water&sanitation africa sep/oct 2012

Water & SanitationComplete water resource and wastewater management

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

MEDIA

Africa

September / October 2012 • ISSN 1990-8857 • Cover price R35.00 • Vol 7 No. 5

Mark Shepherd, Director of JOAT Group, discusses savings through the company’s potable water interventions

THE HOT SEAT P10 MEM

TT

ORANGE RIVER ORANGE RIVER Resource management Resource management

progressesprogresses

Royal HaskoningDHV

brings water security to 23 255 households

Umtumvuma

WISA YWP PRESIDENT WISA YWP PRESIDENT Industry capacity buildingIndustry capacity building

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2012 1

Water & SanitationComplete water resource and wastewater management

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

MEDIA

Africa

September / October 2012 • ISSN 1990-8857 • Cover price R35.00 • Vol 7 No. 5

Mark Shepherd, Director of JOAT Group, discusses savings through the company’s potable water interventions

THE HOT SEAT P10 MEM

TT

ORANGE RIVER ORANGE RIVER Resource management Resource management

progressesprogresses

Royal HaskoningDHV

brings water security to 23 255 households

Umtumvuma

WISA YWP PRESIDENT WISA YWP PRESIDENT Industry capacity buildingIndustry capacity building

COVER STORY

Enhancing society together 4

WISA

President’s comment 3Challenges for young water professionals 6Process controller division launched 9

PUBLIC SECTOR

DWA minister’s NCOP speech 24Water use verifi cation progress 28Ngobi village back on stream 30

WATER BOARDS

Rural communities serviced 34Rural population benefi ts 36

BULK RAW WATER INFRASTRUCTURE

Berg River outfall quality 38Westonaria WWTW extensions 40Driefontein WWTW expansion forges ahead 42Zeekoegat Set for commissioning 44

TECHNICAL FOCUS

Water quality 45

TECHNOLOGY

Water meters 48Sanitation 52Laboratories 53

CASE STUDIES

Ekurhuleni ‘disaster zone’ 56Shepherd Widnes boosts profi ts 57Ford improves effl uent quality 58Unilever achieves water neutrality 60

EDUCATION & TRAINING

Pump effi ciency vs electric motors 71Pump students graduate 72Expansion of Driefontein WWTW forging ahead

Contaminated water and increases of deadly substances in drinking water are becoming the silent assassin of people in South Africa

4242

3434Rural communities to receive potable water service

REGULARS

News international 12News Africa 15Trends & products 62Level of dams 69

1

CONTENTS Volume 7. No.5

4545

ON THE COVER Part of the new 800 mm, 2.3 km long delivery pipeline of the award-winning Umtumvuma Water Scheme, which brings water security to 23 255 households. Royal HaskoningDHV - formerly SSI - won the 2012 SAICE Pietermaritzburg Branch Award for Technical Excellence for the design and supervision of the project.


PRESIDENT'S COMMENTPublisher Elizabeth ShortenAssociate publisher Ferdie PieterseHead of design Frédérick DantonSenior designer Hayley MendelowSenior sub-editor Claire NozaicSub-editor Patience GumboContributors Blake WilkinsMarketing & online manager Martin Hiller Production manager Antois-Leigh BotmaProduction coordinator Jacqueline Modise Distribution manager 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)E-mail: [email protected] 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

WISA: A modern organisation

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: Hennie Greeff Tel: +27(0)41 453 3102Secretary/Treasurer: Chris Dickson Tel: +27(0)41 507 8200

Free StateChairperson: D.R. TlhomelangTel: +27(0)51 403 0800Secretary/ Treasurer: Riana WesselsTel: +27(0)56-515-0375

KwaZulu-NatalChairman: Chris Fennemore Tel: +27 (0)31 311 8734Secretary/ Treasurer: Stephanie WalshTel: +27 (0)31 302-4077

Western CapeChairman: Gareth McConkeyTel: +27(0) 21 712 4260Secretary/ Treasurer: Eleonore BondesioTel: +27(0)21 872 0322

www.ewisa.co.za

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

• ERWAT• ESKOM Holdings• eThekwini Municipality• Festo• Golder Associates Africa• Grundfos Alldos• 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• Prentec• Rand Water• SALGA• SAME Water• Schneider Electric• Sedibeng Water• Siemens• SSI Engineers and Environmental Consultants• Sulzer Pumps

Wastewater SA• TCTA• Tecroveer• Umgeni Water• Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies South Africa• WAM Technology• Water Research Commission• Water & Sanitation Services SA• WEC Projects• Zetachem• ZMG Watech

PATRON MEMBERS

The WISA 2012 Biennial Conference and Exhibition has come and gone, leav-ing most of us with fond

memories of this successful event. I want to extend my deepest ap-preciation to Dana Grobler, and his organising committee, for a job well done. The board and council take cog-nisance of the constructive criticism received and will improve on this, and I also want to en-courage those with either positive comments or concerns to forward them to our acting chief executive for the WISA 2014 Mpumalanga Local Conference Organising Committee to address. WISA 2014 will be held at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga, and I want to congratulate Moses Khoza and his WISA 2014 team for taking the baton and running with it. We wish them well with their planning ‒ we know that Mpumalanga will pull out all the stops to be added to the list of WISA’s successes.Ever since the conference we have, as a nation, been through a very exciting period fi lled with a host of activities of signifi cant im-portance, such as: July marked the birthday of one of the greatest leaders the world has ever seen, our dear and beloved Madiba. August highlighted women’s role as the pillars of civil society. Our Minster of Foreign Aff airs was elected Chair of the African Union. We all dis-cussed the water issue in Carolina. This winter is being regarded as one of the coldest, while our heart goes out to those who lost their lives and valuable possessions during the recent fl oods. World economic fl uctuations, the ongo-ing service delivery strikes and, probably the highlight, our successful Olympic team! And just ahead of us lies spring, which brings with it new life, signifying change, new opportuni-ties, growth and just like the Namaqualand sheds its dreary winter coat for a spectacular multi-coloured fl oral display, we too should ap-preciate of the dynamic opportunities aff orded by our Creator.WISA launched its fi rst African Branch in the ‘land of the brave’ ‒ Namibia ‒ on 30 July 2012 at the Safari Conference Centre in Windhoek. This will remain in the annals of history as one of the successes of WISA. The interim branch committee, under the leadership of Dr Vaino

Shivute, CEO of the Namibian Water Corporation, will un-doubtedly take this branch to higher levels.During August, our board of directors had a three-day stra-tegic session and, I can assure you, that this will change the

dynamics of WISA in the future. In the next edi-tion, I will allude to the action plans that were discussed and ratifi ed. I can inform subscribers that the following issues will be attended to:• operations policy• vision of WISA• fast tracking and playing a pivotal role in sectoral training

• consolidate WISA’s position in the water sector

• vigilance in water business.Changing to IT matters, eWISA achieved its one millionth hit ‒ hearty congratulations to the eWISA team! I call on business to exploit the tremendous marketing opportunities this system provides.The WISA website and database are currently being given a facelift and Melissa Wheal, our administration, events and systems manager, is hard at work to get this project off the ground.We want to welcome the following new pa-tron members to the WISA family:• Bushbuckridge Water• Schneider Electric• ZMG Watech.I want to encourage subscribers to kindly forward their ideas or comments regarding WISA's operations to the acting chief executive. I believe that our organisation is owned by our members and this is one way the subscribers can have their say. You are, after all, sharehold-ers of WISA.I want to thank our head offi ce, Dot Zandberg and her team, for the sterling and excellent work they are doing in sustaining WISA. We are indeed blessed to have you around.Finally, I want to extend WISA’s best wishes to all municipalities for their Green and Blue Drop Certifi cation assessments. May God bless all of us.

Ronald M BrownPresident: Water Institute of Southern Africa

Ronald M Brown

COVER STORY Royal HaskoningDHV

Royal HaskoningDHV, formally SSI Engineers & Environmental Consultants, boasts the exper-tise of 8 000 specialists and support staff , with a global footprint of 100 offi ces in 35 countries.

It is a signifi cant player in the maritime, water and delta technology markets and a major force in aviation, mobil-ity and infrastructure development.The company currently employs more than 1 000 technical, scientifi c and support staff throughout a branch network of 26 offi ces in Southern Africa, with principal offi ces in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Our footprint extends further north into East Africa and the Middle East.

Enhancing society together

With more than 300 years of combined experience and a network covering 35 countries, Royal HaskoningDHV’s offerings in water and wastewater treatment are comprehensive.

Among Royal HaskoningDHV’s major business themes is urban development ‒ food and water security, and sustainability in water and transport.

Urban development ‒ food and water securityFor rural and township communities, the nearest safe water supply may be a kilometre or more away, and a daily ritual that robs mostly women of their dignity and independence is to carry water from the river, standpipe or borehole to their homes. The company's expertise is available to identify exploit-able sources of supply, to develop local and regional plans, and then implement the necessary abstraction, treatment, conveyancing, storage and reticulation infra-structure to deliver this precious commodity.In 2010, it received recognition from the South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) ‒ Best Community Project ‒ for its work on the Ozwathini Water Supply Scheme, where nearly 31 000 people in the Gcwensa, Mlamula and Phambela communities in the Ilembe District of the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands now enjoy a piped water supply. For these women and children, daily life revolved around the task of collecting water and the health of the community was being compromised. Initiated by the Ilembe District Municipality and supported by the Department of Water Aff airs and Municipal Infrastructure Grant funding, the Ozwathini Water Supply Scheme was born. In 2005, the process of addressing the needs of the communities began and over the next three years and in close consultation with the local community, over 30 000 people received a guaranteed safe supply of water. In addition, more than of 100 000 person days of employ-ment of local labour was created. While the construction of the pipelines, reservoirs and boreholes that comprised this R38 million project was proceeding, relationships developed between all the participants bearing fruit of a diff erent kind. One of the civil engineering graduates had the opportunity of work-ing on site and broadening her knowledge of rural water supplies. She was then able to return to the offi ce and apply her knowledge in the design environment.A schools outreach programme was initiated using the SAICE Free Career Guidance for Engineering presenta-tion. This resulted in off ers of fi nancial assistance for two students at university. An application to Book Smart in America resulted in 11 schools in the area receiving over 3 000 books. The community has benefi ted from all the project ob-jectives ‒ and so much more.Similarly, the Umtamvuna Water Supply Scheme pro-ject has recently won the 2012 SAICE Pietermaritzburg Branch award for Excellence. The award recognises the Most Outstanding Civil Engineering Project located within the geographic area of the branch.The Umtamvuna Water Treatment Works serves a large area in the southernmost region of the Ugu District

ABOVE An aerial view of the Nereda plant at Gansbaai

BELOW Fishwater Flats WWTW in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro where treated fi nal effl uent will supplement water supplies to nearby Coega

4 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2012

COVER STORY

In each issue, Water&Sanitation Africa offers 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 offers 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.

Municipality, supplying the coastal strip from Port Edward in the south all the way up to Ramsgate in the north. It also serves the rural and semi-rural areas of Izingolweni, Vukuzithathe, Nzimakwe and KwaXolo. The longer term water service planning makes provision to pump water beyond Ramsgate to include Margate.Highlights of the R61 million scheme, which provides potable water security to 24 255 households, saw the replacement of the ageing and leaking existing pipeline from the river abstraction to pump up to a raw water storage dam. This required the construction of an 800 mm diameter 2.1 km welded steel pipeline up treacherous mountainous terrain, and the replacement of low-lift and high-lift pump-sets with new, more powerful equipment doubled the rat-ed capacity of the river abstraction works to 40 Mℓ/d. This also required increasing the capacity of all the delivery pipework as well as the electrical power plant and all ancil-lary equipment. This intervention resulted in an energy cost saving of R2.4 million per year due to greater pump effi ciencies.

Sustainability in water and transport ‒ leading edge technologiesAmong European consultancies, Royal HaskoningDHV is the largest spender on research and development, and much of this R&D spend is directed into sustainable water and wastewater technologies.A typical example is the Nereda wastewa-ter technology, which is set to revolutionise the wastewater industry providing huge reductions in capital cost, operational effi -ciencies and reduced energy requirements. Group-funded development in conjunc-tion with the University of Delft and major Dutch water boards has now brought Nereda into the realm of sustainable reality with full-scale plants being constructed in the Netherlands, South Africa and Portugal with exceptional results for municipalities and water authorities.

The largest Nereda wastewater treat-ment works (WWTW) to date was recently commissioned in Epe, a town of 59 000 inhabitants located 80 km due east of Amsterdam. Construction commenced in 2010 and in addition to purifying the wastewater from 59 000 residents, it also handles the wastewa-ter outfl ows from a local slaughterhouse.The Nereda plant was constructed for the Veluwe Water Board, Epe’s water authority. The design of this Nereda installation incorporates experience gained from various industrial Nereda installations, including South Africa’s pilot plant.Located in the Overstrand municipal dis-trict of the Western Cape, Royal HaskoningDHV con-structed the fi rst commercial sized Nereda plant in the seaside town of Gansbaai. Initially a 2 Mℓ/d plant, the installation has been sized for future expansion up to 5 Mℓ/d, which can be accommodated on the same site due to the smaller footprint and operating effi ciencies provided by the technology. The fully automated plant has proved the Nereda concept and has been running trouble free since commission-ing in 2009, winning the SAICE Award for Technical Excellence in that year. A second Nereda plant is currently under construc-tion at Wemmershoek, Stellenbosch.

Life beyond our riversIts water specialists are in the vanguard of reuse initiatives and have completed a number of installations in George, Mossel Bay and Port Elizabeth where its technical expertise has resulted in meaningful sav-ings through the swopping of treated fi nal

effl uent for raw water, leaving raw water supplies for human and animal consump-tion. The company's specialists are explor-ing direct effl uent reuse in certain towns where indirect options are not feasible or

practical. Effl uent reuse is, therefore, a practi-cal, cost-eff ective and quick-to- implement means of extending and enhancing existing water supplies.Its expertise was applied to towns in the drought-aff ected Southern Cape, where in addition to effl uent reuse strategies, it project-managed the design and installation of several desalination plants in the towns of Plettenberg Bay, Knysna, Sedgefi eld and Mossel Bay. The

latter town features the largest desalination plant with a capacity of 15 Mℓ/d and this plant won the 2011 CESA AON Engineering Excellence Award in its value category.If the past 90 years of SSI Engineers & Environmental Consultants were impres-sive, future collaborations can only inspire confi dence for our developing nation. The combined local and international resources of Royal HaskoningDHV span over 300 years of experience. This signals a new era in water and wastewater engineering in southern Africa, born out of a legacy of unmatched, award-winning expertise in the discipline.

TOP The new Knysna WTWABOVE The fi rst desalination plant installed at Sedgefi eld

Mossel Bay desalination plant intake pipeline during construction

The Nereda Epe plant in the Netherlands treats effl uent from 60 000 inhabitants

The Outinequa WWTW at George incorporates effl uent reuse technologies


Visit www.rhdhv.co.za or www.royalhaskoningdhv.com


WISAYoung Water Professionals

Challenges for young water professionalsby Dr Inga Jacobs, president of Young Water Professionals, WISA.

It is widely recognised that capacity building and sustainable knowledge transfer are critical concerns for several sectors in South Africa, and the water sector is no different.

The loss of intellectual assets is a major threat to eff ective water management, particularly in water-scarce countries such as South Africa where the onus has always been on the sci-

entifi c community to fi nd technological solutions for sectoral challenges. The repercussions for the sector include high staff turn-over as well as the loss of skills and institutional memory.

Young water professionals in South Africa are therefore faced with the threefold challenge of developing their skills, fi nding mentors to help them do so, as well as grappling with the added responsibility of relearning knowledge that could have been retained through sus-tainable knowledge transfer policies and programmes.Fulfi lling the present and future needs of the water and wastewater industries requires the continuous develop-ment of a workforce that is both adequate in size, capa-ble in skills and strong in leadership. Recognising that young water professionals (students and professionals in the water sector and under the age of 35, or who at-tained their most recent qualifi cation within the past fi ve

years) are the future of the water sector, the Young Water Professionals (YWP) was established as an international initiative by the International Water Association (IWA). In Southern Africa, the Southern African Young Water Professionals (SA YWP), in collaboration with the Water Institute for Southern Africa (WISA), has been highly suc-cessful in providing opportunities for YWPs to meet and communicate, providing career development opportuni-ties for them, supporting employers with the recruitment and retention of YWPs as well as ensuring that the pro-gramme remains relevant.The SA YWP programme is entering its fourth year of existence as an offi cial programme with more than 800 student members and provincial chapters set up in the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and further afi eld in Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Plans are also under way to launch the Mpumalanga and the Free State YWP chapters this year.I can honestly say that young people have found the YWP programme immensely supportive in career development, networking and technical skills training, but perhaps more importantly, having a supportive network of individuals who are going through the same challenges that young people face when developing their careers. This is oftentimes the non-technical challenges such as networking at confer-ences, fi nding a mentor, or sharing the chal-lenges of being a

“Young professionals will play a vital part in facilitating change in the water sector.” Dr Inga Jacobs, president of the Young Water Professionals

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young woman professional in a still largely male-dominated sector. Through the YWP programme these kinds of formal but also informal lessons are shared, and it helps to grow professionals that are equipped to deal with the technical and non-technical challenges that the water sector throws before us. Even professionals who work

in other sectors have come to us because that kind of support is not provided in their respective sectors.

Main achievements to dateThe fi rst Southern African Regional Conference, the biggest YWP conference to date, attracted 300 participants; the second conference attracted 440 del-egates. These regional conferences surpass international YWP conferences in the amount of delegates and the extent of the technical programmes.Other achievements include, but are not limited to:• DIY Manual on Lessons Learned from Southern Africa ‒ the Southern African region has developed a guideline that documents success stories and lessons learned, and shares it with the rest of the world with the hope that other regions can also learn from our experience in set-ting up the YWP programme

• providing support to the “I drink Tap Water” campaign

• Moola for Amanzi competition with the Dutch-SA Water partnership

• support to Aqua Enduro (a Department of Water Aff airs‘ (DWA) initiative)

• more involvement of YWPs in manage-ment committees and leadership positions in membership organisations, WISA Board, IWA board, Strategic Council, etc.

• an exciting programme of activities at the WISA 2012 conference, including the international Wetskills competition

• our own clothing range.

Main aims as YWP presidentGiven this incredible track record and as we usher in the new committee, it is my hope that we move from a period of establish-ment and growth to a period of consolida-tion of the programme through partner-ships. This means that I would hope to grow the programme in the provinces but

also expand our network further into the region and really be the regional platform for young water professionals. Also, the development of partnerships is another key focus and already the YWP programme is working with the DWA to provide support to the Africa Youth Summit in July. We will host several workshops and

activities to share survival tips by young professionals for young professionals and scholars on what to expect from a career in the water sector and to highlight the numerous opportunities.

Activity highlightsThe YWP has a very exciting programme planned this year both in the region and globally. Some of the highlights include the following:• The YWP International Conference - Budapest, Hungary, held from 10 to 13 July

• YWP activities at IWA World Water Congress ‒ Busan, South Korea, 16 to 21 September 2012

• a series of non-technical career building workshops hosted at the CSIR in Pretoria focusing on training in fi nancial planning, self-esteem, setting goals, etc.

• YWP activities at the Freshwater Governance Conference ‒ Drakensberg, November 2012.

We believe that young professionals will play a vital part in facilitating change in the water sector. The youth are dynamic enough to take change in their stride, while having the mentorship of distinguished water professionals for guidance. We are the ones faced with the conse-quences of the environmental threats, and we are passionate about improving the sit-uation. More than this, we aim to improve the way things are done in a fun and posi-tive way, while still maintaining economic relevance and scientifi c excellence. YWPs are more comfortable working in a multi-disciplinary or even trans-disciplinary environment than the baby boomers on whom we still rely so much, making us well-suited to tackle the challenges facing us today in a communicative, team-based manner. We are comfortable working in a global environment, but we need the mentorship and guidance of more experi-enced professionals.

“We are the ones faced with the consequences of the environmental threats, and we are passionate about improving the situation”

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Process controllers WISA

AGauteng processor controller division was launched in mid-July with the primary objective of professionalis-ing the industry. WISA is responsible for capturing and managing the process controller database. At present, the

Department of Water Aff airs (DWA) has 5 600 process controllers on its database while WISA has a separate database of process controllers.A proposed change to DWA regulations requires that all process controllers must register with DWA and be classifi ed in terms of their qualifi cations and/or experience. The DWA’s Solomon Makate told the workshop at which the new division was launched that the classifi cation of process controllers will be plant specifi c, even if individual processor controllers have the knowledge and experience to work at several plants.The new division will be structured on the same principles as WISA while the membership database and fi nances will be controlled by WISA head offi ce.The professionalisation of process controllers will focus on several key strategic directions:• The development of process controllers within the current aca-demic sphere or environment.

• The development of process controllers beyond the current aca-demic sphere or environment. This strategic focus will strive to-wards narrowing the skills gap between the professional process controller and the professional process engineer. This objective is aimed at placing process controllers in a position to engage on a more professional level with the process engineer and challenge design concepts that may impact on their ability to maintain, operate, control and monitor a plant in a sustainable manner.

• Promote the image of the process controller within the water sector and provide a career choice for matriculants or provide an entry level for emerging process engineers.

• Improve the administrative skills of professional process engineers.Dot Zandberg, acting chief executive of WISA, told the workshop that WISA is updating and improving access to its database by making the facility web based. “We will have on the database a list

of accredited training service providers. It is proposed that, in terms of classifi cations, all process controllers be classifi ed in future. It is hoped that the classifi cation process will be fi nalised soon and it is our objective to have achieved the professionalisation process by next February.

Gauteng process controller division launchedThe division is the fi rst nationally and more are in the pipeline.

ABOVE The committee of the new Gauteng process controller division comprises, front from the left: Katleho Thubela (additional member, Emfuleni), Solomon Makate (vice chairman, DWA), Elize Mare (chairperson), Susan Stofberg (secretary). Back row from the left: Josaya Lekalakala (treasurer, Tshwane), Anita Pillay (WISA training manager), Leah Moelane (additional member, Meralong City) and Dot Zandberg (Acting chief executive, WISA)

ABOVE About 75 people attended the ground-breaking process controllers’ workshop organised by WISA in Gauteng in mid-July

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Over the past six years, municipalities, utilities and government organisations in South Africa have saved 82.9 Mℓ/d of potable water worth R100 million a year through

interventions by the JOAT Group, says company director, Mark Shepherd.The Durban-based company, with a national network of branch offi ces, has an impressive list of key accom-plishments gained during the 10 years it has addressed the needs of local government in the fi eld of water dis-tribution optimisation. This specialisation area includes demand, leakage and pressure management. Over that period, the JOAT Group has worked on over 24 258 km of mains on systems ranging in size from 18 km to over 11 000 km, and has attended to over a mil-lion connections. “We have not yet had an unsuccessful project and we have a reputation as the company that solves our customers’ problems,” says Shepherd. ”The technical people within our customer base have full faith in our capabilities.”The key services off ered by the JOAT Group include system stabilisation, condition surveys of meters and valves, data logging, water audits and water balances, water system operations, optimal zoning of distribution systems, leakage management, revenue enhancement, asset and energy management, network analysis model-ling, and pressure management.“Our pressure management capability is of particu-lar importance because of an increasing demand in South Africa for systems that run at optimal levels

without interruption to customers. We have been at the forefront of designing, testing and implementing advanced management systems off ered by a range of international manufacturers.”He explains that the JOAT Group is keenly aware that many municipalities face fi nancial constraints in terms of maintaining and replacing assets such as costly water infrastructure.

Extending the life of assets“Decision-makers look to extend the life of assets, an important aspect of which is to reduce the operating

pressure of a reticulation network in order to reduce cyclical fatigue on pipes and joints in addition to cutting down on the frequency of pipe bursts and the resultant increase in water losses.“Based on our intensive exposure to a wide range of pressure management solutions on the international market, the JOAT Group has opted to support the British-manufactured i2O system as providing customers with the best possible solution. We have implemented the i2O solution in some of the major metropolitan areas in South Africa and have achieved exceptional results.”“Not only has the i20 system delivered greater than expected leakage savings, it has also proven to be a very reliable device. eThekwini Municipality prides itself as being forward thinking and the continuous research and development that goes into the i20 system insures that this solution remains current and sustainable,” describes Simon Scruton, manager: Non Revenue Water Branch, eThekwini Water and Sanitation.Shepherd says the i2O system can be used in all three types of pressure control: fi xed outlet, time-based modulation and fl ow-based modulation. “We believe that the i2O system has been developed to the point

Full service capability in water supply system optimisationIn the realm of pressure management, JOAT has implemented the i20 system – the world’s most advanced solution.

“We have not yet had an unsuccessful project and we have a reputation as the company that solves our customers’ problems.” Mark Shepherd, Company director

A typical PRV installation under construction

HOT SEAT


where it is far in advance of any other pressure management system currently available. The i20 is an integrated system that uses the nationwide GSM network and true artifi cial intelligence to ‘self-learn’ water distribution networks. It has a world-wide patent for self-learning capabilities through the application of an algorithm ‒ no other product on the market currently has the same capability. Furthermore, the ‘open loop’ control addresses all the weaknesses of ‘closed loop’ systems in that the system will still control to the desired parameters even if communication is lost with remote sensors. “Customer intervention is not required as the system takes into account daily, week-ly, monthly and even seasonal changes. This important capability is undertaken by the system automatically as it continually adjusts the pressure in the network. The customer can rest assured that with these pressure adjustments the network is at

the optimum level at all times to provide a good service to consumers, but low enough to reduce leakages and the fre-quency of bursts.”The i2O solution, which has been implemented in scores of

locations worldwide, achieves its unique performance by:• the careful monitoring of fl ow and pres-sure by robust, advanced loggers

• remote and automated control of pressure via a system controller and an advanced pilot valve

• software that continuously learns the characteristics of the network, enabling the optimum pressure reducing valve pressure to be set to meet pressure re-quirements under all demand conditions.

Shepherd points out that the added ad-vantages of the i2O system accrue to sig-nifi cant leakage savings and competitive costs compared with alternative leakage reduction measures. “The i2O solution can be installed within one day and benefi ts will start accruing within the fi rst week of operation. In addi-tion, the system requires little or no main-tenance in the fi rst fi ve years of operation.”“The i20 system has saved us an addi-tional R286 000 per year in a zone which was recently commissioned and optimised. The system seems to be very reliable and is operating under stable conditions,” says Melvin Engelbrecht, City of Cape Town.

How it worksThe i2O system makes a major impact on six key metrics: leakage, burst frequency, operating expenses, energy costs, lifetime extension of network infrastructure and customer service. The system allows water service organisations to:• optimise water pressure continuously and automatically to meet customer service levels throughout the network

• adjust water pressure levels in any part of a water distribution network remotely.

The i2O solutions combine hardware and software that give operators the ability to monitor or control their water networks from any Internet connection. Core solu-tions address three contexts of advanced pressure management:• Advanced Pressure Management: Pressure Reducing Valve (PRV) control

‒ a world fi rst and the most widely de-ployed system for automatically optimis-ing and remotely controlling water pres-sure in water zones equipped with PRVs.

• Advanced Pressure Management: Pump control ‒ This is similar to PRV control but optimises and remotely controls parts of a water network fed by pumps. It can achieve the same Advanced Pressure Management benefi ts in networks without PRVs, or enhance the benefi ts in networks with them.

• Network Data: i2O’s monitoring solu-tion shows water service organisation executives and managers the real-time performance of their water systems from any Internet connection.

The i2O system has been installed in these municipalities: eThekwini, Ugu, iLembe, uThukela, Mangaung (Bloemfontein), City of Cape Town and Msunduzi (Pietermaritzberg). Installation in Nelson Mandela Bay (Port Elizabeth) is awaiting the completion of construction.Dean Hansford, i2O’s Business Development manager for the United Kingdom and sub-Saharan Africa, says that working with JOAT “has been so easy for us. As a company, it shares our passion for the use of innovative technologies in the water industry in Southern Africa. With the help of JOAT’s expertise in the fi eld of non-revenue water reduction, i2O is becoming established as the advanced pressure man-agement system of choice in South Africa.”The JOAT Group is the sole distributor for sub-Saharan Africa of the i2O solution.

Turnkey solutionsReferring to the provision of turnkey solu-tions for large scale non-revenue water reduction programmes, Shepherd points out that this type of appointment has been successful in allowing institutional custom-ers to fast track the procurement of service providers, contractors and suppliers.“An appointment of this nature also al-lows the contracted service provider with the fl exibility to respond to what can be urgent challenges that invariably arise.“All turnkey projects implemented by the JOAT Group are compliant with municipal supply chain management rules and regu-lations,” he concludes. The JOAT Group provides a nationwide ser-vice through branches in Pietermaritzburg, Port Shepstone, Johannesburg, Bloem-fontein, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town. More than 60 people are employed in the group’s branches.

LEFT i2O installation in Mangaung Metro Municipality RIGHT i2O installation in eThekwini Municipality

NEWS International

BOLIVIASoup and sustenance in Bolivia MICROLOANS AND payment plans help the trickle-down economics of water infrastruc-ture installation.Bringing water service to poor

families in the mountains of Bolivia, where the air is thin at 3 650 m, is challenging. Who pays for the installation of service and who pays for the water consumed thereafter? In 2011, Fatima’s family was

one of 28 in Boqueron Alto, Bolivia, that did not have

access to the improved water system that was installed in 2008. Since she had moved in after the system was constructed, Fatima could not pay the post-construction connection fee of around US$1 000 (R8 148) that was being imposed by the village’s water committee. This connection fee was

calculated using simple math ‒ families who contributed their labour and cash when the new water system was being constructed paid the equivalent of around US$1 000, the major-ity being monetised in-kind contributions. The committee

argues that it is therefore only “fair” for new connections to cost the same amount. But with such a large cash

down payment, and no additional labour required for implementation, poor families like Fatima’s are at a signifi cant disadvantage and have strug-gled to fi nd the money to pay for the connection. The committee has also

been extremely creative in its approach to sustaining water access. • Tariff s are collected ef-

fi ciently and transparently. • Two additional springs

were purchased with village funds, because there is an understanding that water quantities will have to be maintained over time ‒ as populations grow, as families use more water for agricultural production, and as water resources become increasingly threatened from climate change.

• There is a loan scheme emanating from the village’s water fund: families take loans to improve their homes and purchase agricultural inputs. They have one year to repay the loan, at an interest rate of 17%. If they fail to repay, their water supply is cut off . To date, there have been no defaults.

Source: Circle of Blue Website

MALAYSIAChin warns of wa-ter rationingTHE RATIONING of water may be a possibility in the future if the Selangor government continues its refusal to allow the Langat 2 water treatment plant to be built, says the Energy, Green Technology and Water minister, Datuk Seri Peter Chin Fah Kui.“The demand for water has

jumped with the start of dry weather and, as a result, the reserves are dipping further, when they are already at a critical level.

“We don’t want to start water rationing for the people when we are more than able to increase water capac-ity and ensure the people are comfortable,” Chin said at a press conference after opening Innovation Day 2012.The Langat 2 water treatment

plant was approved by the federal government at a cost of RM3.94 billion [Malaysian ringgit] (R10.2 billion) and is expected to treat around 1.9 billion litres of water for Selangor, Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur until 2025.It also involves building a 44.6 km tunnel, the largest and longest in South East Asia, to channel the water from Sungai Semantan in Pahang to Sungai Hulu Langat in Selangor through the main range.The project is on hold as the

Selangor government refused to approve the development order for various reasons, one of which is the ongoing water restructuring exercise in the state.Source: The Sun Daily

SPAINRobotic fi sh to patrol for pollution in harbours

Constant watch: teams of robot fi sh could check for pollution

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latest weapon in the war

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NEWS International

against pollution. This sea-faring machine works autonomously to hunt down contamination in the water, feeding this informa-tion back to the shore.Several are undergoing their fi rst trials in Spain to see if they make the grade as future marine police.“The idea is that we want to have real-time monitoring of pollution, so that if someone is dumping chemicals or some-thing is leaking, we can get to it straight away, fi nd out what is causing the problem and put a stop to it,” explains Luke Speller, a senior scientist at the research division of BMT Group, a technology consultancy.The company is part of the Shoal consortium, a European Commission-funded group from academia and business that has developed these underwater robots.The fi sh, which measure about 1.5 m long, may be a little larger than their real-life counterparts, but their move-ments closely mimic them.The fi sh use micro-electrode arrays to sense contaminants. In their current form they can detect phenols and heavy met-als such as copper and lead, as well as monitor oxygen levels and salinity.

But it may be some time before robotic fi sh become permanent fi xtures in our wa-ters. Prototypes currently cost about £20 000 (R130 000) each, although Speller says costs will drop once more are produced. Source: BBC News

USAA new approach to water desalinationGRAPHENE SHEETS with precisely controlled pores have the potential to purify water more effi ciently than existing methods.One promising source of potable water is the world’s virtually limitless supply of seawater, but so far desalina-tion technology has been too expensive for widespread use. Now Massachusetts Institute of

Technology (MIT) researchers have come up with a new approach using a diff erent kind of fi ltration material: sheets of graphene, a one-atom-thick form of the element carbon, which they say can be far more effi cient and possibly less expensive than existing desalination systems.“There are not that many people working on desalination from a materials point of view,” says Jeff rey Grossman, the Carl Richard Soderberg Associate Professor of Power Engineering in MIT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Grossman and graduate student David Cohen-Tanugi aimed to “control the proper-ties of the material down to the atomic level”, producing a graphene sheet perforated with precisely sized holes. They also

added other elements to the material, causing the edges of these minuscule openings to interact chemically with water molecules ‒ either repelling or attracting them.“We were very pleasantly sur-prised by how well graphene performed compared to existing systems in computer simulations,” Grossman says.One common method of desalination, called reverse osmosis, uses membranes to fi lter the salt from the water. But these systems require extremely high pressure ‒ and hence, energy use ‒ to force water through the thick membranes, which are about a thousand times thicker than graphene. The new graphene system operates at much lower pressure and thus could purify water at far lower cost, the researchers say.Source: MIT News Offi ce

When water molecules (red and white) and sodium and chlorine ions (green and purple) in saltwater, on the right, encounter a sheet of graphene (pale blue, center) perforated by holes of the right size, the water passes through (left side), but the sodium and chlorine of the salt are blocked.Graphic: David Cohen-Tanugi

Africa

MAURITANIAEnergy-effi cient water treatment plant for desert mine

A reverse osmosis skid system, similar to the one shown here, is being supplied to a Mauritanian mine by Veolia.

VEOLIA WATER Solutions & Technologies South Africa has been contracted to design, fabricate and supply a brackish water treatment plant for the second phase of a mine in Mauritania, North West Africa. In terms of the contract, 62.5 m³/h of reverse osmosis (RO) permeate will be supplied to the process plant.Documentation was pro-vided in English and French. A French process engineer was co-opted to be part of the team in terms of Veolia’s inter-national exchange programme to provide assistance with this aspect of the contract.The treatment process starts with the feed of raw water from boreholes on site. This water is pumped to the multimedia fi lters with feed pumps to undergo pre-fi ltration. Thereafter the water is pumped into a fi ltered water tank before being sent through a set of plate heat exchangers. This step is necessary due to the high ambient temperatures of the area, which can see the water reaching temperatures of 50°C. Before the RO treatment can commence, the water tem-perature needs to be brought down to a maximum of 30°C. This temperature reduction is achieved through a cooling system consisting of two air-cooled chiller systems, each with a plate heat exchanger at

the process interface. After the water has been cooled down, it is treated in the duplex RO system. From there, the desalinated water is pumped to two desalinated water stor-age tanks outside the building, ready for distribution to the plant as process water for industrial usage.The plant is due for commis-sioning at the start of 2013.

NAMIBIAWISA launches new branch in NamibiaWISA HAS LAUNCHED a new branch in Namibia with a membership list approaching 40. The WISA head offi ce in Gauteng, South Africa, will assist the fl edgling branch in the short term and will support the members in developing and running a programme of events such as training workshops.The WISA acting CEO, Dot Zandberg, who attended the launch, mentions that Southern African membership will be extended to Lesotho with the launch of a branch in the fourth quarter of this year and to Zimbabwe, Mozambique and possibly Zambia in 2013.

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICASkidrat pump attracts industry attention

The Australian developed SkidRat is now available from Xylem

THE SKIDRAT pump protection unit is attracting attention in the industry as an ideal way to prevent pumps from being damaged by sediment at the bottom of ponds. This innovative unit was

NEWS Africa

academic and author Professor Ali Mazrui as the main speaker.The conference, which is being organised by the Water Research Commission and the Department of Water Aff airs, together with the Australian National University, has a programme of 94 papers, workshops, special sessions, moderated sessions, panel discussions, side events and role playing games.Apart from South African presenters, papers will be presented by speakers from Europe, North and South America, India, Asia and the rest of Africa.Among the many papers being read will be a presenta-tion by Ashwin Seetal of SSI Engineers and Environmental Consultants. He will talk on the process of compulsory licensing, which is generally perceived as the “ultimate”

implementation of the various provisions of South Africa’s National Water Act (Act 36 of 1998), especially as it directly relates to the protection, use, conservation, management and control of water resources.The paper assesses the early approaches to implement-ing compulsory licensing, describes the diff erent phases of the process and presents

a comparative analysis of the lessons learnt from each of the case studies, as well as other projects where preparatory work is under way, concluding with recommendations for im-proved planning and process implementation effi ciencies.

SOUTHERN AFRICAWaterAid opens offi ce in South AfricaWATERAID, AN international NGO dedicated exclusively to the provision of safe domestic water, sanitation and hygiene education to the world's poorest people, has opened a Southern African regional offi ce in Tshwane.The regional offi ce is headed by Robert Kampala, who acts as the head of region and staff ed by six people, including Kampala. The other staff

developed by UAT in Australia and is exclusively distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa by Xylem (formerly known as ITT Water & Wastewater South Africa). Harnessing a pontoon approach, the SkidRat features modular fl oats that lend this unit to unlimited confi gura-tions to suit each pump and application. The tough and durable unit is chemical resist-ant and can be handled by cranes, excavators, bulldozers, trucks and trailers.

SOUTH AFRICAFreshwater governance conferenceTHE INTERNATIONAL Conference on Fresh Water Governance for Sustainable Development will be held in the Drakensberg from 5 to 7 November with noted

Prof Ali Mazrui, main speaker at the International Conference on Fresh Water Governance for Sustainable Development

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Implementation of Energy Management Solution

Measurements recorded for comparison to the reference

Measurements recorded during the reference period

©2012 Schneider Electric. All Rights Reserved. Schneider Electric, Make the most of your energy, and EcoStruxure are trademarks owned by Schneider Electric Industries SAS or its affiliated companies. All other trademarks are the 998-2574_ZA_B

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Energy is a major part of water’s price and, of course, your facility’s operating costs. In addition, energy is the single largest contributor to the carbon footprint of the water process. Fortunately, Schneider Electric™ has the solution to manage and optimise your energy in line with your process obligations — and to reduce your carbon footprint.

Our comprehensive approach to energy management, along with combined power and process services, can yield an energy cost reduction of up to 30 per cent of your existing installation. And with visibility across your entire water network, you’ll be able to optimise the management of your process, reducing and avoiding energy waste in real time.

Flexible software, reliable services make upgrading easyWhen you partner with Schneider Electric all along the life cycle of your facility, you’ll gain access to our expertise as a world leader in electrical distribution, motor control, and process automation.

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NEWS Africa

members are responsible in the region for programmes, advo-cacy, support, technical matters and fi nance and administration.In the 2010/2011 pe-riod WaterAid estimates that

worldwide 884 million people do not have access to safe drinking water and 2.6 million people live without sanitation. A total of 4 000 children died every day in that period from diarrhoeal diseases resulting from this lack of services.At present, WaterAid has 224 477 supporters, over 600 staff members and 479

partner organisations in 23 countries around the world. With the organisation now represented in South Africa ‒ with offi ces in the Water Research Commission premises ‒ WaterAid is active in eight Southern African countries. These include Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Angola, Lesotho and Swaziland. WaterAid is also active in seven West Africa countries and fi ve East African countries. WaterAid receives funds from supporters or donors that are tied to specifi c projects or pro-grammes or have restrictions as to how, where, when and what the money can be used for. The organisation is aiming to raise £100 million (R1.3 billion) by 2015. WaterAid also receives funds which supporters give to it with no restriction as to how they are used.

WaterAid has robust planning, monitoring and evaluation systems in place that ensures that activity plans are jointly developed with clear outputs and outcomes. Funding is based on approved plans and budgets with the partners.

THE GAMBIAFour million Gunjur Water Project Contract signedTHE NATIONAL Water and Electricity Company (Nawec) has signed contracts with three contractors for the implementation of the US$4 497 497 (R36 644 263) Gunjur Water Supply Project at a ceremony held at the Nawec head offi ce in Kanifi ng.The project is awarded to Sierra Construction System, a

User-friendly wheelchair access has been provided to safe drinking water points in Madagascar as a result of interventions by WaterAid

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

DRINKING9 – 11 OCTOBER 2012Gateway Hotel UmhlangaKwaZulu-Natal

The Department of Water Affairs is revising the national water resource strategy, which includes water reuse as one of the key pillars.

This conference focuses on potable water reuse - a much-debated and controversial topic locally and globally. Water reuse is already taking place in South Africa, but more attention will in future be placed on the strategic roll-out of direct and indirect potable reuse projects.

Prof George Tchobanoglous from the University of California:International Practices and Trends in Potable Water Reuse; State of California, regulatory history, trends and recent developments; Groundwater Recharge Project in LA

Mr Harry Seah from the Singapore Public Utility Board: Singapore experience in potable reuse of water; Regulations/guidelines for potable reuse

Dr Ben Stanford from Hazen and Sawyer:United States: Western States Case Studies

Mr Jurgen Menge from the City of Windhoek:The City’s Case Study

Mr Piet du Pisani from the City of Windhoek:Institutional models for water development projects - drinking water supply projects

OTHER TOPICS INCLUDE:* South African national water resource

strategy, development and roll out * Regulatory trends and perspectives * Water reclamation technologies * Sustainability of water reuse projects * Financial and institutional aspects

Conference programme and registration: www.wisa.org.za/wruc/Contact: Melissa Wheal+27 (11) 805 3537; [email protected]

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AQUADAM will be in stand MA3810-14 September

NEWS Africa

Sierra Leone company; Water Resources Development (WARD), a Lebanese company; and Sinco Spa, a Senegalese company, and will run parallel to ensure timely completion. According to the project agreement, Sinco Spa will construct a treatment plant and associate civil works worth US$2 749 595, WARD will construct a 500 m3 elevated water tank including design to the tune of US$681 625, while Sierra Construction System will construct a water distribution network with all associ-ated civil works to the tune of US$1 066 277. The project is being funded by the Islamic Development Bank and the government of The Gambia. It is expected that when completed it will complement the government's eff orts in providing clean and

safe drinking water to the Gambian people in line with the development objectives and Vision 2020. Speaking at the signing ceremony, Ebrima Sanyang, the MD of Nawec, said the project is very timely and important as Gunjur is a big metropolis without clean drinking water. He added that the coming of this project will address the issue. Sanyang also informed the gathering that the project would be ready by the end of this year if everything goes as planned. Source: AllAfrica Global Media.

ZAMBIA Bannow Africa launches in ZambiaBANNOW AFRICA, a re-cently launched South African

company marketing and installing a range of package sewage treatment plants manufactured in Ireland, has launched Bannow Zambia as part of the company’s plans to expand its infl uence in Africa.A delegation from Zambia visited South Africa recently to meet with representatives of the local company and to inspect the Blivet package plant, which is operating at the Nedbank Olwazini Training Centre in Muldersdrift, Gauteng for the past eight years. It was Bannow Export’s fi rst package plant in South AfricaBannow Zambia will market the Blivet range of package plant of varying capacities from the smallest suitable for 10 people to the Blivet 4 000, which has a capacity of 100 m³/d of effl uent.

Prior to November last year, Bannow Export had sold and installed package plants in Lesotho, Seychelles, Mauritius, Mozambique, Zanzibar, Angola, Nigeria, Gabon, Chad, Algeria and South Africa. Bannow Africa is planning to launch into the Nigerian market later in 2012.

Monica Kachali, the MD of the newly formed Bannow Zambia joint venture, visits the Blivet package plant at the Nedbank Olwazini Training Centre in Muldersdrift


PROFILENuWater

The South Africa-based water clean-ing company NuWater has moved swiftly to consolidate an impressive national and international footprint

supported by its proprietary, large diameter (16 inches) reverse osmosis (RO) technology and an extensive knowledge base in other membrane technologies, including micro-, ultra- and nano-fi ltration, as well as in membrane bioreactors.Nuwater was formed less than two years ago following the acquisition of GrahamTek’s RO intellectual property and the incorporation of GrahamTek’s local and Singapore operations under the NuWater Brand. Since then, Cape Town-based Nuwater has secured and delivered a major build, own and operate contract with Anglo American’s New Vaal Colliery for a 15 Mℓ/d plant treating mine drainage water and has built a strong pipeline of both mining and other projects. Nuwater’s success in the mining sector builds on projects secured under the pre-vious GrahamTek name in the municipal and power sectors, namely the seawater desalination plant for Knysna Municipality at Sedgefi eld and wastewater treatment plants at two Eskom power stations. In addi-tion to these major projects, Nuwater’s sales

NuWater shows that extensive membrane water treatment expertise coupled with proprietary reverse osmosis technology and fl exible fi nancing options is an attractive proposition for municipalities, mines, water utilities and the energy sector.

The quest for clean water

of small, self-contained RO water treatment plants, with capacities ranging from 50 to 500 m³/d, continue to grow both locally and internationally.On the international front, NuWater has its 16-inch RO technology running at two impressive plants in Singapore ‒ a 55 mil-lion litres per day secondary sewerage water reclamation plant for Singapore’s national water agency and an award-winning 10 million litres per day seawater desalination plant for diversifi ed energy company PowerSeraya. “NuWater has demonstrated its technol-ogy and delivery capability in some of the world’s most advanced water centres as well as in some of the most demanding water treatment conditions,” says NuWater CEO John Holmes.The company focuses on designing, build-ing, owning and operating modular and mo-bile water treatment plants. In addition, the company off ers plants that provide potable water from sea and brackish water as well as contaminated surface and groundwater. Product development and manufactur-ing are undertaken in Cape Town and Singapore with international business development and investor relations con-ducted through London and Cape Town.

“Our technology allows us to address the rapidly increasing demand for highly scal-able, rapidly deployable and cost-eff ective water cleaning and desalination solutions,” continues Holmes.“The build, own and operate model we off er as an alternative to equipment purchase provides customers with the attractive option of avoiding capital invest-ment and technology risk as we charge only for the water that we clean. Customers can focus on their core activities while NuWater controls plant operation and performance enhancement.”Turning to the important advantages ac-cruing to NuWater’s RO technology, Holmes says: “Nuwater (GrahamTek) pioneered the use of large diameter 16" spiral wound membrane elements, which signifi cantly in-crease membrane surface area per pressure vessel, resulting in far more compact plants. Our large capacity plants are highly effi cient and their modular design allows them to be moved when necessary as well as enhanc-ing scalability should the client require ad-ditional volumes of water to be treated.“In addition, our patented RO technology covers our integrated fl ow distributor (IFD) and electromagnetic fi eld (EMF) advances, which help produce cross-fl ow velocities and hydraulic conditions that minimise membrane scaling and fouling.

LEFT A view of the interior of the 55 million litres per day secondary sewerage water reclamation plant at Singapore’s national water agency. The plant uses NuWater’s 16 inch RO technologyBELOW An exterior view of Singapore national water agency building

PROFILE


“Although our plants deliver a high rate of water recovery as standard, customers in the mining, oil and gas, and other sectors are increasingly looking to achieve 100% water recovery or zero liquid discharge. Based on the aqueous chemistry of the brine stream, NuWater utilises its innova-tive and energy-effi cient high temperature evaporative crystallisation or low tempera-ture freeze/Eutectic freeze crystallisation modules to address such requirements.“As a technology-driven company, we are continually working towards providing a complete value proposition to our clients. In future, this may include recovery and disposal (or sale) of salts and other by-products of the water treatment process.”Holmes mentions that NuWater believes the future of water treatment lies in distrib-uted rather than centralised water treat-ment infrastructure.“The fact that we are able to off er rapidly deployable plants capable of being moved, multiple times if necessary, means that NuWater is able to off er customers com-mercial terms that cannot be achieved with traditional fi xed infrastructure.”The growth internationally in the use of RO technology for seawater and brackish water desalination, as well as for the re-covery and reuse of secondary wastewater, underpins NuWater’s faith in the technol-ogy to provide signifi cant benefi ts to its customer base.“The trust we have earned from de-manding customers, such as Singapore’s Public Utility Board and Anglo American, is confi rmation of our committed focus on customer satisfaction. Our customers de-mand more than leading-edge technology, they are looking for a broad range of skills and delivery capabilities including innova-tive funding solutions and environmentally friendly forms of waste stream recycling. NuWater will continue to strive to deliver superior product and service off erings in all these areas,” states Holmes.“Since our expertise covers a wide range of integrated water treatment solu-tions, with specifi c expertise in utilising membrane technology, we are able to provide plants with capacities ranging from 350 m³/d to 60 million litres, quite apart from our small plants with capacities start-ing from 50 m³/d.”Jean Vos, NuWater sales manager for Africa, says advanced process control, mon-itoring and communications technologies are used to monitor NuWater water treat-ment plants on a 24/7 basis. These include real-time remote monitoring of source and

product water quality, as well as general plant performance.“The collected data is analysed centrally to highlight trends and to provide early warning of possible required maintenance. This methodology ensures effi cient day-to-day plant operation and provides our plant designers with access to data to optimise plant operation, which feeds back into future designs.“NuWater’s internationally patented RO technology facilitates our large-scale

modular and mobile product off ering and provides market diff erentiation and brand credibility. “The combination of technologies allows NuWater plants to operate at sustainable fl ux rates 50 to 150% higher than conven-tional 8 inch RO systems,” Holmes explains.“The footprint of our 16 inch RO technol-ogy is up to 50% smaller than conventional 8 inch RO plants, allowing large capac-ity modules to be built as modular and mobile units.”The IFD ensures even distribution of the feed fl ow over the membrane element and creates higher cross fl ow velocity, thus improving hydraulic conditions. The fl ow distributor allows fl ux to be increased with-out the normally associated fouling of the membrane surface.In specifi c applications, the EMF is incor-porated into the NuWater pressure vessels to produce a magnetic fi eld. This fi eld is optimised by controlling the electrical

current. The resulting calibrated harmonic fi eld disorientates the formation of active crystals, which inhibits membrane fouling.“Operating costs are an important vari-able when customers consider the range of water treatment plants,” states Vos. “NuWater’s technology and use of 16 inch membrane elements results in lower plant capital, operations and maintenance costs

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DWA speech


PUBLIC SEC TOR

A number of key elements are contained in the budget vote speech delivered by the minis-ter of Water and Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa, in the National Council of Provinces

(NCOP) earlier this year. Among the policy priorities and budget for the finan-cial year 2012/13 are the following:• The development of a National Water Investment Framework (NWIF) and strategy arising out of the Infrastructure Plan announced by President Jacob Zuma, and its Strategic Integrated Projects (SIPs). With more investment required in the development of water infrastructure, the first results of the NWIF in-dicate that at least R573 billion will be required over the next 10 years.

• The transformation of industries to build a green economy coupled with the creation of new labour-absorbing industries to mitigate impacts on the environment.

• The launch of the national mining and biodiver-sity guideline (with the Department of Mineral Resources) in partnership with industry to guide

2012 will be the year of infrastructural developmentThe Department of Water Affairs has committed to providing water infrastructure, streamlining process, creating jobs and strengthening capacity.

the mining sector on integrating biodiversity considerations.• The development of a national environmental impact assessment and management strategy to address key concerns and constraints.• Strengthening of the management of biodi-versity through the newly launched national biodiversity assessment report.• Continuing to roll out access to clean and safe drinking water with a current backlog of an estimated 710 000 households.

• Investigating the integration of the authorisation process to cover water use licences, environmental impact assessment authorisations and waste licences.

• Ramping up the exploitation of groundwater re-sources and intensifying projects on water recycling as well as desalination.

• Strengthening institutional capacity through the pos-sible employment of retired engineers.

• Allocating funds for water demand management in municipalities to effect savings in water consumption.

• Reducing the number of catchment management

Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa


PUBLIC SEC TOR

The fi rst results of the National Water Investment Framework indicate that at least R573 billion will be required over the next 10 years

agencies from 19 to 9 and investigating the restructuring of water boards.

• Ensuring the effective delivery of water services and sanitation by municipalities through the entire value chain, sup-ported by a R2.597 billion allocation through the regional bulk programme. Skills development will continue to be part of the programme, focusing on training of plant operators.

• The provision of R714 million to mu-

nicipalities to administer and manage Department of Water Affairs (DWA) transferred water and wastewater services schemes. • Extensive support will continue to be given to the provinces in the provision of water infrastructure.

The green economy and jobsWe want to transform our industries towards the building of a green econ-omy and create new labour-absorbing

industries that will mitigate impacts on the environment. Programmes such as the national waste management strategy, environmental programmes linked to the expanded public works programme and the ‘working for’ programmes have proved to be very significant over the past years. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) values the water saved through the clearing of invasive al-ien plants through our Working for Water

programme to be R400 billion. The Working for Water and Working on Fire pro-grammes will therefore be increased by R1.1 billion, thus bringing the allocation to these pro-

grammes to R7.7 billion over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF). This will provide 205 877 work opportunities and 102 603 full-time equivalent jobs over this period. We also aim to create 62 860 work opportunities this financial year, 31 277 full-time jobs and 600 youth ben-efiting from the National Youth Service in addition to 40% of the work being done by youth. We want 55% of beneficiaries from our programmes to be women and 2% to be people with disabilities.

Environmental impact assessmentsAs a developing state, we must ensure a balance between economic growth, social development and environmental sustain-ability. By the end of this year, the minister of Mineral Resources, Susan Shabangu, and I will launch the national mining and biodiversity guideline in partnership with industry to guide the mining sector on in-tegrating biodiversity considerations into the planning processes and managing biodiversity during the operational phases of a mine.We are also in the process of developing a national environmental impact assess-ment (EIA) and management strategy to address key concerns and constraints within the current environmental impact management system. The department is also developing standards for the EIA listed activities to replace the require-ment contained in the 2010 EIA regula-tions for environmental authorisation prior to the construction or expansion of applicable facilities.

Management of biodiversityWe are strengthening the management of our biodiversity through the newly launched national biodiversity assessment report, which covers biodiversity and ecosystems across terrestrial, freshwater, estuarine and marine environments.

WaterOn water, we have since increased the 1994 fi gure of 59% for access to clean and safe drinking water to 94.7% ‒ an increase of 35.7% ‒ leaving the backlog at 5.3%, or some 710 000 households compared to 3.9 million households in 1994. However, there are still many rural areas and informal settlements without water and areas where post-1994 infrastructural defi ciencies are still characterised by taps that run dry due to poor maintenance or operational problems.For this reason, we are embarking on a process to ensure that all communities drink purified water within the next three to four years. Our biggest challenge will, however, remain the inadequate main-tenance of infrastructure, especially at municipal level.

Water allocation reform programmeIn addressing water use authorisations backlog, we finalised 1 049 last year and


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strategic industries have benefitted from this achievement. We currently prioritise the applications from the historically disadvantaged and we are finalising the compulsory licensing projects in pilot ar-eas of Tosca, Jan Dissel and Umhlathuze. We are also looking at an integrated authorisation process by Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) and the DWA to cover water use licences, environmen-tal impact assessment authorisations and waste licences with a view to integrate

further permits to streamline the regula-tory processes.In addition to this, we are currently increasing the exploitation of our ground-water resources, intensifying projects on water recycling as well as desalination of water particularly in our coastal areas.

Promoting water conservation and demand managementWe have allocated funds for water de-mand management and this year we will support 10 municipalities to save 720 million cubic meters of water, but we want local government to also allocate ad-ditional resources for this activity. We are also working closely with the agriculture, industry and mining sectors to set water use efficiency targets for their sub-sectors.

Support to local governmentWe want to ensure the delivery of water services and sanitation by municipalities to all our people. Therefore, the depart-ment is strategically positioning itself to ensure that the whole value chain, from “source-to-tap and waste-to-source” func-tions effectively. For the current financial year, the regional bulk programme has been allocated R2.597 billion.Last year, 173 625 people benefited from jobs in completed projects, and this year we expect about 550 000 to benefit from the projects. Skills development will con-tinue to be part of the programme, focus-ing on training of plant operators to en-sure efficient operation and maintenance of the infrastructure. We will also provide funds to municipalities to administer and manage our transferred water and waste-water services schemes. Last year, we

transferred R542.4 million for this purpose and we have allocated R714 million for this year, of which R370 million will be for refurbishment, R147 million for operations and maintenance and R187 million for hu-man resources.Our fourth Blue Drop Certification audit cycle shows that we continue to improve on our drinking water quality manage-ment. We assessed 931 water supply systems and 98 qualified for a Blue Drop, an increase from 66 in the last cycle. The

number of systems where water safety planning is under way has increased from 154 last year to 579 this year; 269 of these risk management processes compare well with the expectations of the World Health Organisation.

2012 ‒ a year of infrastructure development for growth and developmentThe Infrastructure plan announced by President Zuma and its SIPs require more in-vestment in water infrastructure. Therefore, we are developing a national water invest-ment framework and strategy, the fi rst results of which indicate that at least R573 billion will be required over the next 10 years. Approximately 42% of this is funded.

Support for provincesIn the Eastern Cape, we will conclude the final planning work for the construc-tion of the R20 billion Umzimvubu Dam Project, which will be used as a multi-pur-pose dam, including irrigation and hydro-power. Currently, the Lusikisiki Regional Water Supply Scheme serves the town of Lusikisiki and 23 rural villages. Because the Xura River is inadequate to supply the growth requirements, the Zalu Dam will be built on the Xura River at an estimated cost of R320 million and the project will include the development of groundwater, and the upgrade and expansion of the regional bulk water system to augment the existing supply area and expand the scheme to supply a further 56 villages. We are also planning for the new Foxwood Dam on the Koonap River, near Adelaide, at a cost of about R200 million to deliver water by 2018. About R450 million

has been provided for the construction of the Nooitgedagt.In the Free State, we are investing R38.5 million under the Accelerated Community Infrastructure Programme during this fi nancial year to benefi t eight municipalities in the refurbishment of eight sewage treatment plants and three water treatment plants. A total of R10 million will be spent on a water conservation and water demand management investiga-tion within the Mangaung Metro area. We have also approved R193.6 million under Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG) for various projects in 10 municipalities. A further R7.2 million has been set aside to make projects implementable in fi ve more municipalities.Gauteng will benefi t from the implemen-tation of Phase 2 of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project. This project positions water at the core of regional develop-ment. On the acid mine drainage in the Witwatersrand, we have implemented a short-term solution for the Western Basin and commissioned a feasibility study for a long-term solution for the entire Witwatersrand. We are sure that we will overcome the problem.In KwaZulu-Natal, the construction of the Mooi-Mgeni Transfer Scheme to augment the current yield of the Mgeni System by 60 million cubic metres per annum is ongo-ing. This water will benefi t six municipali-ties ‒ eThekwini Metro, uMgungundlovu, Msunduzi, Ugu District, Sisonke and Ilembe ‒ from April 2013. We are also raising the Hazelmere Dam at a tune of R360 million to increase the water supply by an additional 10 million cubic metres per annum in areas such as Ballito and Mandeni. The project will also support development in the hous-ing sector, the King Shaka Airport and the Dube Trade Port by September 2014.In Limpopo we have commenced with the R2.1 billion fi rst phase of the Mokolo and Crocodile River (West) Water Augmentation (MCWAP-1) to provide part of the water required for the developments in the Waterberg District, in particular, Lephalale, Matimba and the Medupi power stations, as well as the future mines in the area. A further augmentation scheme is planned to transfer surplus return fl ows from the Crocodile River (West) to the Lephalale environs at a cost provisionally estimated at R10.5 billion (MCWAP-2).We also continue with the De Hoop Dam and its associated distribution systems

Last year, 173 625 people benefi ted from jobs in completed projects, and this year we expect about 550 000 to benefi t from the projects

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to deliver water for domestic and mining use in the Greater Sekhukhune, Waterberg and Capricorn district municipalities. In the past three years, we invested about R2.7 billion towards its construction and a further R374 million will be spend this financial year. Impoundment of water in the De Hoop Dam is starting latest in November 2012 and 2.3 million people in the domestic sector in Sekhukhune areas will benefit from this project. We also want to complete the R750 million Nandoni Bulk Distribution System by early 2013, while the Mopani District Municipality stands to benefit from the R2.1 billion Great Letaba River Water Augmentation Project involv-ing the Tzaneen and N’wamitwa dams and associated works which commenced this year.In Mpumalanga, we will complete the R130 million Dwarsloop-Acornhoek steel pipeline to provide water to nine rural communities. Two of these communities have already been connected.In the Northern Cape, we have made good progress in ensuring water sup-ply from the Orange River to a number of rural communities to augment their groundwater supply. We have completed the R85 million bulk water pipelines to Kenhardt and Riemvasmaak. At Heuningvlei, we are implementing a pro-ject estimated at R196 million. Together with the Sedibeng Water Board, we have a pipeline bypass project to supply water to Springbok, the main centre of Namakwaland, as an emergency project in

anticipation of the R540 million rehabilita-tion project to be rolled out over the next four years.In the North West, the Taung Dam is being used to address the water needs of about 186 000 households in the Greater Taung and Naledi local municipalities. Construction will start during this fi nancial year on the R135 million Greater Mamusa project to upgrade the bulk water supply to areas including Schweizer-Reyneke, Amalia, Glaudina and Migdol from groundwater sources and water from the Bloemhof Dam.

Again in the North West, construction of the R75 million Madibeng project will start this fi nancial year.In the Western Cape we are making progress with preparation for the project for the raising of the Clanwilliam Dam. The dam’s design is under way and its R1.83 billion construction will start in 2013. This will include raising the dam by 13 m to increase the water supply by 69.5 million cubic metres per annum for rural areas such as Clanwilliam, Vredendal and Klawer.(Speech abridged)

Free State


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The two-year project is due for completion next July. The project is one of a series of water resource management projects under way coun-trywide under the auspices of the Department

of Water Aff airs (DWA) and forms a critical basis for other aspects of water management envisaged in the imple-mentation of South Africa’s National Water Act (Act 36 of 1998). The water use verifi cation project in the Upper Orange Water Management Area (WMA) commenced in July last year and is due for completion in July 2013.A paper on the water use verifi cation project in the Upper Orange WMA was presented by Vernon Blair of the DWA: Free State region, at the Orange River Basin Symposium at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein June this year. Supporting authors were Seetal and E Maritz (consultant’s project leader from MHP Geospace).The project links with other water sector processes, including:• Institutional establishment and transformation, com-prising the establishment of Catchment Management Agencies and the transformation of Irrigation Boards into Water User Associations.

• Compliance, monitoring and enforcement, which ad-dresses unlawful water use and ensures compliance with water use authorisation conditions.

• Water conservation and water demand management, which encourages the effi cient use of water resources.

• Water availability assessment studies, which reconcile water demands with its availability.

• Reserve determinations and classifi cation, which comprises balancing water use requirements with environmental sustainability needs to protect wa-ter resources.• Water allocation reform, which redresses historical allocation imbalances (issues of social justice) and ensures eff ective water resources management.• The operations of the DWA Water Trading Entity with the primary objective of making water use billing and water revenue management more ef-fi cient and accountable.

The paper indicates that the project “provides a founda-tion for eff ective water management (in the management and control of water use) and is a critical activity in imple-menting the National Water Act. The project is important because it will confi rm the true extent of water use in the water management area. Without this project, there would be continued unreasonable or unsubstantiated claims to water entitlements, and unfair or disproportion-ate use of water from water resources. This is particularly problematic in areas where there is not enough water for all water users.“The validation and verifi cation project is also the basis of the Water Allocation Reform (WAR) Programme by confi rming how much, where and by whom water is be-

ing used and the lawfulness of this use. It helps to identify potential unlawful users of water and supports eff orts to address and manage unlawful water uses.”Among additional project benefi ts identifi ed in the paper are an improved quantifi cation of the availability of water for WAR and for social and economic development purposes in the catchment. This will allow the DWA in the region to engage more eff ectively with provincial and local governments to address their current and future water requirements, especially the availability of water for development purposes as described in the Provincial Growth and Development Plan, Integrated Development Plan and Local Economic Development Plan.In his presentation, Blair states that validation is a 16-step

The water use verifi cation project under way in the Upper Orange Water Management Area is proceeding apace and has entered the end of the validation phase, says Ashwin Seetal, specialist sector consultant: Water Management, SSI Engineers and Environmental Consultants.

Water use verifi cation in upper Orange region making progress

Without this project, there would be continued unreasonable or unsubstantiated claims to water entitlements

Vernon Blair of the Department of Water Affairs: Free State region

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process starting with water use registration and remote sensing analyses and culminat-ing in user interaction meetings. It then enters the verifi cation phase, a seven-step process that is initiated with feedback from users, compilation and review, and ends with fi nal reporting, data handover and the fi nal water user report-back workshop. The various phases of the process and the project start with water use registration (which is not part of this particular pro-ject), moves through water use validation and verifi cation, the public participation stakeholder engagement process (a legal requirement), preliminary fi ndings and outcomes comprising water resource management and validation assessments, as well as calculations of water storage sites and abstraction for irrigation purposes.The author says among the validation

And within a short unspecifi ed time, water again began fl owing in the village, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Moretele Local Municipality. In her letter to the president, Pine said that “the people

residing in the area are now old, aged and mostly sick. The area has been without water for the past two years. People rely on rain to harvest water. There are water pipes and machines installed, but the problem is said to be pressure to pump water. Could your offi ce kindly assist with the powers that be?”The president highlighted the plea in his State of The Nation

Address in February and in June led a contingent of ministers to the village to address some of the challenges the community was facing.As a result of that visit, the area’s 11 boreholes, which were not

functioning due to pump pressure problems, have been serviced and are now providing water to the Ngobi and Selepe areas. An ad-ditional 10 boreholes and a 2.5 Mℓ reservoir are being constructed as part of the Ngobi Water Project, which also comprises the electrifi -cation of boreholes and construction of pump stations.

process challenges are missing/outdated property and ownership information; locat-ing the necessary legal documents ‒ es-pecially those issued under the previous Act, such as water court orders, sharing agreements and permits; and the fact that the SAPWAT (water irrigation requirement) model relies on some assumptions and es-timations regarding variables such as crops and irrigation types.Blair remarks that multiple forms of

communication are essential for general communication and information transmis-sion. Communication tools must include newsletters, letters, smses, newspapers, websites, presentations at gatherings and telephone contacts. “The ‘visibility’ of the project is crucial for stakeholder awareness and participation. Flexible approaches to engaging with stakeholders are necessary

when dealing with the large numbers of users dispersed over a very wide area.He identifi es the key success factors as:

• meticulous planning (project structure, design and strategy)

• thorough and timeous preparation (workfl ow management)

• effi cient implementation (performance)• careful monitoring (evaluation, oversight).Blair found that because the project is mul-tidisciplinary, team confi guration and co-ordination are vital; project desktop results must be tested and confi rmed with water users; fl exible implementation approaches are necessary to accommodate changes in client and stakeholder requirements and project dynamics; the ‘visibility’ of the project is crucial for stakeholder awareness and participation; and stakeholder inputs are essential.

Ngobi village back on stream after president steps in When Mmatsheko Pine wrote to President Jacob Zuma in February to complain about a non-existent water service in Ngobi Village in North West, she had little idea that her e-mail would lead to the arrival of a cavalcade of fi ve cabinet ministers headed by the president.

President Jacob Zuma travelled to Ngobi Village near Hammanskraal to meet Mmatsheko Pine, who emailed him to complain about the lack of water services in the area. Minister of Water Affairs Edna Molewa (right) looks on

President Zuma visited the home of Pine and talked with her father, Amos Pine, on service delivery issues. Thanking Pine, Zuma said: “We are happy that we have a citizen like you who took such action. We wish there could be more people like you.”Pine’s comment, recorded in a statement released by the Offi ce of

the Presidency, read: “I’m overwhelmed. Words can’t describe. I’m so happy. My dad is so proud of me.”The president also met with thousands of community members to

talk about service delivery issues. The ministerial entourage included Collins Chabane (Performance

Monitoring and Evaluation), Ebrahim Patel (Economic Development), Richard Baloyi (Cooperative Governance and Traditional Aff airs), Edna Molewa (Water and Environmental Aff airs) and Dipuo Peters (Energy).

MORETELE LOCAL MUNICIPALITY

Rand Water Academy


PROFILE

While the offi cial launch of the acad-emy takes place on 12 October, the ini-tiatives that were fi nalised ahead of that date include:

• the rolling out within Rand Water ‒ on 18 June ‒ of a National Treasury Project whereby 28 process control-lers and 30 environmental scientists were contracted with Rand Water for a period of 36 months

• running out of a four-week technical training pro-gramme, which started on 12 July, for nine trainees, process controllers, supervisors and managers at the International Offi ce de Leu in Limegos in France

• contracting by Rand Water on 3 August of 12 engi-neers from the Siyenza Manje Project for 36 months

• dispatching in July and August of two Rand Water em-ployees to conduct postgraduate studies overseas:

‒ An employee from the Strategic Asset Management Department departed to America on a Fulbright scholarship to conduct postgraduate studies on acid mine drainage. She will return to Rand Water after two years.

‒ An employee from the Operations Department de-parted for the Delft University to conduct postgradu-ate studies on water management. She will return to Rand Water after two years.

• Rand Water began the development of a platform via the Netherlands Water Partnership to form a centre of expertise with other key sector role players to assist and drive capacitation within municipalities.

The Rand Water Academy concept is born out of a few key strategic needs both at a national and political level and, very importantly, an internal Rand Water need to systematise the various pockets of excellence in training and development operating independently across the organisation into a single integrated unit. This move to integrate and create effi ciencies signals the broader intention to pursue a sector-wide infl uence within (and among) sector partners and outside of the borders of South Africa. The Rand Water Academy will address the critical skills issues that aff ect the South African water and sanitation (WAT/SAN) sector as well as the broader continent. On 18 May 2012, during the WISA biannual conference in Cape Town, Rand Water launched the Rand Water Academy concepts. The concept launch projected the academy beyond a skills transfer focus into the realm of a special purposes vehicle that could incorporate various other models, which include technology development,

Rand Water has moved swiftly to action various training initiatives since revealing details of its academy concept at the WISA annual conference in Cape Town in May.

Training initiative launched

PROFILE


research platforms and centres of compe-tence and excellence.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 spe-cial purpose vehicle to drive and sustain that strategic objective.The Rand Water Academy concepts launched at WISA will progressively be realised through specifi c phases of devel-opment incorporating fi ve key concepts:• A centre of excellence‒ Addressing one of the key challenges of process controller classifi cation around the Blue and Green Drop incentive-based regulations (a Master Process Controller).A centre of competence‒ Addressing the challenges of innovation in science and technology. Rand Water employees are provided with the tools to take an idea and capture it so that it can be transformed into a marketable product or service.Research and development‒ Addressing the shortage of key graded researchers in the water sector by in-creasing the pool of National Research Foundation-graded researchers within Rand Water and the WAT/SAN sector.A professional exchange hub‒ Addressing the challenges of exposure and international development by al-lowing resources to practise in diff erent countries and cities outside of South Africa and by inviting international re-sources to do the same within the South African water industry.A WAT/SAN solutions unit‒ Addressing the challenges of science/ engineering and operations solutions in the WAT/SAN sector by utilising a

specialist team of trained resources to provide ad hoc specialist solutions to challenges that arise within the WAT/SAT sector.

Planned activitiesOver the next four months, Rand Water plans to:• establish an academy site for the devel-opment of process controllers for water and wastewater sector

• establish a centre of expertise with the Netherlands Water Partnership, local technical universities and water/waste-water stakeholders

• conduct national road shows to promote the technical pro-fessions existent within the water/wastewater sector to target groups at universities and colleges

• enrol 40 artisans onto the National Treasury Project

• enrol 30 engineers onto the

National Treasury Project; total enrol-ment onto the National Treasury Project will be 120 graduates

• deploy a team of engineers for post-graduate studies to Delft University for masters or PhD studies

• set-up of mobile laboratories with com-petent graduates, scientists and process controllers to conduct various types of water and wastewater treatment meas-urements onsite at the plants.

One of the key focal areas planned within the National Treasury Project is the devel-opment of artisans. The minister of Higher

Education, Blade Nzimande, has been ad-vocating and calling for business to place a higher focus on artisan development.Rand Water fully supports the minister in his drive to increase the number of artisans in the country and is proud to have such an initiative fully supported by the National Treasury. The intention is

to contractually recruit potential future graduate artisans onto the project and train them for a period of 18 months and thereafter deploy them to municipalities as a technical resource.Rand Water will play a very strong mentorship role for these young gradu-ates during their development stages at the municipalities.

One of the key focal areas planned within the National Treasury Project is the development of artisans

ABOVE AND BELOW Trainees of Rand Water at the Offi ce International De Leu in France in July/August 2012

Web: www.randwater.co.za

KwaZulu-Natal


WATER BOARD NEWS

The 4 Mℓ/d (upgradable to 8 Mℓ/d) treatment works will comprise a 500 Kℓ header tank, fl ow control chamber, four square

‘Dortmund’ type clarifi ers, four rapid sand fi lters, chemical dosing equipment, a 1 750 Kℓ clear water reservoir and pump station, two sludge lagoons and a back-wash pond.Water will be pumped to the treatment works from the recently completed, R93 million Mhlabatshane Dam, via an already completed 4 km-long raw water rising main. Impoundment started in March and the water level at the dam wall is already at 6 m of the projected 24 m.Garth Whitehead, resident engineer on site with project consulting engineers Bosch-Stimele, mentions that contrac-tors Cyclone Construction moved onto the treatment works site in March, after completing work on the separate dam contract. The project deadline is year end.A new rising main from the clear water

pump station at the water treatment works, which has already been construct-ed, will convey water to a proposed new 2 Mℓ main reservoir. A gravity main will lead from the existing 550 Kℓ Phungashe reservoir to connect into an existing pipe-line at the Mhlabatshane River.The bulk water supply scheme will eventually provide potable water to about 100 000 people in 10 tribal authorities in the Umzumbe and Hibiscus Coast mu-nicipalities, which fall within the Ugu District Municipality (UDM).In terms of an agree-ment between Umgeni Water and UDM, Umgeni Water is fund-ing and implementing the bulk water supply scheme and will supply bulk potable water to a UDM distribution and reticulation scheme.

Work on the pump station and command reservoir is proceeding on deadline. Power for the water works and other elements of the new bulk scheme will be supplied by diesel generators for an undetermined pe-riod as Eskom has been unable to commit to upgrading a sub-station in the area.

Rural communities to receive potable water serviceConstruction on various elements of the Mhlabatshane Bulk Water Supply Scheme is moving ahead, and work is under way on a water treatment works that will make potable water available to 40 000 people initially.

BELOW The Mhlabatshane Dam from which the new bulk water scheme will draw raw water. Construction of the dam was completed in March

Access our laboratory for sampling of the following:• river water

• borehole water

• sewage & industrial water

• dam water

• tap water

The laboratory uses advanced technology and boasts competent personnel assuring you of timeous and accurate results. Results produced are considered to be 100% credible as per the Blue Drop & Green Drop requirements!!

Situated at Ebenezer plant scheme (Ebenezer Dam area)

For any enquiries contact us Tel: (015) 276 4700/1 or E-mail: [email protected]

Lebo SebolaRisk & Quality Manager:Lepelle Northern Water

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BLUE IS THE NEW GREEN

MbizanaWATER BOARD NEWS


Once completed, Phase 1 of the Greater Mbizana Regional Bulk Water Supply Scheme will have the potential to supply

130 000 people with potable water within the Mbizana Municipality. Extensions to the Nomlacu Water Treatment Works, about 10 km west of the town of Bizana ‒ to increase treat-ment capacity to 10 Mℓ/d from the cur-rent 1.5 Mℓ/d ‒ are well advanced, says David Stephen, programme manager at Umgeni Water. Umgeni is acting as the implementing agent for the bulk supply scheme on

behalf of the Department of Water Affairs and Alfred Nzo District Municipality.The expansion of the treatment works, with a further future upgrade raising capac-ity to 20 Mℓ/d to provide potable water to an estimated 266 000 people in the Eastern Cape region inland of Wild Coast Sun resort, is one element of the R900 million, multi-phased water scheme. The other elements comprise the R260 million Ludeke Dam (expected to be completed in 2013), the raw water pump station and rising main to the treatment works, mechanical and electrical work, and the bulk treated water supply sys-tem, which comprises pipelines, reservoirs

and a pump station. The reticulation com-ponent that will supply water to consumers is being handled by the district municipality.Stephen says the contract for the installa-tion of about 30 km pipelines, including the fi rst phase of the north-western and south-eastern feeders has been awarded to the Sanyati/Sakula joint venture. The pipelines will feed into bulk reservoirs located to pro-vide water into eight of the 17 supply zones. Work started in March 2012, and is due for completion in September 2013.

Rural population will benefi t from water schemeA regional scheme will supply 130 000 Eastern Cape inhabitants with potable water is under way.

Nomlacu Water Treatment Works, part of the upgraded 10 Mℓ/d works, including the old (LHS) and the new (RHS) (June 2012)

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Stellenbosch


BULK RAW WATER INFRASTRUC TURE

Apart from the projected savings in operational costs, which were calculated ahead of the lat-est electricity tariff increases, there is no need to replace costly membranes every fi ve years.

Membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology was one of the options considered for the Wemmershoek upgrade and the costs of the two technologies were comparable, but the savings in operating costs was a major factor in selecting the Nereda solution,” says JordaanIn 2009, SSI commissioned the first full-scale domestic Nereda sewage treatment project in the world with a new plant at Gansbaai. This was a major departure in secondary wastewater treatment where the biomass forms granules instead of flocs in the reactor, result-ing in major capital cost savings on the 5 Mℓ/d project compared to a traditional treatment process. Operational costs are considerably lower compared to conventional plants of similar capacity, says Jordaan. He adds that the R70 million Wemmershoek project entails the construction of the upgraded 5 Mℓ/d sew-age works as well as a new main transfer sewer pipeline from Franschhoek to Wemmershoek and an outfall pipeline to the Berg River. Treated effluent will be pumped back to Franschhoek through a separate rising main to irrigate parks and sports fields. The Nereda op-tion includes a 7 km outfall pipeline to below the Berg River Supplement Scheme Pump Station. “The pipelines go through very difficult terrain and we managed to satisfy the needs of most landowners, including some wine estates,” states Jordaan.

The upgraded treatment works will replace the exist-ing Franschhoek and La Motte plants, and incorporate the existing Wemmershoek works. The design period was preceded by various investigations and public par-ticipation for the selection of the pipeline routes and treatment process. “Strict requirements were set for the quality of the effluent water to be released into the Berg River. Conventional sewage treatment technology cannot be utilised on this site due to space restrictions at the existing Wemmershoek treatment works. This is not an issue with Nereda installations as this technology uses a much smaller plant footprint compared to equivalent capacity conventional plants, which in many cases will eliminate the need to purchase additional land for an upgraded wastewater facility.Nereda technology was developed by DHV (SSI’s par-ent company) in conjunction with the Delft University in the Netherlands. It comprises a process where granu-lar biomass is grown, whereas conventional processes make use of activated sludge flocs. The granules settle much faster than conventional flocs and can operate in mixed liquor concentrations comparable to MBR while maintaining high settling velocities.Higher biomass concentrations allow for much smaller reactor tanks and smaller overall plant footprint, and as

Outfall water into Berg River is of a high qualitySouth Africa’s second Nereda granular biomass wastewater treatment plant, being constructed at Wemmershoek as an upgrade to the existing plant, will result in major savings in operating costs to the Stellenbosch Municipality, says to Pieter Jordaan, SSI Engineers and Environmental Consultants’ project principal.

LEFT The raw feed sewage tank under construction as part of the Nereda granular biomass wastewater treatment plant is being added as an upgrade to the existing Wemmershoek WWTW in Stellenbosch

BELOW The inlet structure under construction at Wemmershoek



simultaneous denitrification occurs (where both nutrients and phosphates are re-moved), this usually means chemical-free operations. This win-win process is more environmentally friendly and sustain-able, with an attendant cost saving. The Gansbaai plant has proved that the tech-nology is very robust and has produced excellent quality effluent. Nereda technology has received vari-ous prestigious overseas awards and the Gansbaai project received the 2009 SAICE (the South African Institution of Civil Engineering) Technical Excellence Award and a CESA (Consulting Engineers South Africa) Engineering Excellence commendation.Jordaan explains that work on the Wemmershoek project, which started in February, is proceeding on schedule with commissioning due 18 months from the start of the project. The incoming feed is largely domestic.“There will be a good flow from day one when we start the plant next year and there is no holiday peak, unlike the pattern

at the Gansbaai plant. There is an incorrect perception that highly qualified people are required to run Nereda plants because of the technology involved. This is not the case as a local operator with a matricula-tion certificate runs the Gansbaai plant under supervision of a senior operator and quarterly visits from SSI.“SSI has ongoing remote access to the plant by way of an ADSL connection.

This connectivity method is also being considered for the Wemmershoek plant. Both SSI and the municipality will have remote access to the plant to monitor the process and to make changes to the operating recipe where necessary,” Jordaan concludes.

ABOVE An outfall pipeline from the new Nereda plant is being installed through vineyards to the Berg River

West Rand municipality



Dr Michele Kruger, associate director at CSVwater Consulting Engineers, specialist sub-contractors to the project consulting engineers, Proplan, told a WISA process con-

troller workshop in Randfontein recently that sinkholes of between 5 and 10 m can occur on the site. The exten-sions to the 22 Mℓ/d WWTW are being constructed in the safest area on the site. Work on the civils part of the extension is under way and is due for completion next April. The adjudication of mechanical and electrical con-tracts was under way at the time of writing. The motivation for the plant upgrade arose out of concerns in the Westonaria Local Municipality that the Hannes van Niekerk WWTW, the only treatment plant in the region, would not be able to cope with increased fl ow arising from new developments. The plant also processes fl ow from outside the Westonaria municipal area, such as the Randfontein Local Municipality, where further housing developments are under way. The future fl ow from Randfontein Local Municipality will constitute about 15% of the total fl ow to be treated at the treatment plants in the Westonaria Local Municipality. This gives the project a signifi cant regional fl avour and motivation to view this project as a national priority.The Westonaria Local Municipality, which falls within the West Rand District Municipality in Gauteng, has a total surface area of 1 098 km² and is bordered by the

Extensions to WWTW in Westonaria overcome dolomite challengesThe upgrading of the Hannes van Niekerk Wastewater Treatment Works in Westonaria, a presidential top ten project, is making steady progress despite a number of challenges that include building in South Africa’s worst dolomite area.

Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality and by the local municipalities of Merafong City, Randfontein, Emfuleni and the Sedibeng District Municipality. The total popula-tion is an estimated at 143 964.The Hannes van Niekerk WWTW is the only municipal treatment plant in Westonaria Local Municipality. It has a stated capacity of between 28.5 and 30.5Mℓ/d. However, the plant treatment cycle is designed in such a way that the actual plant capacity is 22 Mℓ/d. This is a result of the fact that the existing biofi lters have no recycles, which means there is no denitrifi cation or phosphate removal in the biofi lters and the fl ow is returned back to the orbal plants. Kruger mentions that once the need for an upgrade of the Hannes van Niekerk works had been identifi ed, various water authorities and fi nancial institutions moved swiftly to get the project under way. “The Department of Water Aff airs (DWA) acted swiftly and a task team was set up including all stakeholders, such as Rand Water and Johannesburg Water. The go ahead was given for a feasibility study and once we had a plan on how to go ahead, the DWA approached National Treasury for funding through the Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG). Treasury understood the need and quickly came on board through the RBIG process, which requires a scoping report, feasibility report, preliminary design report and implementation ready study for each plant. The 15 Mℓ/d extension to Hannes van Niekerk WWTW is now six months into construction, which is an amazing feat when one considers that the problem was identifi ed around three years ago.”Apart from extending the capacity of the existing treat-ment works, the feasibility study recommended that a

BELOW The BNR reactor

RIGHT sludge drying beds



new WWTW be designed and built. Work is under way to source funding for that plant, known as the Zuurbekom works. A natural watershed separates the east-ern areas and western areas. The existing Hannes van Niekerk WWTW is located in the west of the area while new works will be on the eastern side, which is underlain with dolomitic underground structures. The identifi cation of a favourable location for a new treatment facility has been carefully considered.The feasibility study concluded that an extension of 15 Mℓ/d to the Hannes van Niekerk WWTW and the addition of a pump station pumping the remaining 15 Mℓ/d fl ow to the proposed new Zuurbekom WWTW were required to address the infrastructure requirements for a 15-year design horizon. As there is only an estima-tion of the expected load to the Hannes van Niekerk WWTW, the treatment works will be able to run in three stages: Phoredox UCT, Modifi ed UCT and Johannesburg mode. The head of works will have a 50 mm hand-raked static bar screen, two 10 mm

tapered front raked mechanical screens, a screen bypass with a 50 mm hand screen, two vortex degritters, associated grit pumps, and a grit classifi er, associated blowers, one 6 mm tapered front-raked mechanical fi ne screen and two fl at bottom parshall fl umes with fl ow measuring devices.The fl ow and load will be bal-anced via a balancing tank and biological nutrient removal will be done via an activated sludge reac-tor with its associated recycles. The return activated sludge will be collected in two clarifi ers. Disinfection will be via chlo-rine gas dosing and chlorine contact chan-nels with a contact time of 30 minutes. The wasted sludge will be dried and thickened before composting. The capacity required at the new Zuurbekom WWTW on the eastern bound-ary of the Westonaria LM is 19, 39 and 61 Mℓ/d in 2015, 2020 and 2025 respec-tively, with the 2030 estimation requiring an installed capacity of 80 Mℓ/d. It was

recommended that the treatment works be constructed in 20 Mℓ/d modules with 40 Mℓ/d to be constructed as part of Phase 1. This will provide the Westonaria LM the opportunity of evaluating the infl ow to the new plant and determining the need for the construction of an additional 20 Mℓ/d module as developments necessitate ad-ditional upgrades.The total project cost is an estimated R1.2 billion.

ABOVE Clarifi er

Driefontein



The project, located about 10 km from Lanseria International Airport, began in May last year and is scheduled for completion in May 2013.Concor Civils, an operating division of Murray

& Roberts Construction, was awarded the contract by Johannesburg Water and has subcontracted the earth-works, piping and roadworks to Power Construction.The scope of work includes site preparation and fencing, primary sedimentation tanks, balancing tank, biological nutrient removal reactors, fi nal clarifi ers, a disinfection fa-cility, raw sludge, return activated sludge, waste activated sludge, thickened sludge and wash water pump stations, a screening channel, gravity thickeners, control and minor buildings, volatile fatty acids fermenter buildings, retain-ing walls, boxes and minor structures, interconnecting

pipe work and manholes, as well as roads, stormwater infrastructure and paving.Stuart Graham, Concor Civils contract manager respon-sible for the project, explains that the existing wastewater treatment works (WWTW) at Driefontein originally had a nominal capacity of 25 Mℓ/day, which was increased to 30 Mℓ/day by upgrading and replacing existing infrastructure. However, a rapid increase in human devel-opments within the catchment serviced by the WWTW rendered the existing plant capacity of 30 Mℓ/day inade-quate and the plant struggled to achieve the required dis-charge standards, especially during peak fl ow conditions. Studies commissioned by Johannesburg Water indicated that an ultimate capacity of 80 Mℓ/day was required to accommodate future urban developments. The water authority decided to phase the expansion by building two 25 Mℓ/day modules, the fi rst of which is being con-structed. The second will be constructed at a later stage.

Expansion is imperativeThe Driefontein WWTW is located in the upper part of the Crocodile River Catchment that drains to the Hartbeespoort Dam. “Pollution in the Crocodile River Catchment and Hartbeespoort Dam is well documented and catchment is now categorised as sensitive,” says Graham. “It therefore became imperative to expand the Driefontein WWTW to cater for these new developments and to avoid any uncontrolled waste spillages arising from a lack of capacity.“The expansion project aims to deploy robust and reli-able treatment technologies, which have a proven record with Johannesburg Water. At the same time, new energy effi cient technologies will be installed with the capacity to serve the works facilities for the foreseeable future.”Owing to bad founding conditions, Johannesburg Water has specifi ed dynamic compaction under the primary sedimentation tanks and the new balancing tank, requir-ing of 12 245 m2 of earth to be dynamically compacted. During the course of the project 21 410 m3 of concrete will be poured and 68 995 m2 of formwork will be erected, with 2 572 t of reinforcing being fi xed and 260 000 m3 of earth moved. As part of the upgrade, Johannesburg Water allocated funds for certifi ed and accredited training of members of the local community and Concor Civils has already trained a number of local residents as shutter hands and bricklay-ers, allowing them to be employed on the project.

Expansion of WWTW forging aheadExcellent progress is being made with the construction of the fi rst of two 25 Mℓ/day modules that form part of the expansion of the Driefontein Wastewater Treatment Works in Johannesburg.

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Zeekoegat WWTW upgrade



Stage one involves the construc-tion of a new 40 Mℓ/day bio-logical nutrient removal activated sludge module. The elements

comprise additional screens and degritting chambers at the existing inlet works; three primary settling tanks; 10 000 m³ balanc-ing tank; 30 000 m³ biological nutrient removal reactor with associated air blow-ers, diff users and pipe work; four second-ary settling tanks; chlorine contact tank; various small pump stations and sumps; all interconnecting pipework and valves; and upgrading of the bulk electrical and reticulation systems.The tender for the second stage of the project was published several months ago by the Tshwane Municipality and drew a number of responses, including a submis-sion from Concor Civils, part of Murray & Roberts Construction, in joint venture with Power Construction. This joint venture is constructing stage one. At the time of writ-ing the tender had not yet been awarded.

Work is proceeding apace on an extension to the overloaded Sebokeng wastewater treatment works, which currently services a population of about 700 000 people in southern Gauteng near the indus-

trial area of Vanderbijlpark. The overloading of the works was addressed by the Emfuleni Local Municipality, which is responsible for the provision of services in the area, to enhance the development of the region. Aurecon was appointed to develop an integrated, multi-disciplinary solution to the overloading issue and was tasked with the design and construction monitoring of the extension works, comprising a new inlet works, primary settling tanks, two 50 Mℓ/d biological nutrient removal activated sludge units and clarifi ers, disinfection, sludge dewatering and drying. The multi-disciplinary technical group provided a number of engineering services for

the important project, including feasibility analysis, design of mechanical equipment and control systems, project management and contract documentation. The extension will double the current capacity of the WWTW and is due for completion in 2014. Upon completion the plant will service approximately over a million peo-ple in Gauteng.

Social and economic needs Over and above the provision of quality services, it was considered vital for the Emfuleni Local Municipality and the Aurecon team to consider the social and economic implications of the project so as to maximise social and economic benefi ts, with particular emphasis on the provision of basic human needs. The result has been a collabo-rative team eff ort in working to ensure a safe and palatable water supply for the residents of Sebokeng and surrounding areas.

Upgrade ahead of schedule

Work on the stressed 30 Mℓ/day plant, which is located about 20 km north-east of the Pretoria CBD, was split into four stages for budgetary reasons. The remaining three stages of the Zeekoegat works upgrade and expansion comprise the construction of sludge handling facilities, tertiary treatment facilities for 85 Mℓ/day and the upgrading of the existing 30 Mℓ/day works to 45 Mℓ/day by eliminating various bottlenecks.David Turner, divisional director of Water & Wastewater Treatment at Worley Parsons, mentions that the municipality has instruct-ed that stages three and four be combined and a tender be drawn up to construct the fi nal two stages running together.In terms of the original brief given to the consulting engineers, a joint venture comprising Bigen Africa and KV3 (the lat-ter now part of the international Worley Parsons Group), the project was planned to be undertaken in four stages while ensuring that there was an overlap of work on each of the stages.

The objectives of the overall project are to increase plant capacity from 30 to 85 Mℓ/d, improve the quality of effl uent entering the Roodeplaat Dam to meet more stringent phosphate limits of 0.035 mg/ℓ to better manage the treatment of raw water from the dam into potable water, and to upgrade sludge handling capabilities at Zeekoegat to comply with the latest legislation. The completion of the overall project is scheduled for 2015/16.

The commissioning of stage one of the upgrading and expansion of Tshwane’s Zeekoegat Wastewater Treatment Works is scheduled for completion in November this year, six months head of the contract period.

Upgrade for stressed Sebokeng worksPLANT CAPACITY BEING DOUBLED

ABOVE A view of the bioreactor and secondary settling tanks at the Zeekoegat WWTW


Water quality

Contaminated water has already claimed victims. In 2008 the Provincial Portfolio Committee for Health in the Eastern Cape found a direct link between the deaths of

78 babies and contaminated water in the province. An offi cial departmental report attributed the deaths to poor water quality in Barkley East, Maclear, Sterkspruit and Elliot. Previously Dr Anthony Turton, senior water researcher at the Council for Scientifi c and Industrial Research (CSIR), said in an article published on IOL news that shrinking scientifi c and technical capacities causes a rap-id deterioration in the quality of water in South Africa. Turton said as many as 50% of municipalities do not employ qualifi ed engineers. He said toxic cyanobacte-ria, known as blue-green algae, is found in most South African rivers and reservoir systems. “This is a national crisis of note.” He suggested that the matter be dealt with nationally. Former Minister of Water Aff airs and Forestry Lindiwe Hendricks confi rmed that 60% of municipal water treat-ment plants in South Africa are operating below stand-ard. She conceded that badly polluted rivers could have a deadly eff ect on people and animals. The minister announced a Blue and Green Drop cer-tifi cation initiative to evaluate and classify municipal compliance with good and safe drinking water and wastewater standards. Minister of Water Aff airs and Forestry, Edna Molewa said after the release of the Blue and Green Drop assessment reports, that 914 water supply systems were assessed and that only 66 were awarded Blue Drop certifi cates.Absence of Blue Drop certifi cation does not necessarily mean bad or life-threatening water quality, but in many cases, probably far too many, it might be the case. A report published by IRIN: Humanitarian News and Analysis (a service of the United Nations Offi ce for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aff airs) warns that ageing infra-structure and rising demand spew potentially deadly bacteria into water systems.Trevor Balzer, senior official in the Department of Water Affairs,

recently informed reporters in Parliament that the re-quired upgrading of the entire water value chain could cost as much as R573 billion over 10 years. This, he said, includes about R394 billion for water services, R162 bil-lion for water resources infrastructure and R16 billion

for water demand management. The current budget allocations and grant-funded programmes provided by National Treasury only provide 44% of the 10-year expenditure projection. “You’ve got a gap of 56%,” Balzer said.Recently retired CEO of Overberg Water and water engineer, Dries Potgieter, said a higher percentage of people may have access to water, but it does not imply “safe” water if the poor water quality is brought into the equation. “The situation is far worse than people and authorities tend to concede. The crisis is being played down and not fully comprehended by all.”

Redressing infrastructural inadequacies too expensive and time consumingPotgieter said water problems developed over years as water purifi cation plants were left to deteriorate.

The silent assassinContaminated water and increases of deadly substances in drinking water are increasingly becoming the silent assassin of people in South Africa, especially the marginalised in rural areas.

The required upgrading of the entire water value chain could cost as much as R573 billion over 10 years

TECHNICAL FOCUS


TECHNICAL FOCUSTh

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“Entire systems will have to be replaced or refurbished, but technical incapacities and insuffi cient funds make this impossible.” He states that alternative solutions should be identifi ed and implemented to support traditional systems. “Time is of the essence compared to the problem and the possible eff ects. We simply don’t have time and funds to regenerate and extend capacities of existing purifi cation networks conven-tionally, to build new plants and to get experienced engineers and operators back in the system."Potgieter explained that private engi-neering companies did well by developing alternative water purifi cation solutions and that excellent and promising results were achieved.

Alternative processes the answerPotgieter said it must be determined to what requirements new processes or tech-nology should comply with to be deemed eff ective and acceptable. ”Among other things, it must be cheaper than conventional systems, be able to be in-stalled in a very short time, the capacity de-sign must be able to be adapted to the need, it must minimise or eliminate the reliance on chemicals, eliminate all pathogens and impurities, have a low electricity demand, be self-monitoring with low operating and

maintenance cost, reduce corrosion in pipes, have a good shelf life and must produce high-quality, safe drinking water.”

Replacing chemicals with Hydrochemical Activation Hydrochemical Activation combines well understood water treatment technologies in a single reaction cell that treats water as it passes through a treatment unit. This includes a powerful high-frequency electromagnetic fi eld, peroxide formation, ozone injection and ultrasound.Hydrochemical Activation seems to be a suitable option to replace and improve existing water treatment processes as it replaces chlorine and other chemicals. Instead of chemicals, the process produces a variety of compounds in a high-frequency electrical fi eld by rearranging water mol-ecules to produce chemically active ions in high concentration, although in some

instances a naturally occurring molecular dissociation agent may be added.The molecules dissociate from H2O to form OH-, O-2, OH+ and then also re-arrange to form hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), hydro-nium ions (H3O+) and hydrogen gas (H2). In this extreme environment, hydrogen peroxide also reacts with injected ozone to form peroxone H2O3, an extremely power-ful oxidising agent.The eff ect of hydrogen peroxide in water treatment processes is well documented and is used routinely by water treatment facilities to treat drinking water (potable water) and effl uents. High concentrations of formed ions will attack many organisms by disrupting their protective external coatings and structures. Hydrochemical Activation generates and injects ozone (O3) gas into the process to enhance the oxidative state in the water, creating an even stronger sterilisation and purifi cation process. These compounds have strong chemical eff ects on contaminant components and a powerful sterilisation eff ect on microorgan-isms in the water.The reactions reduce contaminants like dissolved iron and hydrogen sulphide ‒ organic odour producing contaminants. It attacks the cellular structure of live micro-organisms including bacteria, fungi and

algae, eff ectively destroying them.The treatments above have been made more eff ective by the inclusion of ultrasound in the generation cell. The ultrasound assists with disruption of organ-isms and creates microscopic areas in the water where extreme agitation occurs and promotes more active chemical reaction of the ozone and hydrogen peroxide. The result is treatment processes up to 10 times more eff ective than chlorine treat-ment in the destruction of live organisms and twice as eff ective at removal of organic and inorganic contaminants.The strong electromagnetic fi eld in the cell induces electrostatic charges on particulate material and in dissolved ionic molecules that induces fl occulation and improves sedimentation in water treatment processes. Particulate and other materials passing through the reaction cell emerge hav-

ing had their structure altered and more charged sites available for attraction and binding in the treatment fl occulation processes. These fl ocs demonstrate bet-ter cohesion, improved settling rates and removal of material from water. This allows water to be processed through the same facilities at higher fl ow rates without det-rimental eff ects on process or fi nal water quality. The implications for reduction in required investment in construction of infrastructure to meet increased water de-mand and improved quality are extremely signifi cant to the water treatment industry.The fi nal result is oxygenated water with no chemical residues. Dissolved salts that will potentially form deposits in the pipes and heating appara-tus remain dissolved due to the enhanced polarity that improves solubility.

Preferred processPotgieter said that prior to his retirement as CEO of Overberg Water, he explored several alternative water purifi cation processes and that he is of opinion that a patented Hydrochemical Activation pro-cess, developed in South Africa, provides an acceptable and attractive solution and came to the conclusion that it should be further investigated by Overberg Water. A pilot plant was subsequently installed

Hydrochemical Activation seems to be a suitable option to replace and improve existing water treatment processes as it replaces chlorine and other chemicals

in Overberg Water`s Rûensveld East purifi cation plant. Extensive testing was done with highly positive results, beyond expectation. The process, among others, also completely removed the colouring and odour eff ects of geosmin, a specifi c compound formed by algae commonly found in the Theewaterskloof and Cape Town municipal areas. Potgieter explained that the process re-moves, amongst others, bacteria like E. coli, Salmonella, Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, Legionella, Cryptosporidium and Giardia lamblia. It complies with all requirements, is harmless to the environment, low on energy consumption and works without harmful chemicals. The units are compact and can be easily integrated on most existing sites and new installations. They require low electrical input and will typically use 3 kW at a treat-ment rate of 170 m³/hour. Normal electri-cal supply is adequate and no special electrical installation is required.

The treatment units are designed to fi t into the existing piping structure and do not require additional infrastructure. The equipment is specifi cally constructed and confi gured for the special requirements of each site.Results achieved at Overberg Water indicated that this technology can be

used for industrial water treatment, bot-tle rinsing, sterilisation, general amenities water supplied, arsenic contaminated water, aquaculture, abattoir wastewater discharge, irrigation water supply, rural drinking water, tanneries, drinking water treatment, maritime bilge water, bottled water, food safety compliance and public swimming pools.It is equally eff ective for the treatment of water for domestic consumption and for the treatment of sewage effl uent. In the latter instance, it will totally sanitise the

effl uent and sludge although further treat-ment of the effl uent may be necessary to bring it up to drinking water standard. If chemical oxygen demand is a problem, then the units can be programmed to treat that eff ectively as well. The sanitised sludge, though, now opens promising commercial and job creation opportuni-

ties for it to be further processed into eco-friendly fertiliser.Potgieter added that municipalities especially are interested and regard it as an addition to existing systems to facili-tate safe water, and Blue and Green Drop status. “I believe the process complies with requirements of all municipalities and wa-ter purifi cation and provision authorities. This technology could be a relatively quick solution for serious water problems and should become the preferred solution for third tier governments.”


The units are compact and can be easily integrated on most existing sites and new installations

TECHNICAL FOCUS

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Building a GREENER tomorrow today...

The government has done an excellent job over recent years in bringing water to increasing numbers of people. The next stage

is to protect those gains by drastically curbing continuing water wastage through more effi cient metering,” says association chairman, Friedrich Draxl. “We are seeing a rapid decline in water availability through climate change, unnecessary wastage and increasing demand. It is estimated that within 10 to 15 years, demand will signifi -cantly exceed supply.”Better management of water resources is a key to solving the wastage problem ‒ wastage not just of water, but also of the millions of rand revenue rightly due to water authorities for the maintenance

and upgrading of water supply networks, Draxl believes.“The development of new metering technology by the major European meter manufacturers is providing South Africa with an effi cient answer to this problem. Metering is now more effi cient than it has ever been in the key areas of low-fl ow measurement and the ability to transmit metered data accurately and reliably into water management and billing systems. This allows for quick detection of water loss and accurate billing.”

Unpaid billsDraxl says industry leaders estimate that about 30% of total water consumption in South Africa is actually unpaid for, either

because it’s wasted through undetected leaks, inaccurate measurement and inaccu-rate meter reading, or its not metered at all.“Better management of water resources by water utilities through more effi cient metering can prevent this from happening in the future. It is acknowledged worldwide that the payback period on the initial capital investment in more advanced metering in-frastructures is extremely quick. Besides the direct savings, major capital investments required to build new dams, bore holes, desalination plants and developing other primary sources of water can be deferred, or in some cases cancelled altogether.”

Source: The South African Water Meter Manufacturers Association

Water conservation is top priorityThe South African Water Meter Manufacturers’ Association has welcomed new government plans to invest billions of rand into infrastructural projects, urging that the conservation of dwindling water resources be among its most important priorities.

6801/11/2011

The company's policy is one of continuousimprovement and the right is reserved tomodify the specifications without notice

JOHANNESBURGTel: (011) 470-4900Fax: (011) 474-0175

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PORT ELIZABETHCell: 082 458-3439

By redesigning the countermechanism of the PSM/KSMrange of water meters, ElsterKent engineers have createda near frictionless counter.

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The large diametergrooved piston

facilitates the passingof undissolved solidsthrough the meter.

Copyright © Elster Group. All Rights Reserved. Elster and its logo, are trademarks of Elster Group.

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Water metersTECHNOLOGY


In a move away from high carbon footprint brass manufacture, the body of the Sensus 220C meter is made of ultra-strong composite engineering

polymer and is half the weight of a brass-bodied meter of the same size. This means a major saving on transportation and therefore energy costs. The Class C meter’s communications technology incorporates a standard reed switch in addition to a high-integrity in-ductive pulse capability. The meter can be integrated into any remote meter-reading network while ensuring the data integrity required for billing purposes ‒ something that cannot be guaranteed with the old-technology reed switch interface.

An added feature is the vertical confi gura-tion of its piston assembly, which improves its ability to handle dirt without stoppage.

The meter has undergone extensive test-ing by the SABS and has been approved by the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications to the more stringent Class C accuracy standard“These features make the 220C of par-ticular value to municipalities, which are moving across to remote meter reading

or are considering interfacing the meter with electronic water management de-vices,” says Basil Bold, MD of Sensus South

Africa. “The meter incorporates the latest German design criteria in the field of con-sumer water metering.” Sensus is the world’s largest water meter manufacturer and a major supplier to South African municipalities and utilities.

Source: Sensus South Africa

Environment-friendly meter A new domestic water meter from Sensus combines accurate metering over a wide range while linking seamlessly with automatic meter-reading networks.

“The meter incorporates the latest German design criteria in the fi eld of consumer water metering.” Basil Bold, Sensus South Africa MD

(PTY) LTD

Saving Water, Saving LivesYARD WATER METER

523 Church Street, Provisus Building, Arcadia,Pretoria, 0083, South AfricaTel: +27 12 440 9885 | Fax: +27 12 440 9751Naphtali Motaung | +27 72 736 [email protected] | www.lesira.co.za

COMMUNITY STANDPIPE

HANDHELD VENDING UNIT

OVERVIEWThe Intelligent Water Meter and the supporting Meter Management System (MMS) provides a revolutionary approach to Water Demand Management. The Intelligent Water Meter ensures signi cant water savings through consumption management and leak detection with the added bene t of no billing costs. Bad debt is reduced and the lower consumption contributes towards reduced demand on reticulation and treatment plant.

FEATURES• Intelligent Meter options Conventional Mode: Revenue collection via standard billing. The

client can check the status of his/her debt at any given time Pre-paid Mode: the client buys credit in advance from a vending point Post-Payment Mode: the user is assigned a negative credit limit in

litres or rand value Flat rate Mode: xed amount per month for unlimited volume• Optional metered Lifeline ow (40 /hr) when credit runs out• High air ow detection and correction• Insensitive to lightning, freezing water, ambient temperatures up to 700

C, water hammer and dirt particles in water• Optional built in radio for AMR (no loose wires or antenna)• Arrears collection via User Tag (mode dependent)

OVERVIEWThe Community Standpipe Water Meter and supporting Meter Management System (WAS) is designed to offer a solution to the provision of water at communal water supply points. It requires low capital investment and can be used in both rural areas and informal settlements. One Meter can typically serve up to 40 households. The unit consists of a Class B multi jet water meter with electronic read out and built in ow control valve. A patented valve system ensures extended battery life. The unit is meteorologically sealed and provides a high level of resistance to physical tamper and is immune to magnetic tamper. Should the meter become faulty, it can be replaced in the eld within ten minutes.

FEATURES• Eight programmable tariff steps• Physical tamper resistant. Full encryption and copy protection• Immune to magnetic interference• Meter accuracy unaffected by sand particles• High air ow detection and correction• Adjustable Free Basic Water • Daily consumption limit for water-scarce areas• Full calendar clock• Patented low power consumption system• Battery can provide 90 000 valve applications • Robust metal housing with security screws• Delivered fully assembled and pressure tested to 20 bar• SANS 1529-1 and SANS 1529-9 approved

OVERVIEWThe Handheld Vending Unit is used in conjunction with the Intelligent Water Meter and Community Standpipe. It provides the link between the Meter and the Meter Management System (MMS). A network of conveniently located Vending Units provides the customer with easy access to “point of sale” where credit can be purchased. Each transaction is supported by a receipt printed from a dedicated printer.

FEATURES• 56 MB internal data memory, LCD display• Single membrane keypad with standard key functions• Built in battery with battery charge-level indicator• Charged batteries provide 8 hours continuous operation• Re-chargeable from a 220V AC source using the supplied

charger. A car charger can also be used• High level of security with password protection• Theft risk is low as only dedicated functions are provided• Weighs approximately 350 g• Supplied with dedicated printer• Optional increased internal data memory (up to 2GB)• Optional GPRS module for automatic real-time downloading of

data and online transactions• Optional collection of capital repayments and service charges


TECHNOLOGYSanitation

Anormal urinal wastes over 150 000 ℓ of water every year. However, an Australian innova-tion recently introduced into

the South African market has the ability to reduce this ‘wasteful’ water use by up to 98% simply through the use of a small blue cube, according to Titima Group Business Development manager, Lincoln Phakisi. According to him, the technology is a fi rst in the country and is entirely microbial-based, with no chemicals added.Aimed primarily at high pedestrian volume facilities, such as offi ce parks and malls, the Desert Cube’s potential water savings really depend on how many people use the urinal in which it is being utilised. It is already being used and tested at the OR Tambo airport; the DTI Campus in Sunnyside, Pretoria; certain Growthpoint properties, namely Woodmead Retail Centre and The Bridge Mall; and 9 St David’s Place Offi ce Park in Johannesburg, as well as certain Old Mutual Properties, namely the Eastgate Galleria Mall and Hyde Park Mall. However, Phakisi notes that it is also “big in Australia and Asia. It is also very successful in Europe and the US, where it is trading under the names Eco-Cube and Eco-Blue respectively.”

Urinal ChallengesSurprisingly, when assessing the challenges related to the use of 'wet' urinals on a large

Potential sanitation savings

scale, the urine itself is not the major cause of the problem because it is almost 98% water-based and usually sterile and largely odourless, maintains Phakisi. “The problem is the faecal bacteria that bind with the urine solids and ultimately digest the uric proteins, which results in the release of toxic ammonia-based gases, the outcome of which is the off ensive ammonia smell ‒ and bathrooms are covered with bacteria originating from faecal matter,” explains Phakisi. Excessive fl ushing also cre-ates almost permanently damp surfaces on which bacterial colonies thrive.Desert Cubes work through the use of microbial technology, which interferes with the bacterial digestion that produces these unpleasant odours. In addition, by eliminating the need to fl ush after use, it also substantially reduces the need to touch the urinal and related mechanisms, thereby greatly enhancing personal hygiene and re-ducing the opportunity for bacteria transfer.

Savings summed upThe potential savings are easily calculated, according to Phakisi; the average facility traffi c and assumed urinal use is multiplied by the amount of liters per fl ush, which in most facilities is normally between 1 and 4 ℓ. For example, in an offi ce block with 200 males using a urinal with 2 ℓ fl ushing three times a day, for 220 days a week, will waste 264 000 ℓ per year!

Product specifi csThe Desert Cubes themselves not only save water, but also eliminate unpleasant odours, which results in improved hygiene. The cubes, which are 100% biodegradable and septic and sewerage safe, also eliminate the maintenance and running costs associ-ated with urinal fl ushing systems, chemical sanitisers and urinal deodorizer blocks ac-cording to Phakisi. “The Desert Cube System is ideal for septic tanks because it adds ben-efi cial microbes and, therefore, allows the septic tank users to further reduce water consumption and wastewater, which results in fewer blockages and reduced pumping,” explains Phakisi. The cubes also have a shelf life of up to two years when correctly sealed and stored. Additionally, the cubes can be used in conjunction with the Desert No Flush Urinal, which incorporates a removable and reus-able trap, as well as the use of high-quality porcelain made with silver nanotechnol-ogy that makes cleaning and maintenance easier. The urinals’ wide footprint also makes retrofi tting of the product into exist-ing facilities substantially easier as it lessens the need to retile the facility to maintain pleasing aesthetics. Apart from the above advantages, there is currently no product in the market that compares with Desert cube, making this an international technology well worth investi-gating, concludes Phakisi.

An Australian product that offers both water savings and improved hygiene was recently introduced to the South African market.

TECHNOLOGYLaboratories


Thermo Scientific’s Orion AQUAfast Chlorine and Turbidity meters are ideal for testing drink-ing or wastewater in

the field, plant or lab, with their powerful features and quick, simple operation. The meters are small, portable and rugged in their IP67 pro-tection casings with large easy-to-read displays and simple user interfaces. The Orion AQUAfast Chlorine meter is supplied in a field carry case along with test vials, cleaning

Anew temperature control system provides rapid heating and cooling for highly precise, external temperature ap-plications. Julabo’s new Presto represents a new gen-eration of highly dynamic temperature control systems

designed for precise temperature control and rapid temperature changes, making them ideal for reactor vessels, material stress tests or temperature simulations. Presto units cover a working temperature range of -40 to +250°C with 1.2 kW of cooling capacity and 2.8 kW of heating capacity. The highly effi cient components allow extremely fast compensation of exothermic and endothermic reactions. The powerful magnetically coupled pumps are available in a choice of pressure up to 1.7 bar and fl ow rates up to 40 ℓ/min. They are maintenance free and will not emit oil vapour. The pumps also have adjustable pump capacities. An identifying factor is the large industrial-grade touch panel that gives a clear, well organised view of all important informa-tion. A multiple interface permits remote control of the Presto across networks and, if combined with the Julabo Wireless temperature solution, permits completely wireless control of the unit. Presto is DIN and ISO 9001

certifi ed, and complies with strict interna-tional standards.

Source: Labotec

Chlorine and turbidity metersA portable meter is proving that a rugged design and easy-to-use features do not come at the cost of accuracy.

brush, stir rod and reagents. It measures free and total chlorine over the range 0 to 2 mg/ℓ up to 4.0 mg/ℓ with the same rea-

gents using US EPA approved methods. The results are accurate and reproducible, while time is saved by the user not having to cover

and uncover the vial for each measure-ment in most light conditions.The Orion AQUAfast Turbidity meter will auto-arrange from 0 to 1 000 NTUs and give an accurate turbidity reading in seconds. Comparison tests for this meter with other turbidity techniques show excellent cor-relation in side-by-side testing in a variety of applications. Just one set of standards is required to both calibrate and perform periodic calibration checks.

Source: Labotec

AQUAfast Chlorine and Turbidity meters

Dynamic temperature control

A new generation of highly dynamic

temperature control systems from Presto

Everyday new pH meter

Orion Star A211 bench-top meter

Thermo Scientific has unveiled a new meter range de-

signed specifically to be durable and dependable for each sample every day.The Orion Star A211 bench-top meter, which forms part of the new range, provides reliable metering and is ideal for the day-to-day laboratory requirements.The large, backlit graphic display clearly shows results with user ID, sample ID and easy-to-understand icons. Anyone can use this meter with its plain language prompts and soft keys that update for easy selection. Orion Star A211 shows pH/Mv/RmV and temperature with 2 000 data point memory with time and date stamp that combines with RS232 and USB interfaces to meet good laboratory practice requirements. These meters also feature unique advantages not found in other meters, such as direct Orion Star stirrer probe control, making it easier to maintain and place probes into samples and selectable settings to meet your needs for readings, response, accuracy and repeatability. This meter is IP54 rated to handle splashes and is wall mount-able if table space is a problem. Orion Star A211 bench-top meter is sold with a three-year meter replacement warrantee, making it an ideal choice for any laboratory.

Source: Labotec

LaboratoriesTECHNOLOGY

Get the bestmeter solution

Don’t settle for less –

for your applicationThe new Thermo Scientific Orion Star™ A and VERSA STAR™ meters build on the quality, accuracy, and expertise you’ve come to expect from the Orion product line.

We’ve expanded the offering, combining new features focused on an easy to use interface and the tried-and-true features relied on by many professionals. Even the accessories have gotten an upgrade, creating a complete package and making the Orion Star A and VERSA STAR meters a perfect fit for your needs.

Tel: 011 315 5434 / 021 531 7660 / 031 566 [email protected] www.labotec.co.za


Whether contamination from domestic waste, commer-cial ventures, industry and/or agricultural practices,

all manner of pollutants are entering our surface and groundwater supplies, many of which are extremely harmful to both people and the environment. In Africa, there is the additional pressure of contamination from rapidly expanding informal settlements, with high poverty levels and inadequate sanitation systems and infrastructure. Overpopulation in rural catchment areas and the use of streams and rivers for human cleansing further aggravates the problem. Considering groundwater provides 60 to 90% of the country’s domestic water supply, such localised pressures are a major concern

for the safety and quality of water in South Africa. Drinking water requires substantial treatment before use and consumption, and measuring and monitoring of water quality has become essential to human and environmental health. The methods applied vary extensively depending on the water’s origin and intended purpose. The parameters for drinking water quality typically fall into two categories: chemical or physical and microbio-logical, the recommended levels of which are stipulated by the South African National Standard, SANS 241:2006. This standard is the definitive refer-ence on acceptable limits for drinking water quality with guideline levels for a range of water quality characteristics

comparable to international drinking wa-ter quality standards. Chemical/physical parameters include heavy metals, trace organic compounds, total suspended solids (TSS) and turbid-ity. Microbiological parameters include Coliform bacteria, E. coli, and specific pathogenic species of bacteria (such as cholera-causing Vibrio cholerae), viruses, and protozoan parasites (those most common for causing diarrhoeal disease in humans). Chemical parameters tend to pose more of a chronic health risk through build-up of heavy metals although some

Water testing priorityMany of South Africa’s natural water sources have been adversely affected by some human infl uence.

A plant operator shows a water sample after treatment through a wastewater plant

TECHNOLOGY


components like nitrates/nitrites and arsenic may have a more immediate impact. Physical parameters largely affect the aesthetics and taste of the drinking water and may complicate the removal of microbial pathogens.The responsibility of ensuring that drinking water meets the legislated ‘fit for human consumption’ quality criteria rests with local authorities and water services institutions (local or district municipali-ties). Bulk water suppliers often have their own laboratories to test water while smaller agencies use commercial labs with specialist testing facilities and skills such as those at Talbot Laboratories. Talbot Laboratories, an independent environmental testing facility, is ac-credited by the South African National Accreditation Service (SANAS) to the ISO 17025:2005 standard for various chemical and microbiological tests. SANAS gives formal recognition that test facilities are competent to carry out specific tasks to certify that water service providers meet the required criteria. The Talbot labora-tory continues to successfully maintain

this status through its consistently high standard of operation and quality management system. Chemical and micro-biological analyses, such as those conducted at Talbot Laboratories, test all types of water from potable to bottled, borehole, surface, ground, river and dam water. These analyses ensure that the samples submitted are suitably tested to the relevant SANS standards for the ap-propriate application. For drinking water testing, Talbot Laboratories provides a suite of analyses which encompasses testing to establish if a specific water source is suit-able for human consumption, whether it meets appropriate standards for discharge to a natural water resource or as trade ef-fluent to sewer, or is suitable for livestock watering or irrigation purposes. Additional water testing services include tests for bottled water and shelf life analysis.

In addition to traditional water testing, the labora-tory also specialises in testing wastewater and waste components. Tests include soil/sludge analysis, waste analysis and classifi -cation (as per Department of Environmental Aff airs requirements) and sewage sludge characterisation. A water source sampling service by fi eld samplers is also available to assist in the correct collection of samples for further testing. Expert analysis and

interpretation of results by a team of com-petent and dedicated quality, technical, customer care and sales staff provides es-sential information for identifying possible environmental contamination or pollution. Talbot Laboratories is equipped to pro-vide a rapid, reliable and accurate service in environmental testing.

Source: Talbot Laboratories

A laboratory technician making up reagents and standards

HEAD OFFICE Tel: (011) 615-6076 Fax: (011) 615-8582 • DURBAN Tel: (031) 701-2711 Fax: (031) 701-2706

CAPE TOWN Tel: (021) 946-1722 Fax: (021) 946-1723 • PORT ELIZABETH Tel: (041) 360 6957 Fax: 086 603 3357

Website: www.hannainst.co.za • E-Mail: [email protected]

Emergency sewer upgrade


CASE STUDY

Incledon was contacted in April to sup-ply more than 1 600 m of 1 000 mm diameter steel-reinforced spirally wound high-density polyethylene

(HDPE) sewer pipes to replace the existing concrete pipeline. Installed in 1935, the pipeline had to be urgently replaced after it had been severely corroded due to toxic gases created by the raw sewerage, which had begun to spill into residential and agricultural land.Ekurhuleni Municipality professional engineering technologist Oupa Matshate points out that the area was immediately declared a disaster zone following the spill-age, which created serious health and safety concerns for residents in the area. “We urgently required the delivery of a suitable pipeline and Incledon was able to meet our de-mands in an exceptionally swift and professional manner.” The steel-reinforced spirally wound HDPE sewer pipes that were supplied to the project by Incledon are manufac-tured by Amanzi Starway, a leading local specialist in the supply of high-quality drainage and sewer pipes. Matshate notes that the brand was selected for the project due to its excellent corrosion and wear-resistant properties. “At the time of installation, concrete pipes were recog-nised as the best material for sewerage pipes. After more than 75 years of operation, however, the concrete had been corroded as a result of prolonged exposure to toxic gases such as hydrogen sulphide, methane and carbon

Ekurhuleni regenerates ‘disaster zone’ with help from IncledonEkurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality has successfully completed a R13 million emergency sewer upgrade in the Klippoortjie area with the assistance of Incledon after the area was declared a disaster zone as a result of extensive l eakages in the corroded pipeline.

monoxide. High-quality HDPE piping was selected as the product of choice because polyethylene is a non-polar high-molecular weight hydrocarbon that is highly resist-ant to chemicals and other media such as salts, acids and alkalis,” Matshate indicates.Due to its high ring stiff ness and the axial fl exibility of spiral reinforced HDPE pipe, the new pipe is able to relieve the excessive stress caused by soil settlement, groundwa-ter fl oating and excessive loads through elastic deforma-tion, which prevents leakage and damage at the joints. Incledon departmental head of infrastructure, Ian Geldard, points out that the pipe product supplied for the emergency sewer upgrade project is of the high-est quality and is manufactured according to SANS 674:2010 specifi cations.The emergency pipeline upgrade project was divided into three phases with all contract work completed by Baatshuma Electrical within one month. The fi rst phase of the project involved the installation of 425 m of piping; 777 m of piping was installed in phase two and a further 2 700 m was laid in the fi nal phase. All 12 m length pipes for each phase of the project were delivered within 14 to 30 days of Ekurhuleni unicipality placing the order. Matshate adds that the state of the environment that was aff ected by the leakage will be closely monitored and long-term rehabilitation measures will be undertaken when and where necessary.

Source: Incledon

BELOW Contractors coupling the 1 000 mm diameter steel-reinforced HDPE sewer pipes on site

ABOVE The collapse in certain sections of a 77-year-old, corroded concrete sewer pipeline required swift action by Ekurhuleni Metro

BELOW On site at the emergency replacement of the 77-year-old sewerage pipe in Ekurhuleni: (L to R) Incledon sales representative for civils, Robinson Patji; Ekurhuleni Municipality professional engineering technologist, Oupa Matshate; and Ian Geldard, Incledon’s departmental head of infrastructure

CASE STUDYProcess optimisation


In general, analytical meas-urements are used in many industries for environmental compliance, safety and pro-

cess monitoring.The company has been pro-ducing cobalt, manganese and nickel salts for over 30 years. Its products are used widely; their uses include being used as a supplement to animal feed and as pigment in paints and glazing products.In order to manufacture inor-ganic salts to the required purity and morphology, the chemical processes that the raw materials pass through must be closely monitored, controlled and optimised. The Shepherd Widnes team had found it a challenge to do this consistently. In the past, they relied on visual assessment of some processes, where each step of the extraction could be monitored by observation of an obvious colour change. While this allowed them to confi rm that the extraction process was working, it did not present an opportunity for optimisa-tion and as a result, product quality was inconsistent. Consequently some batches needed to be supplemented by blending with additional, high-purity metal salts, thus reducing the profi t level for that batch. At the start of 2010, Shepherd Widnes began looking at ways of optimising their processes. The pH is key as each metal impurity has an optimum pH at which it precipitates from the solution. By monitor-ing and adjusting the pH at each stage of the process, maximum impurity extrac-tion can be ensured. The problem is that most pH measuring instruments are too delicate to cope with the humidity and physical conditions found on this site. Various systems were trialled but only

when the Endress+Hauser Memosens non-contact digital sensors were installed was the required level of measurement and control achieved.

Memosens: robust and reliableMemosens dual validation pH monitor-ing systems were put in place, each installation consisting of the new Liquiline CM442 dual input transmitter and two CPS71D electrodes. Perspex assemblies with a weir and baf-fl e plate were used to produce a steady, uniform fl ow rate and stable measure-ment. A further, single channel device was mounted in the laboratory. The Memosens system has proved to be robust enough to cope with the diffi cult on-site conditions while reducing costs and maximising product quality and process effi ciency. Measurements which previously could not be made using analogue pH sys-tems were made possible using the contact-less, inductive Memosens technology. Furthermore, with several pH systems across the site, the frequent need for cali-bration and replacement of analogue elec-trodes and cables was both time consuming

and costly. Use of the Memosens sensors with a Liquiline device mounted in the laboratory al-lows electrodes to be cleaned, maintained and calibrated offl ine. Pre-calibrated sensors can be simply swapped in with minimal process downtime. Huge cost savingsEndress+Hauser worked with the Shepherd Widnes team to ensure that they had an ap-propriate maintenance sched-ule and that operatives were trained to correctly maintain the equipment.

Engineers are able to interrogate the sensor to monitor operating hours and conditions, to establish the date of the last calibration and monitor changes in slope, which provides an indication of the sensor’s health. This allows for eff ective predictive maintenance. What’s more, the ability to perform maintenance procedures under laboratory conditions also serves to increase sensor lifetime. As a result, none of the sensors or cables had failed in over six months from the initial installation, which represented a big cost saving. The Memocheck simulation tool is now used to perform simulation of pH and temperature values on the transmitter. This enables quick and easy verifi cation of the complete measuring chain for optimum process safety. The installa-tion of the Memosens system has had a major contribution to the control of the extraction process.“The pH control system has led to a 10-fold reduction in losses and a consistent product quality. We couldn’t be happier,” says Paul Croft, site manager: Shepherd Widnes.

Source: Endress+Hauser (Pty) Ltd.

Shepherd Widnes, part of the Shepherd Chemical Company – one of the world’s foremost producers of speciality metal-based products – has signifi cantly increased profi ts as an added benefi t to using Endress+Hauser’s Memosens digital sensors.

Memosens boosts profi ts for Shepherd Widnes

LEFT Electrodes are cleaned, maintained and calibrated offl ineRIGHT Dual validation pH monitoring

Industry


CASE STUDY

The wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) will see the fi rst lo-cally installed ContiFilt from Veolia’s German subsidiary, Krüger Wabag.

This technology uses continuously regener-ated sand fi ltration as opposed to the clas-sic sand fi ltration with periodic backwash sequence and related downtime.The necessity for the new plant was moti-vated by the need to increase plant capacity as a result of Ford starting production of the new Ranger bakkie range, resulting in an expected increase in wastewater volume from the plant, as well as the need to meet municipal requirements. “The existing decade-old WWTP previously pre-treated water before it ended up at the Tshwane Sewage Works,” explains Laurent Munier, project manager: Design & Build at Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies South Africa, a subsidiary of Veolia Water.With water recycling and reuse being a key focus for Ford, an environmental impact assessment (EIA) was conducted, which rec-ommended further treatment of the effl u-ent to comply with municipal bylaws. “After considering upgrading the existing water plant, it was decided that it will be more cost-eff ective to rather decommission the

old plant and construct a new one, boasting the latest technology,” explains Munier. The new plant has been erected close to the old WWTP.As a large part of the effl uent will come from the paint shop, safely getting rid of phosphates is the biggest concern. Ford requires a reject containing less than 20 mg/ℓ of phosphate and Veolia is guaranteeing that Ford’s water will comply with the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality’s bylaws.

Recycling of water enhancedCurrently, there is an underground sewage pipe running from the production area to the plant. For the new WWTP, a tie-in will be

made to that pipe for the collection of the water, resulting in an immediate increase in the use of recycled water from 7 to 15%. Ford has also requested a connection from the new plant to the piping system of one of its other treatment plants to allow the recycling of 25 to 30% more process water. A tank at the existing WWTP will be used as a holding storage for water pumped from

New water treatment plant helps improve effl uent quality

Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies South Africa has been awarded a turnkey project valued at R19 million by the Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa for the design, supply, installation and commissioning of a new wastewater treatment plant at the motor manufacturer’s Silverton assembly plant, east of Pretoria.

ABOVE The new wastewater treatment plant that Veolia designed, supplied and installed at Ford’s Silverton assembly plantBELOW Veolia installed the fi rst local ContiFilt from its German subsidiary, Krüger Wabag, at a new water treatment plant at Ford’s Silverton vehicle manufacturing facility

Sustainability


CASE STUDY

the factory. Apart from that, the rest of the existing plant will be bypassed.Oil-skimming to separate fl oating oils will take place in this holding tank, after which the water will get pumped to, stored and prepared in three batch tanks at the new WWTP. “Ford does not want to run the plant continuously, but rather for the shifts required, which necessitate storage capacity during the off -shifts. In addition, the batch tanks will off er a closed volume for the chemical dosing required to eliminate phos-phates, which will in turn improve chemical control and guarantee the effi ciency of the treatment,” says Munier.The separation of phosphates will be achieved by dosing ferric chloride. As soon as the capacity volume in a batch tank is reached, the water will get pumped through for the next step, which involves clarifi cation. The lamella clarifi er, supplied by Veolia’s French subsidiary Opalium, will treat a maxi-mum capacity of 1.8 Mℓ/d of water spread over one eight-hour shift. Flocculants and coagulants will be injected in the clarifi er to produce sludge that can settle in the clarifi er. As this produced sludge will be light and watery, it will be pumped into a thickener where it will receive further treatment to enable settlement. The thickener will supply the fi lter press that will dry the sludge, which will then download to a skip. The plant will produce very little waste. All recovered wa-ter will be pumped back into the feed tank. The thickener will also provide additional storage capacity as this sludge treatment process will take place only once a day in a six-hour, fully automatic treatment cycle.The clarifi ed water will be sent to the ContiFilt, consisting of four fi lters, where the heavy metals in the wastewater will be precipitated. This customised and economic option for many wastewater solutions, both municipal and industrial, off ers continuous sand fi ltration technology. Unlike other sand fi lters, this one does not need to be shut down for backwashing or cleaning. “The EIA requested that the batch tanks be contained in case of a leak as the raw effl uent could have disastrous repercussions if fi ltered into the environment. To this end, we erected a half-metre high walling with a pumping facility. Water from a leaking tank will be drained into a pit, after which it will be pumped into the holding tank with the lowest level by means of a high capacity pump able to handle huge fl ow,” concludes Munier. The plant is currently in commissioning phase.

The new R670 million, state-of-the-art Unilever savoury dry food plant at Riverhorse Valley in Durban has set a new benchmark in South

Africa’s industrial sector.As the country’s fi rst green manufacturing plant with a signifi cantly reduced carbon footprint, the Indonsa factory was designed in terms of a brief to provide wet service systems with sustainability and water neu-trality in mind.What has emerged on the ground is a 22 000 m² factory ‒ the biggest dry savoury food plant in Unilever worldwide ‒ that is capable of producing 65 000 t of product per year (capable of being expanded to 100 000 t) and incorporates advanced wa-ter treatment and water recovery systems. The design has the added benefi t of reduc-ing power consumption in the factory.

The key elements of the wet services sys-tems are a water recycling system compris-ing a dissolved air fl otation unit, membrane bioreactor and reverse osmosis (RO) plant; a harvested rainwater treatment line in the treatment plant; treating and recycling shower and process wash water; and a hot water generating system.The water harvesting/recovery systems work as follows:• rainwater is recovered off the main fac-tory roof and stored in a 1.5 Mℓ water recovery tank

• AC condensate water is recovered from all air-conditioning units and stored in a 1.5 Mℓ water recovery tank

• all greywater is drained into various ef-fl uent sumps

• sewerage is not recovered and is drained directly to municipal sewers.

Unilever achieves water neutrality Sustainability incorporating water recovery and rain water harvesting bring benefi ts

CASE STUDY


at new Durban food factoryWater recovery systemsWater from the recovery tank and effl uent sumps is pumped to the treatment plant, which was designed by Aqueduct. There is a separate process stream for the com-bined recovered rainwater and AC condensate water, and a separate stream for the greywater. Rainwater is treated by means of an up-fl ow sand fi lter and activated carbon fi lter before the stream joins the common treatment line for fi nal disinfection by UV and chlorine. Mineralisation is necessary in order to return the minerals removed in the high pressure RO process.Once the streams are treated back to drinking water quality, the treated water is fed back to the domestic water storage tank to be reused on site.Hot water is generated by a central hot water plant and distributed via a reticulation network to all parts of the factory where hot water is required. The heat extracted from the factory space by the AC system is transferred to the water in the hot water plant by a heat exchanger. This reduces the energy demand on the national grid. Instead of using electrical power to generate hot water, the hot water is generated by heat rejected from the AC system.The recycled greywater, together with the harvested rain and AC condensate water, means the site in theory does not require any water from the local authority.

Unilever states that the water recovery systems should enable the recovery of 70% of all water in production phases. The water is being treated to the nationally accepted drinking standard and will be recycled for use in the factory. All water activity is monitored on a dedicated PLC system so that the

system is fully automatic and that actual recycled water volumes can be monitored. The water recovery plant has been established separate from the factory and any un-toward changes in the operating parameters of the plant are notifi ed on the monitoring screen in the plant control room, which then cause switching over to municipal sup-ply in the event of an emergency.It is estimated that the factory will harvest 19 Mℓ litres of combined rainwater and AC condensate water for recy-cling and use as domestic water.“The advanced technology in operation at Indonsa sets new global standards in responsible and sustainable dry food production. It embodies our resolve to simultane-ously improve the lives of people and to entrench respect for the environment,” says chairman for Unilever South Africa, Marijn van Tiggelen.He adds that Unilever viewed sustainability as a strate-gic economic and business imperative and vital element of its vision. “For us, sustainability now implies responsi-bility, integrity and moral obligation.”Pier-Luigi Sigismondi, Unilever’s chief supply chain of-fi cer, states that the group aims to globally reduce carbon dioxide emissions from manufacturing and logistics by over 40% by 2020 from its 1995 baseline, at a rate of almost 5% a year.“It is imperative for Unilever to respond positively to growing global demand for sustainably sourced products. We will continuously reduce our impact across the entire life cycle of our products and intensify the advancement of new technologies such as the ones used here at Indonsa to achieve our global sustainability objectives.”Indonsa is a global fi rst for the group in terms of ad-vancing its focus on sustainable “green” technology. It is Unilever’s second largest plant in the world and its fi fth plant in South Africa. Globally, Unilever operates 250 plants selling about 170 billion products in 180 coun-tries annually.

BELOW The water recycling tanks at the Unilever food factory in Durban

ABOVE The reverse osmosis system installed at Unilever’s new “green” food factory in DurbanLEFT A view of the new, R670 million, state-of-the-art Unilever savoury dry food plant at Riverhorse Valley in Durban

Unique package plant


TRENDS & PRODUC TS

In an exclusive interview with Water&Sanitation Africa, Jiya says the delivery of sewage services to communities can be provided in a short time frame and with greatly reduced capital outlay if decision-

makers jettison the western notion of centralised treatment. Other developing nations, such as Vietnam, India and Brazil, have taken on the decentralised model with success.“Development in many parts of South Africa and other

African countries is being held back because of con-straints on access to mains sewage, power and water. What frightens municipalities is the vision of deploying several hundred package sewage plants across a wide geographical area and thereafter having to cope with such plants in various levels of disarray. They prefer to have a centralised treatment plant under their control. “But the risk can be mitigated through the implementa-

tion of guarantees on plant reliability, as is required by eThekwini Municipality, and the signing of maintenance contracts to reliable outsourced suppliers,” Jiya states.A possible shift in the current mindset at government

level will be achieved by the conduct of a feasibility study by various water and wastewater treatment sector stakeholders, who would look at alternative technolo-gies of wastewater treatment plants, comparing whole life costing of the packaged solution and a large-scale municipal system. It is common cause that the latter can take up to fi ve years to design, build and commission at a cost of hundreds of millions of rand, depending on plant capacity.“In terms of our ‘what if ’ scenario, we postulate setting

up and operating decentralised units on site in numerous locations instead of channelling the sewage for tens of kilometres into a massive central plant at vast expense. What if the treated effl uent was made available for irriga-tion purposes at the various locations rather than using

An answer to sewage service deliveryAfrica will break away from the centralised model of sewage treatment and adopt a decentralised approach that can be deployed rapidly, independent of access to capital, and with low operating and maintenance costs, predicts Loyiso Jiya, chairman of Bannow Africa.

potable water? And what if we are able to meet the required treatment standards consistently for up to 20 years?”Jiya asked.“We say adopt sewage mining: scrap

the pipeline, scrap the pump station and put the package plant directly on the location where it taps directly into the existing sewage lines. Discharge the treated material back into the river or use it for irrigation. And with our

package plants at even remote locations there is noth-ing much worth stealing because our units are mostly fi breglass. The plant can be used as a short-term solution to support stressed municipal sewage treatment plants, as a long-term solution in areas that need treatment capacity but are not connected to sewerage pipes, or in remote locations where it is not economically viable to install large-scale municipal treatment plants.”Jiya pointed out that package plants based on the ro-

tating biological contactor (RBC) design had developed a reputation for poor reliability, which had arisen as a result of bearing failure on the rotating disc shaft that is integral to the design of many such systems.With the internationally patented Blivet system, the

effl uent fl ows into a primary settlement tank and then into the heart of the plant: an aerator rotating biological drum. As the drum rotates, it lifts the effl uent into its coils, eff ectively aerating the effl uent to promote bacte-ria and biomass growth, which absorb the nutrients. The system is self-regulating, self-oxygenating and powered by a simple electric motor. It was designed in Ireland in 1985 and installed at a housing estate where the local authority was due to build a conventional wastewater treatment works. The package plant has been operating problem-free since then.Bannow Export, the manufacturer and supplier of Blivet

packaged sewerage plants, entered the South African market last year following a successful visit to this coun-try by a trade delegation from Ireland. Bannow Africa is wholly owned by black South Africans. The board members comprise Jiya, Gerrard Sullivan, Colin Bloom (RGM) and Ted O’Morcoe. Jiya, formerly a senior partner with Ernst & Young, is also a member of the Eastern Cape Development Corporation Board, in a province where the potential for package plants is signifi cant.A Blivet package plant ‒ operating at the Nedbank

Olwazini Training Centre in Muldersdrift, Gauteng, for the past eight years ‒ has achieved a Green Drop award

ABOVE A view of the aerator rotating biological drums that are at the heart of the Bannow package plant design

BELOW A Blivet package plant, which has been operating at the Nedbank Olwazini Training Centre in Muldersdrift for the past eight years, received a Green Drop award in 2012

TRENDS & PRODUC TS


(92.6% for 2012) and was judged the na-tional best performer of four private sector facilities tested. The plant uses a BMS Blivet RBC type activated sludge process and has a treatment capacity of 64 m³/d.Bannow Africa’s fi rst operating units since the company was established in South Africa will be installed at the Cacadu District Municipality in Eastern Cape. At the time of writing, the company had quoted on various package treatment plants at 17 dif-ferent locations in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Many Blivet and other pack-age plants installed by Bannow Export in Africa, including South Africa, since 2001, are in use at resorts and other locations.“Initially, we had the same view of our potential growth path in South Africa as did our Irish parent company,” says Jiya. “We believed the private sector hospital-ity industry would be our main market and that business there would drive growth in the public sector. However, the reverse has proven to be true.”Among the issues raised by potential cus-tomers in the public sector are fi nancing, speed of installation, capacity, operating requirements and maintenance. Jiya indicates that Bannow Africa has developed three fi nancing models: outright purchase, rental funded by Sasfi n Bank and Rentworks with full maintenance, and placement of a unit with recovery of costs based on megalitre of effl uent treated. “We are in discussion with various mu-nicipalities about the latter model, which will carry a minimum of a fi ve-year agree-ment. Our intention is to identify a funding organisation to fi nance this model, such as the Development Bank of Southern Africa.” The Bannow Africa range includes the Blivet range of package plants of varying capacities with the smallest suitable for 10 people, and the largest (the Blivet 4000)

with a capacity of 100 m³ of effl uent per day. However, by placing the package plants in parallel treatment capacity can be increased ad infi nitum. The package plant has a life span of 20 years in normal applications and is sustainable owing to its low requirements for electricity and maintenance.“An integral part of our business plan in Africa is to use local communities for installation work as well as for operation and maintenance,” says Jiya. “Maintenance is minimal as each package plant has two electric motors and two bearings. The plant can be remotely monitored by radio or satellite and any rises in operational levels can be attended to by trained members of the community. A Blivet 4000 plant with a 100 m³/day capacity requires about 14 kW/d of power and can be run on solar power. Back-up batteries are provided.”Bannow has several diff erent package systems, including a closed system model

that does not re-quire mains water but still provides users with fl ushing toilets, another that incorporates ad-ditional units and uses sludge to generate biogas for cooking and lighting purposes, and solutions that include disinfection or sludge drying beds. It has a patented chlorination unit as one of the alternatives for disinfection.Bannow Africa has appointed nine distributors nationwide and has offi ces in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape. Local man-ufacture has been brought forward and the company is considering setting up a factory in the East London industrial development zone. Bannow Africa is licensed to operate throughout the continent and has set up a joint venture in Zambia. Nigeria is the next location for a joint venture.

A drawing of the Blivet system


TRENDS & PRODUC TSTechnology showcase

RAINBOW RESERVOIRS HAS begun local manufacture of various reservoir component parts and is planning to start local rolling of the Zincalume steel panels from which the reservoir walls are constructed.Local rolling will increase the number of flat panels that can be packed by the source factory overseas into a shipping container, lowering shipping costs and helping to contain prices.Panel cutting and punching is likely to continue abroad be-cause of the precise nature of these operations and the high cost of the machinery needed to carry them out.Rainbow MD, Wayne Thompson, explains that a worldwide shortage of fresh water continues to drive reservoir construction with steel panel reservoirs, having been adopted by commerce,

A steel panel reservoir from Rainbow Reservoirs

Relocatable steel reservoirs better than bricks and mortarindustry and construction in recent years. The increased use of steel reservoirs arises from the product’s increased structural and general sophistication, and because of space savings and ease of installation.The agricultural sector continues to ignore steel panel reser-voirs in preference for bricks and mortar structures.“In some sectors, the steel alternative remains incorrectly viewed as expensive,” says Thompson. “Although the purchase price may be higher than a bricks and mortar alternative, when viewed in terms of overall lifetime cost the panel reservoir is always substantially cheaper and it carries the additional advan-tage of relocatability.”Thompson explains that a lower lifetime cost is the direct result of the longer effective life of the steel panel reservoir. There are examples of Rainbow reservoirs that have remained leak and corrosion-free for more than 30 years. Generally, bricks and mor-tar reservoirs have an accepted effective lifespan of 15 years as a result of cracks and bursts that occur from unsound construction and earth movement. “Although steel remains expensive, the price of cement has recently seen a dramatic rise, reducing the advantage of a lower initial outlay for a bricks and mortar reservoir,” he says. “Relocatability is a further advantage. Whereas the bricks and mortar construct is fixed, the steel reservoir’s design facilitates easy relocation. Should the source of the steel reservoir’s water run dry, it can simply be moved.“In this way, the steel reservoir becomes an asset rather than a consumable.” Source: Rainbow Reservoirs

Largest rental fl eet of pumps in Africa

A CD300M Godwin pump powered by a diesel engine

Flygt’s adaptive N-technology offers unrivalled self-cleaning functionality

WITH A HOLDING of 720 pumps, Xylem South Africa off ers the largest rental fl eet in Africa backed by a robust stock holding of new pumps, says Xylem sales director, Darryl Macdougall. He adds: “Our rental fleet is backed by spare parts availability, back-up service as well as on-site maintenance, and repairs on and off-site, ensuring that we are able to satisfy customer demand immediately. We’re ef-fectively a one-stop shop for pump requirements.”“We were the first manufac-turer of submersible pumps as far back as 1947 and our company has enjoyed a long history of continuous innova-tion in this arena,” he reveals.

Macdougall explains that the Xylem range of pumps and mixers is designed to perform in the most severe applications and incorporates a wide range of corrosion and abrasion-resistant offerings.Xylem’s products and sys-tems include a wide range of submersible pumps for drainage, wash-down, water recovery, water supply and wastewater

treatment, including vertical industrial turbine, borehole and durable centrifugal pumps. Apart from submers-ible mixers and slurry pumps, Xylem offers submersible centrifugal and stainless steel vertical multistage

centrifugal pumps for

wastewater handling.Xylem’s head office in South Africa is in Bartlett, Gauteng, with branches in Rustenburg and Cape Town. The com-pany also has representation in Africa. Source: Xylem Water Solutions.

TRENDS & PRODUC TS


Pump system helps reduce energy use and CO2 emissionsAN SKF CUSTOMER in the pulp and paper industry has identified an energy improvement potential of 70% for one factory by monitoring only eight out of their 300 pumps using the SKF Energy Monitoring Service ‒ Pump Systems.The BeyondZero Portfolio product also helped the custom-er identify a potential reduction of 1 900 t of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per year.“The SKF Energy Monitoring Service ‒ Pump Systems was developed to provide customers with insight about the operational efficiency of their pump systems. Many pump systems are inefficient, so the identified savings can be significant,” says Eric Huston, SKF Global business manager: Asset and Energy Management.Through monitoring and optimising efficiency of the eight pumps, it was calculated that the factory could reduce its annual electricity demand by up to 2 500 MWh, correspond-ing to 1% of the factory total electricity use. This equates to about 1 900 t of CO2 emission per year (according to world power grid mix CO2 factor of 0.749 kg CO2/kWh).Energy Monitoring Service (EMS) specifically for pump systems typically demonstrates that an energy use savings potential can be greater than 20% in non-monitored pump systems; and year-to-year savings of about 5% in those sys-tems that are regularly monitored.SKF is a leading global supplier of bearings, seals, mechatronics and lubrication systems. Services include technical support, maintenance and reliability, engineering consulting and training. Source: SKF South Africa (Pty) Ltd.

THE LAKE WAS DAMMED to raise its water level by 6 m, and a 2.2 km woodstave pipeline constructed to transfer water from the dam to the power station’s turbines. Wood was chosen as the pipeline material because it was cheaper than steel at the time of construction and was also expected to last longer.The original wood deterio-rated very quickly and was replaced in 1938 by pine, allowing the line to remain in service until 2006, when the power station’s new owners, Hydro Tasmania, closed it be-cause of maintenance costs.When the decision to close the pipeline was taken, local lobby groups pushed for it to be rebuilt as both the power station and its pipeline are major tourist attractions and an important part of local history.Resulting from this, a new pipeline was designed by Johnstone McGee and Gandy (JMG) in Hobart and constructed by Hazell Bros, with technical assistance from the International Tank and Pipe Company of Portland, Oregon. The original woodstave line was preserved in three sections.To protect the restored pipeline against the potential damage of surge and water hammer, JMG chose South African Vent-O-Mat valves, which are recognised worldwide as

Vent-O-Mats help save historical wooden water pipeline

Air release valves designed and manufactured in South Africa have helped save a 100-year-old wooden pipeline in Tasmania, built as part of one of the southern hemisphere’s fi rst hydroelectric power plant projects near Lake Margaret in 1911.

a market leader in terms of useful life and pipeline protection. The valves limit surge and water hammer as a standard function during pipeline filling, when most surge devices are not yet operational, and deliver automatic protection against column separation.Under conditions of surge within the pipeline, they allow controlled air release through a valve orifice aerodynamically engineered to throttle air discharge when the velocity of the approaching liquid would otherwise become too great and induce an unacceptable pressure rise. This throttling action increases resistance to the flow of the approaching liquid, which decelerates.The opposite extreme is experienced when a pipeline experiences liquid column separation due to pump stoppage. Under these conditions, Vent-O-Mat allows air into the pipeline, but throttles its discharge as the separated column begins to rejoin, reducing the impact velocity and alleviating high surge pressures.The Vent-O-Mat valve range is manufactured at the Benoni works of Dynamic Fluid Control.Queenstown’s restored woodstave pipeline was recommissioned in 2010.

Source: Dynamic Fluid Control

ABOVE Vent-O-Mat valves installed on a restored wooden pipeline at an historic hydro-electric power plant in Tasmania


TRENDS & PRODUC TSTechnology showcase

“WE SEE OUR calibration service as part of a customer’s quality assurance and mainte-nance planning,” the company states in a statement. “Our aim is to provide you with com-plete calibration management solutions according to your actual requirements.“Over the years, industry requirements for calibration have changed under the pres-sure of process optimisation. The advantages of on-site calibration are a reduction in process downtime, minimisation of the internal/external logistic effort and measurement, and response

THE KROHNE ACADEMY online is a web-based training pro-gramme where customers can train themselves on specifi c top-ics valid for the whole process industry and not only for Krohne. The content of the site does not include advertisements either. Krohne provides the content on an external platform, called Krohne Academy online This platform is dedicated to customers, prospects and students who can train themselves on specific topics. The registration and the use of the platform are completely free of charge.Register on the website: http://academy-online.krohne.com Source: Krohne

Krohne launches its online academy

Benefi ts of best in class calibration Substantial benefi ts accrue to undertaking high quality on-site calibration, claims Endress+Hauser.

Parameter Equipment typeConductivity Conductivity measuring chain, including cell,

transmitter and cable

Flow Electromagnetic fl owmeterVortex fl owmeterCoriolis fl owmeterUltrasonic fl owmeterThermal fl owmeter

Pressure Pressure sensorsPressure transmitters

pH pH measuring chain, including cell, transmitter and cable

Temperature Resistance thermometerProbe + temperature transmitterProbe + display

Other parameters On request, we can calibrate other parameters; please contact us for further information

under real-life conditions (including loop).”Referring to methodology, the company indicates that parameters that have to be calibrated on site are deter-mined in conjunction with the customer. “If high accuracy is required, we will define which parameters need to be calibrated in our laboratories.”

Calibration solutions: the key to monitoring quality standards“With years of experience in metrology, we offer quick and competent solutions for every aspect of calibration in widely

differing sectors of industry from a single source. We pro-vide support to assist custom-ers to establish their metrol-ogy plan by recommending calibration specifications per parameter (maximum permis-sible error, calibration intervals and methods).“Calibration standard operat-ing procedures ensure that the calibrations we perform have a high degree of repeatability, independent of technician or site location. Our facilities and calibration references are traceable to national and international standards (accord-ing to ISO17025) while on-site calibration is performed by highly trained staff in line with industry standards such as GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice).”Endress+Hauser says all its specialists have the necessary

skills and equipment to calibrate all instruments, including devices from other suppliers. A calibration certificate compliant with the ISO 17025 standard is issued. The certificate details all required data in a way that is easy to understand and most importantly, satisfies the requirements of all relevant authorities. The company uses a high performance calibra-tion management software (CompuCal) tool that manages the calibration scheduling and documentation manage-ment activity around a customer’s installed base. It provides traceable and audit-able records.

Source: Endress+Hauser

A technician conducts tests on site

Technology showcase

ROBUST, RELIABLE AND FLEXIBLE, the new range sets a new standard for lowering life cycle costs in a broad range of tough in-dustrial applications. The pumps have no expensive wearing components such as seals, valves, membranes, stators, ro-tors or glands to maintain, and they are suitable for handling difficult fluids ‒ corrosive, viscous, shear-sensitive, gaseous, crystallizing or even fluids with a combination of these properties.“The all-round performance of the models 10, 15 and 20 means they are suited to applications ranging from lime dos-ing and slurry transfer to handling food and beverage prod-ucts,” says Watson-Marlow Bredel SA general manager Nico van Schalkwyk.“Along with a two-year warranty, customers purchase safe in the knowledge that these pumps are manufactured by Bredel, the world’s largest manufacturer of hose pumps, with more than 100 000 models in operation around the globe,” he adds.Offering the best performance available on the market for pressures up to 116 psi makes the new range of pumps suit-able for continuous, precise dosing. The pumps also require extremely low maintenance, giving extended up-time and therefore process continuity. With a cast aluminum housing that provides superior heat dissipation, robust direct coupled technology and precision machined hosed elements, APEX offers decreased cost of own-ership, reduced operating costs and low inventory stocking. Among the many benefits of the new pumps is ease of scal-ability. While the range offers optimum performance for low transfer applications, should process requirements change easy upgrades are achievable without having to buy a new pump. “APEX models are three pumps in one, with a single pump body adjustable for three hose sizes (10, 15 and 20 mm) when production volumes rise,” states Van Schalkwyk. “Such scal-ability to higher flows provides future-proofing that cannot be matched by competitor pumps.”Watson-Marlow has also expanded its area network with the opening of a branch in Cape Town. The company has restruc-tured its sales force and appointed Bernard Rabé as Cape Town area manager to focus on industrial sectors such as food & bev-erage, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and environmental.

Source: Watson-Marlow Bredel SA.

New Apex pump range Watson-Marlow Bredel SA has launched the new APEX range of pumps for dosing, metering and transfer duties between 2.8 and 1 200 ℓ/hour.

The new APEX 15 hose pumps

Level of damsThe full supply capacity (10⁶ m³) and level of some of South Africa’s dams as at 16 July 2012.

Total full supply capacity of dams (106 m3)

Last year 2012/07/1631 560.1 31 629.0

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

Info supplied by DWA


LimpopoHartbeespoort (NW) (186.44) 98.3%Olifantsnek (NW) (13.67) 85.1%Buff elspoort (NW) (10.25) 99.9%Bospoort (NW) (15.79) 100.0%Lindleyspoort (NW) (14.33) 83.2%Roodeplaat (NW) (41.15) 92.8%Koster (NW) (12.80) 85.2%Klipvoor (NW) (42.08) 100.5%Vaalkop (NW) (56.01) 38.9%Roodekopjes (NW) (102.33) 102.6%Marico-Bosveld (NW) (26.96) 93.2%Klein Marico poort (NW) (7.07) 102.9%Albasini (LP) (28.19) 36.9%Vondo (LP) (30.44) 85.9%OlifantsWitbank (M) (104.02) 75.9%Middelburg (M) (48.05) 64.2%Bronkhorstspruit (M) (56.99) 76.4%Rust de Winter (M) (28.18) 77.8%Loskop (M) (361.51) 87.5%Buff elskloof (M) (5.24) 100.2%Ohrigstad (LP) (13.44) 84.7%Blyderivierspoort (LP ) (54.36) 100.2%Klaserie (LP) (5.60) 101.4%Ebenezer (LP) (69.13) 98.6%Magoebaskloof (LP) (4.84) 100.3%Tzaneen (LP) (156.53) 84.6%Middle Letaba (LP) (171.93) 2.0%VaalVaal (FS) (2 603.45) 70.4%Grootdraai (M) (349.53) 66.4%Boskop (NW) (21.02) 101.3%Klipdrift (NW) (13.30) 100.4%Erfenis (FS) (206.06) 58.7%Kalkfontein (FS). (325.13) 77.8%Rustfontein (FS) (71.20) 58.1%Krugersdrift (FS) (71.47) 63.4%Groothoek (FS) (11.90) 47.9%Sterkfontein (FS) (2 616.90) 98.2%Saulspoort (FS) (15.67) 102.7%Vaalharts Storage Weir (NC) (50.68) 80.6%

Bloemhof (FS) (1 240.24) 72.2%Douglas Storage Weir (NC) (16.24) 108.8%OrangeKatse (L) (1 519.10) 74.6%Egmont (FS) (9.25) 64.0%Gariep (FS) (5 196.04) 96.3%Vanderkloof (FS) (3 171.30) 91.9%Boegoeberg (NC) (19.81) 82.6%Olifants/DoornClanwilliam (WC) (121.76) 89.7%BergVoelvlei (WC) (158.58) 60.8%Wemmershoek (WC) (58.71) 59.1%Berg River (WC) (127.05) 88.3%Steenbras (WC) (33.88) 72.2%Eikenhof (WC) (28.85) 65.3%BreedeBrandvlei (WC) (284.29) 48.0%Roode Elsberg (WC) (7.72) 54.6%Pietersfontein (WC) (1.98) 83.9%Kwaggaskloof (WC) (173.86) 45.9%Theewaterskloof (WC) (480.19) 67.2%Duiwenhoks (WC) (6.18) 103.4%Coastal Hartebeestkuil (WC) (7.13) 102.3%Wolwedans (WC) (25.10) 100.8%Krom River (EC) (35.24) 102.1%GamtoosKouga (EC) (125.91) 107.2%Loerie (EC) (3.02) 101.9%SondagsNqweba (Van Ryneveld Pass) (EC)

(46.36) 102.7%

Darlington (EC) (180.83) 41.7%FishGrassridge (EC) (46.19) 16.9%Kommandodrif (EC) (55.87) 94.6%De Mistkraal (EC) (2.45) 105.3%Katrivier (EC) (24.68) 101.1%

Great KeiXonxa (EC) (115.86) 101.8%Lubisi (EC) (158.00) 98.1%Doornrivier (EC) (17.93) 91.2%Waterdown (EC) (37.44) 102.7%Mvoti/Mgeni/MkhomaziMidmar (KZN) (235.95) 86.1%Nagle (KZN) (23.23) 90.6%Albert Falls (KZN) (288.14) 71.1%Inanda (KZN) (237.40) 98.0%Hazelmere (17.85) 93.1%TugelaSpioenkop (KZN) (270.64) 86.3%Driel Barrage (KZN) (8.69) 101.7%Woodstock (KZN) (373.25) 99.8%Usutu/Phongolo/MfoloziGoedertrouw (KZN) (301.26) 80.0%Klipfontein (KZN) (18.08) 43.7%Hluhluwe (KZN) (25.89) 87.5%Pongolapoort (KZN) (2 267.07) 58.7%Jericho (M) (59.27) 80.1%Westoe (M) (59.52) 77.9%Morgenstond (M) (100.16) 61.2%Heyshope (M) (444.94) 95.8%Sabie/Krokodil/KomatiNooitgedacht (M) (78.40) 65.6%Driekoppies (M) (250.92) 88.2%Witklip (M) (12.51) 95.5%Da Gama (M) (13.52) 95.1%Inyaka (M) (123.66) 100.1%

Come and visit us at Electra Mining. Live in Hall 6, Stand J20 at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg on 10th - 14th September 2012. We look forward to seeing you there!

1Thr

ead_

4565

_WAT

Tel: +27 11 248-7000 Web: www.sew.co.za

SEW-EURODRIVE, a BEE company, leaders in the fi eld of geared motors are now able to supply an Industrial Gear Unit that offers more effi ciency for mixing and agitating applications with their MC range of Extended Bearing Distance (EBD) Industrial Gear Units.

In process plants, large axial and radial forces occur at the agitator shaft during agitating processes. Traditional designs solve this problem with separate, external bearings that take on the function of the agitator shaft bearings, a solution that very often proves cost intensive. Our new EBD concept extends the bearing span across the low speed shaft and offers stronger bearings within the gear unit itself, which means that in many cases separate bearings are no longer required in the agitator or an over sizing of the gear unit can be avoided. These high torque MC Industrial Gear Units can be used for the reliable operation of mixers, mounting fl anges, agitators and surface aerators.

SEW-EURODRIVE - Driving the world.

We drive the water industry

Geared Motors \ Drive Electronics \ Drive Automation \ Industrial Gears \ Services


Pump effi ciency EDUCATION & TRAINING

The belief that improving the operating efficiency of electric motors will result in huge savings is a fallacy because the majority

of electric motors used to drive pumps in the water and sanitation sectors are run-ning at acceptable levels of efficiency, normally well in excess of 90%,” says Harry Rosen, director of 2KG Training. “Thus, making improvements to electric motor efficiencies will bring only small savings compared with addressing improvements in the pumping sector.”Rosen indicates that performance im-provements of up to 50% can be achieved by correctly addressing pump operating parameters, suitability and maintenance. “If Eskom’s power generation capacity is taken at 40 000 MW, the pumping load as a percentage of that total is estimated at between 6 000 and 8000 MW. Taking the in-use pump population in South Africa at an estimated 10 000 units, it can be appreciated that introducing improved efficiencies can have a significant impact on operational performance, power consumption read against performance criteria, and maintenance costs.”He says when carrying out a pumping system assessment, hours are spent on site taking performance readings on the deployed pumps and understanding how each pump fits into the overall system. “When you start bringing systems into the equation you need to identify the most efficient way of system operation in order to reduce losses. A three-pump system could be pumping raw water from a dam into a reservoir. When the reservoir is empty, a call goes out to the pump op-erator to run all the available pumps until the reservoir is full, at which stage all three pumps are shut down again. It would be far better to run one pump on its own for a longer pe-riod, thus reducing system friction losses and eliminat-ing system losses. The team operating and maintain-ing the system may not

The course content provided by 2KG Training nationwide concentrates on pump effi ciency and reliability rather than on electric motors as there are signifi cantly higher returns from improved performance in the pump environment.

understand the requirements and may not realise that a substantial amount of energy is being wasted.”Rosen says it is important that r ep r e sen t a t i v e s of all sectors of a pumping scheme attend pump training workshops ‒ from engineers to supervisors to operators and maintenance staff ‒ because of the different levels of understanding of pumping issues.“The operator knows that running a certain sequence of pumps results in higher flow rates, and subsequently more efficient operation ‒ he can decide which pump to turn on because he is on site. He can effect a wide range of changes on the ground. An engineer believes on the basis of information at hand that a system is running perfectly but it is at operator level where there is an understanding of what is happening on the ground.“Our approach is to try and train at all levels within the overall pumping environ-ment, from engineers and artisans respon-sible for mechanical and electrical issues to foremen, instrumentation technicians, and operators. We often find that the ar-tisan repairing the pump observes certain wear characteristics and can identify the problem in the pumping system. “One of our challenges is to make deci-sion-makers aware of the potential savings that can arise from providing staff with the proper training.“The main priority in some municipalities is keeping the pumps running, but if we

change the focus from pump efficiency to pump reliability, the pumps will fail less often but will still be more efficient and use less energy ‒ an efficient pump is a reliable pump. It could be that the focus in that environment should be on pump reliability as opposed to efficiency. That would lead to fewer failures and therefore fewer spillages of sewerage into the environment.“On occasion we are told that funding is an issue but financial aid is available to municipalities through organisations such as the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership, which is active in South Africa. It and other organisations such as US Aid are trying to encourage municipalities to address the issue by mak-ing funding available and by undertaking assessments of a municipality’s pumping environment to identify what remedial work is necessary. In that way they get the upgrade process started,” Rosen says. An estimated 500 people a year attend pump-related training workshops run by 2KG Training, being lectured by local and international experts on understanding pumps and the pumping environment.

A focus on reliability

“

“One of our challenges is to make decision-makers aware of the potential savings that can arise from providing staff with the proper training.” Harry Rosen, director of 2KG Training

-t per


Pump trainingEDUCATION & TRAINING

Index to Advertisers

Abeco Tanks 27

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Atlas Copco 39

Blue Planet 8

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Thuthuka Group 9

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Trenchless Technology IFC

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Veolia Water Solution & Technology 59

Videx Storage Tanks 21

Water & Sanitation Services South Africa OBC

WISA, Department of Water Aff airs and Golder Associates 19

Xylem (ITT Water & Wastewater) 37

Zest WEG Group 35

The comprehensive course covers basic and advanced hydraulics, pipes, valves, diesel engines, vee belts and pulleys, mechanical

seals and various types of pumps. Dudley Willer, knowledge manager at Grundfos South Africa, says that students who attend the 22-week course are either mechanical or electrical graduates, or sales staff from Grundfos distributors who have been identifi ed within their organisa-tions and are in need of the information provided in the intense training course to further their careers in the pump industry.“The full-time course covers both academic and practical training,” says Willer. “Training on specifi c products and solutions is presented by local product

managers supported, when the oppor-tunity presents itself, by specialists from Europe. We make sure we utilise their skills to provide students with the best training at all times.”He states that the course is valued at about R50 000 per student but is off ered free of charge. “The reason we do this is so that we can maintain the pump knowl-edge base and grow the pump industry in South Africa.”

Gonval Store graduated as a top student and was voted by his peers in the 2012 Grundfos graduation group as the best overall student for the year.

Students graduate with specialised knowledge of pumpsThe Vaal University of Technology is one of three technical universities in South Africa that acknowledge the course content and training provided at the Grundfos South Africa‘s academy.

ABOVE The 2012 graduation class at the Grundfos South Africa Academy with Dudley Willer, front left, knowledge manager at the academy and Jonathan Hamp-Adams, centre row left (with glasses), Grundfos general manager. Top student Gonval Store, back right

water&sanitation africa sep/oct 2012

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