zetachem’s wide range of coagulants is further complemented by a policy of high-level stock holding of raw materials and base products. This, coupled with our excess produc-tion capacity, allows for a rapid response to customer needs. This philosophy allows Zetachem to make to order, with very short lead times ‒ in emergencies, help-ing out clients within 24 hours.Over the 25 years, a focus on quality has been at the forefront of Zetachem’s development. In 1994 we were awarded ISO 9002 and currently have ISO 9001/2008

certifi cation. With the demise of the Department of Health’s chemical registration programme, Zetachem pioneered bringing NSF (ANSI 60) into the South African potable wa-ter sector and was awarded the NSF accreditation in 2000. NSF, and specifi cally the ANSI 60 code, has since become the unoffi cial benchmark for drinking water chemicals.”

Are all of Zetachem’s products manufactured in the same plant?TJ: “Zetachem has three manufacturing sites; Mobeni, Durban, is the main plant where the bulk of our manufacturing takes place. We have a dedicated sodium hypochlorite plant in Cato Manor, Durban, on Umgeni

Water’s Wiggins site and a ferric sulphate plant in Blackheath, just outside of Cape Town.”

Tell us about your customer base. Has it changed a great deal over the past 25 years?SR: “I am proud to say that with our philosophy and commitment to serving our customers‘ changing needs, we fi nd those relationships to be very stable, with many of our customers being with us for longer than 20 years. Zetachem focuses on bulk supply, targeting the water boards and large industrial users, as well as having an ex-port base into Africa, the Middle East, Australasia, Europe and the Indian Ocean Islands.”

What is your plan for the future?TJ: “Our plan for the future is to expand our export base. With this in mind we are developing products with sta-bility at higher active concentrations. This means we can reduce packaging and transport costs, and provide our customers with a more cost-eff ective solution.”

LEFT FROM TOP Polyamine plant, Ach plant, hypo plant, monomer plant, polymer plant

“I am proud to say that with our philosophy and commitment to serving our customers’ changing needs, we fi nd those relationships to be very stable, with many of our customers being with us for longer than 20 years."

MAY/JUNE 2012 99

Disinfection TECHNOLOGY

A fter proper treatment, wastewater can be reused in irrigation, industrial activities, groundwater recharge, recreational uses or even as potable water. Irrigation and other

agricultural uses of treated wastewater are interesting applications due to the high volumes of water needed.Wastewater must meet certain quality criteria before reuse. These criteria vary within countries, but one key requirement is microbial quality. For example, in California, USA, the limits for tertiary wastewater reuse for food crop irrigation are less than 2.2 coliform bac-teria per 100 mℓ and turbidity of maximum 5 NTU.1 Another example is Italy where similar limits are 2 to 20 faecal coliform per 100 mℓ, depending on the type of vegetation.21

To meet the microbial requirements, wastewater must be properly disinfected. Widely used wastewater disinfection methods are chlorine-based chemicals, ultraviolet (UV) radiation, ozonation and more recently

treatment with peracetic acid (PAA). PAA has many advantages over competing chemicals and techniques.

PAC-Solution provides environmentally friendly and safe disinfection systems that are based on PAA. When using PAA for disinfection, it is essential to control the process for optimised performance and cost-eff ectiveness: this is done by the PACS8 system.

Peracetic acid as a disinfectantCommercially available PAA is an equilibrium solution containing PAA (CH3COOOH), acetic acid (CH3COOH),

Wastewater disinfection for reclamation useWater shortage and reduction in the amount of available exploitable water resources puts pressure on intensifying water usage in many areas. One very economical and ecological way to do this is to reuse or recycle wastewater.

by Tero Luukkonen*

FIGURE 1. Control software of PACS8 system.

Widely used wastewater disinfection methods are chlorine-based chemicals, ultraviolet radiation, ozonation and more recently treatment with peracetic acid

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MAY/JUNE 2012 101

TECHNOLOGY

hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and water, as shown below. The mixture also contains stabilising compounds to ensure long storage time and stability in low and high temperatures.

CH3COOOH + H2O ↔ CH3COOH + H2O2

Chemicals used in the PACS8 system are called PACS5 or PACS12, which contain 5 and 12 % PAA respectively. PAA is the main active component of the chemical mixture, but hydrogen peroxide has synergistic ef-fects in many applications.3-5 PAA is widely applied as a disinfectant in the food, beverage and paper industries, as well as in medical facilities. PAA was first proposed as a wastewater disinfect-ant by Baldry et al. in the late 80s 3, 4, 6, 7.

Since then it has also been studied extensively for several other wastewater applications, including: 1) disinfection of wastewater for reuse or before discharge to waterbodies8 2) combined sewer overfl ow treatment9

3) odour removal10

4) active sludge debulking10 5) sludge treatment11.

PAA is an ideal antimicrobial agent since it has high oxidation potential12, it is eff ective against many bacteria13-15, viruses16-18 and spores3, 19, 20 and in a recent study21 it was shown to be as eff ective as hypochlorite against Giardia and Clostridium perfrin-gens. With PAA-based disinfection there is no reactivation of microbes after treat-ment, which is an issue with UV systems22, 23. One major advantage is also the lack

of carcinogenic or toxic disinfection by-products (DBPs)24, 25. Halogenated DBPs are problematic with chlorine-based chemicals or with ozonation. The only by-products from using PAA are acetic acid and water. Acetic acid will rapidly decompose into carbon dioxide in natural aquatic systems.Disinfection mechanism of PAA is com-prised of several simultaneous actions. Main mechanisms are thought to be the release of active oxygen and generation

of radicals, the oxidation of sulfhydryl and sulphur bonds in key biomolecules and the disruption of transport through cell walls10.

PACS8 systemPACS8 system consists of three main com-ponents: multiple online measurements, automated analysis of collected data and controlled dosing of PACS chemical. Online measurements are fl ow of water,

reduction-oxidation potential and residual disinfectant. With collected data, PACS8 system is able to analyse whether dosing should be increased or decreased. Residual disinfectant measurement ensures that there is never overdosing that is not cost-eff ective or environmentally safe.

* Tero Luukkonen, MSc (physical chemis-try), research and development chemist at PAC-Solution Ltd.

References(1) California Code Regulations, Title 22, Division 4, Chapter 3 Water Recycling Criteria, Sections 60301 et seq., Dec.2, 2000.

(2) Angelakis, A. N.; Bontoux, L.; Lazarova, V. Challenges and prospectives for water recycling and reuse in EU countries. Water Science and Technology: Water Supply 2003, 3, 59-68.

(3) Baldry, M. G. C. The bactericidal, fungicidal and sporicidal properties of hydrogen peroxide and peracetic acid. J. Appl. Bacteriol. 1983, 54, 417-423.

(4) Baldry, M. G. C.; French, M. S. Disinfection of sew-age effl uent with peracetic acid. Water Science and Technology 1989, 21, 203-206.

(5) Fraser, J. A. L.; Godfree, A. F.; Jones, F. Use of per-acetic acid in operational sewage sludge disposal to pasture. Water Science and Technology 1985, 17, 451-466.

(6) Baldry, M. G. C.; French, M. S. Activity of peracetic acid against sewage indicator organisms. Water Science and Technology 1989, 21, 1747-1749.

(7) Baldry, M. G. C.; French, M. S. Disinfection of sew-age effl uent with peracetic acid. Water Science and Technology 1989, 21, 203-206.

(8) Dell'Erba, A.; Falsanisi, D.; Liberti, L.; Notarnicola, M.; Santoro, D. Disinfecting behaviour of peracetic acid for municipal wastewater reuse. Desalination 2004, 168, 435-442.

(9) Coyle, E.; Ormsbee, L. In In Peracetic acid as an alternative disinfection technology for wet weather sewer overfl ows; Proceedings of World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2009 - World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2009: Great Rivers; 2009; Vol. 342, pp 2135-2144.

(10) Mehmet, K. Disinfection of wastewater with per-acetic acid: a review. Environment international 2004, 30, 47-55.

(11) Appels, L.; Assche, A. V.; Willems, K.; Degrève, J.; Impe, J. V.; Dewil, R. Peracetic acid oxidation as an alternative pre-treatment for the anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge. Bioresour. Technol. 2011, 102, 4124-4130.

(12) Awad, M. I.; Denggerile, A.; Ohsaka, T. Electroreduction of peroxyacetic acid at gold electrode in aqueous media. J. Electrochem. Soc. 2004, 151, E358-E363.

(13) Wagner, M.; Brumelis, D.; Gehr, R. Disinfection of wastewater by hydrogen peroxide or peracetic acid: Development of procedures for measure-ment of residual disinfectant and application to a physicochemically treated municipal effl uent. Water Environ. Res. 2002, 74, 33-50.

(14) Lefevre, F.; Audic, J. M.; Ferrand, F. Peracetic acid disinfection of secondary effl uents discharged off coastal seawater. Water Science and Technology 1992, 25, 155-164.

(15) Alasri, A.; Roques, C.; Michel, G.; Cabassud, C.; Aptel, P. Bactericidal properties of peracetic acid and hydrogen peroxide, alone and in combina-tion, and chlorine and formaldehyde against bacterial water strains. Can. J. Microbiol. 1992, 38, 635-642.

(16) Baldry, M. G. C.; French, M. S.; Slater, D. The activity of peracetic acid on sewage indicator bacteria and viruses. Water Science and Technology 1991, 24, 353-357.

(17) Kline, L. B.; Hull, R. N. The virucidal properties of peracetic acid. Am. J. Clin. Pathol. 1960, 33, 30-33.

(18) Rajala-Mustonen, R. L.; Toivola, P. S.;

Heinonen-Tanski, H. Eff ects of peracetic acid and UV irradiation on the inactivation of coliphages in wastewater. Water Science and Technology 1997, 35, 237-241.

(19) Hussaini, S. N.; Ruby, K. R. Sporicidal activity of peracetic acid against B anthracis spores. Vet. Rec. 1976, 98, 257-259.

(20) Jones Jr., L. A.; Hoff man, R. K.; Phillips, C. R. Sporicidal activity of peracetic acid and beta-propiolactone at subzero temperatures. Appl. Microbiol. 1967, 15, 357-362.

(21) Briancesco, R.; Veschetti, E.; Ottaviani, M.; Bonadonna, L. Peracetic acid and sodium hypochlorite eff ectiveness in reducing resistant stages of microorganisms. Cent. Eur. J. Public Health 2005, 13, 159-162.

(22) Metzger, K. Overlapping action of hostcell reactivation and photoreactivation in bacteria. Photochemistry and photomicrobiology 1963, 2, 435-442.

(23) Salcedo, I.; Andrade, J. A.; Quiroga, J. M.; Nebot, E. Photoreactivation and dark repair in UV-treated microorganisms: Eff ect of temperature. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 2007, 73, 1594-1600.

(24) Crebelli, R.; Conti, L.; Monarca, S.; Feretti, D.; Zerbini, I.; Zani, C.; Veschetti, E.; Cutilli, D.; Ottaviani, M. Genotoxicity of the disinfection by-products resulting from peracetic acid- or hypochlorite-disinfected sewage wastewater. Water Res. 2005, 39, 1105-1113.

(25) Dell'Erba, A.; Falsanisi, D.; Liberti, L.; Notarnicola, M.; Santoro, D. Disinfection by-products formation during wastewater disinfection with peracetic acid. Desalination 2007, 215, 177-186.

PAA was fi rst proposed as a wastewater disinfectant by Baldry et al. in the late 80s

102 MAY/JUNE 2012

TRENDS & PRODUCTSTechnology showcase

DOW launches IntegraPac™ ultrafi ltration skidsDOW WATER & PROCESS SOLUTIONS, a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW), has recently launched its DOW IntegraPac™ skid product line, a series of compact pre-engineered and streamlined ultrafi ltration (UF) skids. Available in a wide range of sizes to suit various project needs, the DOW IntegraPac skids are pre-engineered to reduce mate-rial costs, lower freight costs and enable faster assembly. This revolutionary UF solution dramatically simplifi es the process of incorporating DOW ultrafi ltration technology into water treat-ment systems. DOW IntegraPac modules incorporate novel end caps that include direct-connect capability to enable substantial skid design simplifi cations. The revolutionary end caps now serve as part of the pipeline, which results in materials saving for the skid. DOW IntegraPac skids utilise DOW’s proven UF membrane technology, which is based on technically advanced H-PVDF hollow fi bre, with uniform pore size and outside in-fl ow confi guration, and maintains high performance under a wide range of feed water conditions. According to Pauel Fokin, product director, Dow Water & Process Solutions: “At Dow, we understand that design time, material costs, shipping and as-sembly expenses, and maintenance overheads are all important factors to consider when purchasing an

ultrafi ltration solution. The DOW IntegraPac skids off er substantial improvements across the board while matching the performance characteristics of the proven SFP28 series fi ltration modules for which Dow has more than 3 500 Mℓ/d of installed or contracted capacity across over 600 reference installations globally. As Dow’s fi rst pre-fabricated skid design, the DOW IntegraPacTM product line is engineered to lessen the total cost of ownership and create substantial value for our customers.” Ready-to-assemble DOW IntegraPacTM skids combine pre-engineered designs with DOW ultrafi ltration technology to require fewer parts and material than traditional designs. This novel design translates into lower costs, faster assembly and a smaller footprint. DOW IntegraPacTM end caps with built-in interconnectivity and standardised parts eliminate the need for welding, grinding, painting and cutting, and allow the IntegraPacTM skid to be implemented more cost-eff ectively compared to traditional skid solutions. The DOW IntegraPac modules and parts are shipped unas-sembled to allow for more effi cient transport using standard size

containers. The DOW IntegraPac is light on metal parts ‒ only a set of light supporting frames are required. This streamlined design allows DOW IntegraPac modules and auxiliary parts to be shipped directly to the end-user site without having to stop over at an original equipment manufacturer’s workshop. DOW IntegraPac skids have clear fi ltrate pipes that are easily visible to facilitate integrity inspections. Source: Dow Water & Process Solutions

FESTO SOUTH AFRICA was subcontracted by Bateman Engineering Technologies to sup-ply and install a state-of-the-art pneumatic system for Meulwater Water Treatment Works (WTW), a newly constructed purifi cation plant located in the ecologically sensitive Paarl Mountain Nature Reserve, designed by Aurecon (featured in this issue on page 24).The plant, capable of treating 8 M ℓ of potable water per day, is situated beneath the Paarl Rock, overlooking the Paarl valley below. To ensure the beauty of the sur-rounding landscape remains undisturbed, Meulwater WTW required a system that would be both aesthetically pleasing and environmentally friendly. According to Brian Abbott, Festo product manager: “We supplied and installed automation equipment for the plant fi ltration and backwash recovery systems. The components form part of a concept that ensures the plant can use a hybrid centralised and decentralised approach to control, implementing a ‘best of both worlds’ approach. This is something we are very proud of.” The pneumatic equipment boasts

Innovative automation equipment for purifi cation plant

a quiet operation and uses clean compressed air technology. The valve actuators are sim-ple in construction, with few moving parts, and have a long life expectancy. The system also features low energy requirements, all of which contribute signifi cantly to the ‘green’ aspect of the system.“Festo installed key products due to their reliability and ability to minimise long-term maintenance,” notes Abbott. The system comprises polymide air reticulation piping from compressors to valve terminals to minimise air leaks, simplify installation and increase longevity through its high corrosion resistance. MPA valve terminal technology from Festo also ensures that all pilot valves controlling compressed air to the actuators are centralised and protected from the harm-ful elements of the environment such as, weather, ultraviolet (UV) lights and moisture. Festo PLN fl exible tubing, from the valve terminals to the actuators, also off ers high resistance to UV sunlight, thus increasing durability even more. Service units and auto-matic moisture purge valves were installed at key locations to maintain instrument air quality at all times.

“The Meulwater WTW installation is another example of the type of complete automation solutions that Festo is proud to off er customers in addition to our traditional pneumatic products,” concludes Abbott. Source: Festo

ABOVE The pneumatic equipment boasts a quiet operation, uses clean compressed air technology and the valve actuators are simple in construction, with a long life expectancy. The system features low energy requirements

TRENDS & PRODUCTS

MAY/JUNE 2012 103

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THE NEW GRUNDFOS stainless steel end-suction pump programme now allows every conceivable application ‒ be it pro-cess or utility ‒ to benefi t from Grundfos' renowned effi ciency and reliability and includes high-pressure solutions up to 25 bar and temperatures to 160°CFor more than a decade, Grundfos' line of NB/NK end-suction pumps in cast iron has been synonymous with reliable pump-ing of large volumes of water within build-ing services and in industrial applications. Now, a full range of ISO-certified stainless steel variants makes the end-suction programme attractive to an even broader market segment, which includes the chemical, pulp and paper, and the mining process industry.Specifically designed and built for indus-trial applications, the stainless steel NKG/NBG/NK/NB pumps come with a variety of carefully considered technical features. Dedicated single, tandem or back-to-back shaft seal arrangements are available to

New stainless steel end-suction pumps

accommodate the specific nature of what-ever is running through the pipes and to ensure leak-free and safe pumping of even hazardous or explosive liquids. Moreover, loose flanges that facilitate installation are now standard on all the bigger pumps. Much effort has been put into reducing maintenance of the stainless steel end-suction pumps to an absolute minimum. The heavy-duty grease bracket is virtually maintenance-free and can be left unat-tended for up to a year. With the stainless steel addition to the product range even the most demanding liquids can be handled by a Grundfos end-suction pump with reliability, ef-ficiency and a minimum risk of corrosion. The range handles liquid temperatures between -25°C and 160°C and offers high-pressure pumping up to 25 bar. The pumps come with a choice of two stainless steel grades: EN 1.4408 and high grade Duplex EN 1.4517, to ensure that exact media requirements can be

accom-modated. All NKG/NBG/NK/NB end-suction pumps can be equipped with motors that carry the Grundfos Blueflux® label. The label guarantees that the motor either meets or exceeds ‒ in most cases ‒ interna-tional legislative requirements, including the EuP IE3 grade. Blueflux® is Grundfos’ label for high efficiency motor technology ‒ a technology that has been designed specifically for pumps and represents the very best from Grundfos within energy-efficient motor and frequency drive operation. Source: Grundfos

104 MAY/JUNE 2012


BMG’S NORD-LOCK bolt securing system is used extensively in pumps and pumping equipment to enhance effi cient operation and absolute reliability. According to Darryl Campbell, divisional manager of BMG’s fasteners division: “The Nord-Lock bolt securing system uses tension instead of friction to ensure that joints hold-ing sub-assemblies together remain secure. Bolts on pumps need to be easily removable during maintenance procedures, but must resist the loosening eff ects of vibrations and dynamic loads. Bolts that are locked conventionally by friction in the thread tend to lose most of their preload through vibra-tions, while those locked by the tension of this system present a minor loss of preload, which is caused mainly by settlement in the thread. Even after moderate tightening, the bolt is safely locked when using Nord-Lock.”It has become increasingly important to have good control of the torque-clamp load relationship when tightening a joint. To optimise the design of the joint and utilise

Bolt securing system for pumps

as much of the capacity of each dimension as possible, it is important to know the required tightening torque.Nord-Lock washers, which are installed in pairs (cam face to cam face), have cams on one side, with a greater rise than the pitch of the bolt. When the bolt and/or nut is tightened, the radial teeth on the opposite side grip and seat the mating surfaces. The teeth also lock the washers in place, allowing movement only across the face of the cams. The resulting tension makes the bolt self-locking.These washers can be used on standard grade, as well as high-grade bolts and there is no need for adhesives to lock the stud bolt. This system is designed for use in tapped and counter-bored holes and for larger holes or on soft materials, a fl ange nut or bolt should be used in combination with Nord-Lock washers with a larger outer diameter.Advantages of this reusable system include maximum safety when locking

fasteners, easy assembly and disassembly, positive locking at low or high preload levels and minimum surface marring or scratching. This system, which has the same tempera-ture characteristics as a standard bolt or nut, resists loosening caused by vibration and dynamic loads. The locking function is not lost by lubrication.A method for testing the security of a bolted joint is the Junker-vibration test where the preload (bolt tension) is meas-ured by a load cell and vibrating motions are generated radically through the bolt. Source: BMG

Guided radar level measurementIT IS WIDELY ACCEPTED that guided radar provides the most accurate and reliable level measurement in many applications. However, the cost of the equipment has often been restric-tive. Ever eager to make the best technology available to all, Endress+Hauser's new Levelfl ex range introduces entry level options for both liquids and solids. While other low-cost guided radar instruments have restrictions on the type of liquids that can be measured, the Levelfl ex FMP50 is suit-able for most liquid media. In fact, the instrument has the same wide ranging functionality as the other members of Endress+Hauser's Levelfl ex family, including an integrated data memory and availability for system integration with HART 4-20mA analogue and PROFIBUS PA. Cost savings are off ered through a simplifi cation of the process

connection options and by utilising lower cost housing, making the FMP50 an economically attractive basic device

for supply and storage applications, as well as utility metering processes. For solids measurement, those seeking reliable level readings in dusty environments, high and narrow silos or in vessels with obstacles now have a cost-eff ective option in the Levelfl ex FMP56. Both instruments can be simply integrated into asset management systems. They hold ATEX, IEC Ex, FM and CSA approvals and can be used for level monitoring up to SIL2. The Levelfl ex range off ers low-cost guided radar level solutions for the process industry. Source: Endress +Hauser

LEFT Levelfl ex FMP50

MAY/JUNE 2012 105

Do you need innovative and sustainable solutionsfor waste water treatment?

Just Ask Golder.

Polluted mine water should no longer be viewed as a major problem, but as a valuable water resource. Equipped with expertise in mine water treatment technologies, Golder offers sustainable solutions for water resource management.

Engineering Earth’s Development, Preserving Earth’s Integrity

Offices across South Africa, Botswana, Ghana and Mozambique. Tel: +27 11 254 4800 | [email protected] | www.golder.com

TRENDS & PRODUCTS

MAGNET, SPECIALISTS IN the supply and support of electrical equipment and indus-trial instrumentation, has been awarded an Eskom Performance Contract, which is a joint initiative to save energy through the use of energy-saving showerheads and water rest.Brian Howarth, managing director of Magnet says: “Magnet, in partnership with Energywise, has been contracted by Eskom to distribute and install new energy-saving showerheads to organisations with multiple shower facilities, at no cost to approved applicants. This energy saving programme, which is aimed at organisations throughout the country in sectors that include mining, industrial, government, educational, corpo-rate and commercial sectors, is expected to save 330 GWh of energy over three years. This is energy equivalent to that of lighting up to 12 500 km of road and water savings equivalent to fi lling up 160 home swimming pools every day.

“This project involves an audit by Magnet of each successful applicant. Existing show-erheads will be removed and replaced with low-fl ow showerheads. A measurement and verifi cation team from the University of Stellenbosch will conduct audits to verify energy savings.“This contract means Eskom will pay the contracted company for kilowatt per hour savings over a period of three years, with no costs for the user for the removal of existing ineffi cient showerheads and installation of new fi ttings.”Conventional showers use an average of 125 ℓ of water, of which 60% is hot water. With the installation of Energywise showerheads, users can save up to 50% of electricity consumed to heat water.An important feature of these low-fl ow showerheads is they are easily fi tted to

an existing heat pump or solar system installation to enhance effi ciency of the system. These energy-saving showerheads are of high quality and ensure a maximum comfort level of the shower, even though the showerhead is using less water and electricity. These showerheads are also available in a vandal resistant design to prevent theft.The energy-effi cient showerheads deliver between 9 and 10 ℓ/min of water, irrespec-tive of the supply pressure. An additional opportunity to save hot water is to install tap restrictors, which deliver between three and six litres of water per minute and are easily fi tted to existing taps. Source: Magnet

Energy-saving showerheads Magnet, in partnership with Energywise, has been contracted by Eskom to distribute and

install new energy-saving showerheads throughout

the country, at no cost to approved applicants

Bateman Engineered Technologies provides innovative but proven solutionsfor domestic and industrial water and waste water treatment ranging fromlow-cost rural facilities to zero discharge and integrated systems.

� Potable Water Treatment � Sewage Treatment � Sludge Dewatering � Industrial Effluents � Acid Mine Water Drainage Treatment

� Boiler Feed Water Treatment � Industrial Process Water � Demineralisation � Integrated & Optimised Systems

With its more than ninety year heritage as an innovative, leading bulk materialshandling solution and process equipment supplier to a range of industries, witha focus on the mining sector, Bateman Engineered Technologies is a member ofthe Bateman Engineering N. V. Group. Client access is provided internationallythrough the Bateman Engineering Group’s network of permanent internationaloffices located in Australia, China, India, Russia, North & South America, SouthAfrica and the United Kingdom. Bateman Engineered Technologies offers bulkmaterials handling solutions, process equipment supply and specialist nichetechnologies, all underpinned by a solid track record and the company’scommitment to Delivering Excellence in all that it does.

Delivering Innovative Solutions to Unlock the Value of Natural Resources

Bateman Engineered TechnologiesA Bateman Group Company

Offices in Africa, Australia, the Americas, Asia & Europe

+27 11 201 2300

[email protected]

www.bet.bateman.com

Water and Wastewater Treatment

Bateman Engineered Technologies

MAY/JUNE 2012 107

TRENDS & PRODUCTS

IN THE FIELD OF PLANT ENGINEERING key factors for the selection of equipment and components are weight, size and installation time. Functional range and performance are, in turn, very important criteria for process engineering. The GEMÜ 410 butterfl y valve and its versions 417 and 423 meet stringent requirements in both respects. They are compact and lightweight, and can be installed quickly and easily. Furthermore, thanks to their wide range of functions, the valves are suitable for numerous applications in very diverse fi elds.Since early 2012, the GEMÜ plastic butterfly valve range has been extended. From now on, sizes from 15 up to 100 are available ‒ all can be installed quickly and easily. They are easier to install than wafer- or LUG-type butterfly valves. In addition, the bodies of the butterfly valves come as standard with male threads. Therefore, no additional flanges, bolts, nuts and washers are required for installation in pipe sys-tems. This simplifies installation and saves time and materials.Depending on requirements, butterfl y valves have pneumatic, manual or motorised actuators custom-built for each specifi c application. The GEMÜ 410 butterfl y valve is equipped with a low-maintenance, corrosion-resistant plastic pneumatic quarter turns actuator. Control functions ‘normally closed’, ‘normally open’ and ‘double acting’ are available. The butterfl y valve is optionally available with a stroke limiter and position

indicator. GEMÜ 417 has an ergonomically designed manual actuator with integrated locking device and intermediate stop in normal sizes to DN 50. In DN 50 and larger the butterfl y valve is fi tted with a lock-able hand lever which protects it against accidental operation. GEMÜ 423 has a low-maintenance motorised actuator with a powerful DC motor. The actuator features an optical position indicator and manual override as standard. The end positions can be adjusted electrically using micro switches.All wetted parts of the soft-sealing but-terfly valves are manufactured from high-grade plastic. They are corrosion resistant and are particularly well-suited for use in corrosive environments. To a certain extent, media may also contain solid matter. The potential applications of butterfly valves are highly diverse, from control and regula-tion of inert to corrosive media at medium temperatures between 10°C and 60°C and pressures up to 6 bars. The applications are wide-ranging. GEMÜ butterfly valves operate just

as reliably in water treatment plants, swimming pool processes and irrigation systems as in the electro-

plating and chemical processing industries.

Source: GEMÜTOP GEMU 410 butterfl y valve with pneumatic actuatorBOTTOM GEMU 417

butterfl y valve with manual actuator

Plastic butterfl y valves FLOWTITE pipes and fi ttingsFLOWTITE™ IS FIBERPIPE’S leading product for water, sewage and indus-trial applications. The fi bre reinforced pipe systems are a cost-eff ective pip-ing solution. The pipes are corrosion free and have a proven resistance to acidic environment in water and sew-age systems. They are lightweight and therefore easy to handle. FLOWTITE™ pipes and fi ttings are suited to several applications such as:• potable water transfer• fi re fi ghting• sea and desalinated water• power plants• chemical and industrial wastes• sewer and irrigation.The product is found in siphon lines or in seawater outfalls, bridge dewatering, desalination projects or as protection line for cables. Standard and special fabricated fi ttings, such as bends, tees and reducers, are also available.

Technical informationDiameters: DN 300 to 1 800 mmPressure classes: PN 1-6-10-16-25-32Stiff ness: SN 2 500, 5 000, 10 000Length: Standard length 12 m*Large diameters available on request Source: Fiberpipe

108 MAY/JUNE 2012


THE INTERNATIONAL LAUNCH of a domestic water meter that has no moving parts ‒ and which its manufacturer, the global Sensus group, claims does not age ‒ has brought water-metering technology to new levels of performance and energy conservation. The revolutionary iPERL electronic meter, which will be available in South Africa once local legal metrological approvals have been completed, replaces conven-tional water meter technology with a sensor network that delivers a continuous, real-time stream of information and data on consumption and system performance, while at the same time identifying water loss through leakage and tampering.According to Sensus South Africa MD, Basil Bold, who attended the gala event, the London unveiling of the meter to the acclaim of an audience of metering experts from around the world heralded “a new age of water meters designed to meet the opposing demands of increasing water consumption and the need for more

disciplined water conservation”. Sensus engineers say the meter “promises to unlock the full potential of smart water networks for utilities and their customers. Unlike conventional metering technology, iPERL brings extended real value to smart water networks by not only instantly capturing essential consumption data but maintaining ultra-low fl ow accuracy throughout its entire life-time.” Bold calls it “a revolutionary tool to reduce non-revenue water loss”.Peter Mainz, Sensus CEO and president, who formally unveiled the meter, told the launch gathering: “We know that popula-tions are growing and are gravitating to urban areas and this will place more and more pressure on water networks in the years to come. Add in the high energy costs associated with water supply, the potential impact of global warming on water scarcity and the increased consumption resulting from improving living standards, and it is clear that we need a more sustainable way of delivering water resources.”

‘Ageless’ meter heads for South Africa

Mainz said iPERL’s technology made the benefi ts of a smart water network and communication solutions a reality for customers by:• Collecting and sharing data to drive better supply-demand management.• Improving control over leakages and non-accounted-for water.• Creating operational effi ciencies and cost-reduction opportunities through automated and ‘always-on’ processes.• Providing advanced utility grade com-munication options to ensure maximum value for utili ties.The Sensus chairman added: “Simplicity, productivity and environmental sustain-ability are the three axes of innovation em-bodied in iPERL and will soon be available at all Sensus subsidiaries worldwide to help bring the vision of Smart Water Networks to reality.” Source: Sensus South Africa

RIGHT The revolutionary iPERL electronic meter

To advertise on the e-newsletter contact Tania MilicT:+27 (0)12 331 5168 | C: +27 (0)82 829 9285 | E-m: [email protected]

MEDIA

Since its inception at the beginning of July, the new Water & Sanitation Africa weekly e-newsletter is proving to be very popular, with almost 4 000 subscribers

already receiving their copy directly every week.

Subscribe now to the weekly e-newsle er for the most up-to-date news in the industry!

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Water & Sanitation Africa

Improvon uses Mapei waterproofing technologyMAPEI SOUTH AFRICA supplied its unique Idrosilex Pronto and Mapelastic Foundation to Improvon, a large construc-tion company, for use in the construction of sewage manholes at the new Montague Business Park in Milnerton, Cape Town.According to Paul Nieuwoudt, product manager: Building and Flooring, at Mapei South Africa: “Negative water pres-sure from large wastewater volumes damages the outer layers of pipes or containers due to water pushing and trying to expand. This type of expansion and contraction, when water levels rise and fall, leads to the formation of cracks and other surface damage.”Improvon used Idrosilex Pronto to cover surfaces in direct contact with sewage. This Mapei-engineered osmotic cementitious mortar is also suitable for contact with drink-ing water and for waterproofing masonry and concrete structures, making it ideal for coating manholes systems made of concrete.“The Mapelastic Foundation is a central part of this total watertight solution. This two-component product waterproofs concrete surfaces subject to both positive and negative water pressure as it is flexible and accommodates higher and lower water pressures,” says Nieuwoudt.Ideal for waterproofing manholes, concrete retaining walls, underground car parks, cellars, sunken swimming pools and sunken elevator wells where counter pressure against water is needed, the Mapelastic Foundation’s durability and flexibility delivers superior durability and quality of finish. It forms an impermeable cementitious elastic membrane that moves with its substrate, maintain-ing advanced water resistance. “The company’s technologies, available in a range of colours, result in cost-effective and long-lasting finishes that keep looking good. We enjoy basing long-lasting rela-tionships with our clients on these key principles, and we are confident we will continue this trend with Improvon,” concludes Nieuwoudt. Source: Mapei South Africa

BELOW Mapei’s Idrosilex Pronto and Mapelastic Foundation will help to keep the Montague Business Park looking new, and help keep water drainage in top form

MANUFACTURERS & SUPPLIERS OF PIPE FITTINGS SINCE 1984

Cascade has a full range of Couplings and Flange Adaptors from 50mm to 800mm.

Larger sizes up to DN 1600mm and higher pressures up to PN40 are available on request

Tel: +27 (11) 824 3943Fax: +27 (11) 827 0556Email: [email protected]: www.cascade.co.za

The VECTUS pipe system

THE VECTUS PIPE SYSTEM is manufactured from fi bre reinforced polyester and vinylester. The production method is a discontinuous double helix reciprocal fi lament winding process that gives the pipes a balanced combination of axial and hoop mechanical properties. The VECTUS pipe systems are free of corrosion, lightweight and a well-documented product with good references worldwide. In addition to the civil and industrial markets the pipe systems are also used in the oil and gas, shipbuilding and off shore industries. Within the industrial market the pipe system is used widely as a cost-eff ective solu-tion due to biaxial pipe systems with well-locked joint solutions for pipe and fi ttings.These locked joint systems are also successfully used in municipal water, cooling water and pressure sewerage systems in combination with FLOWTITE™ pipes to avoid thrust blocks. The VECTUS pipe system also includes a complete range of standardised specialised fittings.

Technical informationDiameters: DN 150 ‒ 2 000 mmPressure classes: PN 4-6-10-16-25-32Stiffness: SN 2 500, 5 000, 10 000Length: Standard length 12 m*Large diameters available on request Source: Fiberpipe

112 MAY/JUNE 2012

Water meteringPUBLICATION

Reference guide for municipalitiesThe newly published Water Research Commission (WRC) report entitled Introduction to Integrated Water Meter Management covers all aspects of water meters and water metering in municipalities.

I t covers the theo-retical principles of meters, legal and metro-logical requirements, meter types, best practice

guidelines as well as practical aspects of water meter management. The guide book will serve as a training aid and a valuable tool for water utility managers, en-gineering technical staff, operations and maintenance and meter-reading personnel, and researchers. There is currently a lack of proper water meter management in South Africa, with many bulk water suppliers and municipalities without optimal and integrated meter calibration, replacement, reading and information management systems. Often the divided responsibility between billing and meter management results in poor billing, incorrect information capture and poor maintenance. This is further compounded by the fact that where initiatives of water demand management and conservation are required, the data is not easily accessible to the departments responsible for this task, and there is a frequent lack of integration between domestic and bulk water metering. This project was initiated by the WRC and led by Prof. Fred van Zyl of the University of Cape Town, with administrative support provided by the University of Johannesburg. Van Zyl says: ‘‘Water metering is

s.

h h

places the basics of water meter manage-ment at the fingertips of both profession-als and novices alike. ”I highly recommend that this book is

read by all water practitioners as it suc-cinctly covers all aspects of meter man-agement from selection and installation to operation and maintenance, and finally to replacement.”

WRC Report Number: TT 490/11

PUBLICATION

MAY/JUNE 2012 113

particularly important for municipalities since it forms the basis for much of their income through the sale of water to their consumers. In South Africa, like in many other countries, there is a legal impera-tive on municipalities to meter consum-ers and manage water losses in compli-ance with legislation and standards.”Jay Bhagwan, director of Water Use and Waste Management at the WRC, states that reliable supply of clean and healthy water is undoubtedly the most important service that people need. South Africa has made great strides in addressing the inequalities of the past in the provision of water, but unfortunately the focus on providing more people with water has caused many distribution systems to be neglected, resulting in increased levels

of leakage and non-revenue water, poor billing practices and a loss of income to municipalities. It is vital to maximise the volume of water metered in the

utility, at the minimum possible cost. To achieve this goal, the proper selection, management and maintenance of meters are critical.According to Simon Scruton, manager of eThekwini Water and Sanitation: ‘‘This informative book is easy to read and

The focus on providing more people with water has caused many distribution systems to be neglected, resulting in increased levels of leakage and non-revenue water, poor billing practices and a loss of income to municipalities

Level of damsThe full supply capacity (106 m3) and level of some of South Africa’s dams as at 27 February 2012.

Total full supply capacity of dams (106 m3)Last year 2012/02/2731 566.1 31 643.6

AcronymsEC Eastern CapeFS Free StateG GautengKZN KwaZulu-NatalL LesothoLP Limpopo provinceM MpumalangaNC Northern CapeNW North WestWC Western Cape

Info supplied by DWA

LimpopoHartebeespoort (NW) (186.44) 99.3%Olifantsnek (NW) (13.67) 90.3%Buff elspoort (NW) (10.25) 100.3%Bospoort (NW) (15.79) 101.2%Lindleyspoort (NW) (14.33) 96.3%Roodeplaat (NW) (41.15) 100.2%Koster (NW) (12.80) 97.0%Klipvoor (NW) (42.08) 100.7%Vaalkop (NW) (56.01) 53.6%Roodekopjes (NW) (102.33) 94.8%Marico-Bosveld (NW) (26.96) 89.1%Klein Maricopoort (NW) (7.07) 103.3%Albasini (LP) (28.19) 43.7%Vondo (LP) (30.44) 100.5%

OlifantsWitbank (M) (104.02) 93.5%Middelburg (M) (48.05) 80.0%Bronkhorstspruit ( M) (56.99) 93.6%Rust de Winter (M) (28.18) 100.5%Loskop (M) (361.51) 98.3%Buff elskloof (M) (5.24) 100.5%Ohrigstad (LP) (13.44) 100.2%Blyderivierpoort (LP) (54.36) 100.9%Klaserie (LP) (5.60) 102.2%Ebenezer (LP) (69.13) 100.5%Magoebaskloof (LP) (4.84) 100.6%Tzaneen (LP) (156.53) 100.8%Middle Letaba (LP) (171.93) 7.0%VaalVaal (FS) (2603.45) 86.6%Grootdraai (M) (349.53) 80.0%Boskop (NW) 21.02) 101.4%Klipdrift (NW) (13.30) 101.1%Erfenis (FS) (206.06) 73.3%Kalkfontein (FS) (325.13) 82.9%Rustfontein (FS) (71.20) 61.1%Krugersdrift (FS) (71.47) 62.6%Groothoek (FS) (11.90) 65.3%Sterkfontein (FS) (2616.90) 100.0%Saulspoort (FS) (15.67) 99.1%Vaalharts Storage Weir (NC) (50.68) 89.2%Bloemhof (FS) (1240.24) 80.5%Douglas Storage Weir (NC) (16.24) 109.3%

OrangeKatse (L) (1519.10) 74.2%Egmont (FS) (9.25) 69.2%Gariep (FS) (5196.04) 92.5%Vanderkloof (FS) (3171.30) 86.6%Boegoeberg (NC) (19.81) 109.0%Olifants/DoornClanwilliam (WC) (121.76) 38.6%BergVoelvlei (WC) (158.58) 56.8%Wemmershoek (WC) (58.71) 64.4%Berg River (WC) (127.05) 69.4%Steenbrasdam (WC) (33.88) 53.9%Eikenhof (WC) (28.85) 66.6%BreedeBrandvlei (WC) (284.29) 42.2%Roode Elsberg (WC) (7.72) 43.2%Pietersfontein (WC) (1.98) 81.9%Kwaggaskloof (WC) (173.86) 40.7%Theewaterskloof (WC) (480.19) 58.6%Duiwenhoks (WC) (6.18) 53.0%Coastal RiverHartebeestkuil (WC) (7.13) 79.8%Wolwedans (WC) (25.10) 90.0%Krom River (EC) (35.24) 84.5%GamtoosKounga (EC) (125.91) 88.9%Loerie (EC) (3.02) 65.3%SondagsNqweba (Van Rynveld Pass)(EC)

(46.36) 94.5%

Darlington (EC) (180.83) 27.9%FishGrassridge (EC) (46.19) 33.1%Kommandodrift (EC) (58.11) 84.7%De Mistkraal (EC) (2.45) 67.0%Katrivier (EC) (24.68) 100.3%

Great KeiXonxa (EC) (115.86) 100.9%Lubisi (EC) (158.00) 100.4%Doornrivier (EC) (17.93) 99.8%Waterdown (EC) (37.44) 100.2%Mvoti/Mgeni/ MkhomaziMidmar (KZN) (235.95) 100.2%Nagle (KZN) (23.23) 79.2%Albert Falls (KZN) (288.14) 88.1%Inanda (KZN) (237.40) 100.0%Hazelmere (17.85) 97.1%TugelaSpioenkop (KZN) (270.64) 100.1%Driel Barrage (KZN) (8.69) 103.0%Woodstock (KZN) (373.25) 98.1%Usutu/Phongolo/MfoloziGoedertrouw (KZN) (301.26) 85.7%Klipfontein (KZN) (18.060 63.9%Hluhluwe (KZN) (25.89) 97.8%Pongolapoort (KZN) (2267.07) 63.9%Jericho (M) (59.27) 85.0%Westoe (M) (59.52) 90.0%Morgenstond (M) (100.16) 85.2%Heyshope (M) (444.94) 100.9%Sabie/Krokodil/KomatiNooitgedacht (M) (78.40) 80.2%Driekoppies (M) (250.92) 100.5%Witklip (M) (12.51) 100.5%Da Gama (M) (13.52) 100.3%Inyaka (M) (123.66) 100.4%

MAY/JUNE 2012 115

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MAY/JUNE 2012 119

Water Demand Management AWARDS

The Department of Water Aff airs has a vision of a South Africa that has an embedded and actively applied culture of water conservation and water demand management in which all sectors must

share water resources in an equitable and sustainable manner. Through the Water Conservation and Water Demand Management (WCWDM) Sector Awards, the department seeks to create a platform and an enabling environment for all role players and stakeholders from all sectors to start appreciating and understanding the importance of conserving water. This is the third event of its type and this year, 44 nomi-nations were received across four categories, namely:• agriculture• industry, mining & power• domestic or local government• business.In the local government category, 15 entries were re-ceived from which the top three received awards on the evening. Johan Vorster and Slindokuhle Habede from Ekurhuleni were present to receive the top honour in

2012 National Water Conservation AwardsThe Deputy Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Rejoice Mabudafhasi, announced the 2012 winners of the Water Conservation and Water Demand Management Sector Awards at Gallagher Convention Centre, Midrand, on 23 March 2012.

the most competitive cate-gory of the annual WCWDM awards. The award was presented in recognition

of its revenue meter enhancement project involving the investigation and consolidation of the top 500 consumers. This project is one of the largest industrial meter auditing projects undertaken to date in Africa as it involves the main industrial areas of Ekurhuleni, which in turn include some of the largest industries in South Africa. The project has been highly successful in identifying the numerous broken or miss-ing water meters, which have since been replaced or repaired where necessary. In this manner, Ekurhuleni intends to ensure that all water supplied to its large consumers is properly measured and billed each month. The increase in revenue from this exercise is such that it has a payback period of between six months and a year, making it one of the most eff ective water demand management interventions in their overall WDM programme.Tshwane Metro was second in the local government category after fi nishing fi rst in the previous award event two years ago and was recognised for its continued WDM interventions that have helped to reduce its water

losses and non-revenue water to approximately 25%, which is one of the lowest for any major city in South Africa. Trevor Westman, from the City of Tshwane, was present to receive the award on behalf of the city and it is the fi rst time that any city has been recognised in consecutive years for its WDM eff orts. Tshwane is

the most competitive cate-gory of the annual WCWDMawards. The award waspresented in recognition

of its revenue meter enhancement l h d l dThe Ekurhuleni

Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng was named the overall winner in the Local Government Sector.

LEFT Pictured are Johan Vorster and Slindokuhle Hadebe from Ekurhuleni Local Municipality together with the WRP team members who provided assistance on various aspects of the Top 500 meter consolidation and revenue enhancement project

120 MAY/JUNE 2012

AWARDS

Index to AdvertisersAbeco Tanks 92ABS Wastewater Technology 20Aquadam 103Aurecon 25Aveng Water 40Bateman Engineered Technologies 106Bigen Africa 100Blue Planet 2Breede-Overberg Catchment Management Agency 28 & 29Buckman 74Cascade 110Degremont 10Department of Water Aff airs 22&23Development Bank of South Africa 64Dynamic Fluid Control 111Echochem Pumps 104Elster Kent Metering 50Endress & Hauser 6ERWAT IBCFesto 107Fiberpipe 68

Golder Associates Africa 105Grundfos 37Hansen Industrial 113Jeff ares & Green 43Johannesburg Water 66Kaytech 88Keller AG Fur DRUCKMESSTECHNIK 76Klamfl ex Pipe Coupling 84 & 85KROHNE South Africa 19Merck Chemicals 32Metrohm 80Mhlathuze Water Corporation 70 & 71Mpumamanzi Laboratory Services 79NCP CHLORCHEM 12&13Netzsch 118Odorcure 95OVIVO Aqua SA 75Pac Solution Oy 45Prentec 33Protea Chemicals 14Quality Laboratories 91Rand Water Scientifi c Services 38&39

ROCLA 15

Saint-Gobain 48

Schneider Electric 62

Sembcorp OFC

Sensus 57

Sera Dose Tech SA 17

SEW EURODRIVE 60

SRK Consulting 53

SSI 27

Stellenbosch University 81

TALBOT & TALBOT 16

Trenchless Technology IFC

Turf-AG 47

Uhde 59

Verder Pumps SA 18

Vermeer 109

Water & Sanitation Services OBC

Zest WEG Group 46

Zetachem 96

aiming to reduce its leakage levels even further in years to come and has created an internal unit dedicated to the effi cient use of water throughout the city.The third award was presented to Andre Kowalewski from the Drakenstein Municipality in the Western Cape. This is the fi rst time that Drakenstein has received recognition for its eff orts in the WDM fi eld and it was particularly happy having beaten many of the large municipalities and metros such as City of Cape Town. Kowalewski has been actively involved in reducing water wastage for many years and was one of the fi rst municipalities in the

The City of Tshwane, came 2nd in the Local Government Sector. Pictured are Trevor Westman, Nico Schmulian and Darryl Cassell from City of Tshwane, together with some of the WRP team members who supported Tshwane on its WDM efforts

The Drakenstein Municipality in the Western Cape received recognition for its implementation of an indigent leak-repair programme to save water and promote effi cient use among households in the town of Saron, located in Paarl. Pictured are Andre Kowalewski and Raymond Vermeulen

Western Cape to introduce pressure man-agement on a large scale using some of the most advanced equipment available, which is imported from Europe. Kowalewski has driven its non-revenue water down to ap-proximately 10%, one of the lowest levels in South Africa. The award was presented in recognition of its recent eff orts to lower leakage even further in specifi c areas that experience very high levels of plumbing leakage within households. This is a prob-lem issue in many parts of South Africa and the eff orts of Kowalewski demonstrate that progress can be made on a sustainable basis if properly implemented.

In summary it was a very positive out-come, particularly for Tshwane with its second place overall and, in addition, all three winners are being supported by the Pretoria-based WRP Consulting Engineers and in the case of Klein Drakenstein by its local subsidiary, 4Water. This is the third time in a row that a project supported by WRP has taken the top honours in the national awards, with previous recipients being Emfuleni Local Municipality and the City of Tshwane. The awards are becoming more prestigious each year and are certainly the top acco-lades in the WCWDM arena.

water&sanitation may/june 2012

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