The need to secure water supplies and reduce dependence on UMngeni-uThukela Water (UUW) board has prompted the eThekwini Municipality to “revive” its plan to build a desalination plant.
Desalination is the process by which the dissolved mineral salts in water are removed. Currently, this process, applied to seawater, is one of the most used to obtain fresh water for human consumption or agricultural purposes.
A plan for such a plant was mooted several years ago.
Head of water and sanitation Ednick Msweli said the City is looking at finding alternative sources of water and will conduct a feasibility study on building a desalination plant.
He said another water source being considered is the water reuse project, saying that plans relating to this were already at an advanced stage.
City councillors want the City to produce about 50% of the water it consumes and source the other half from the water board.
However, Msweli said the realistic target at the moment was an 80-20% split, with the City producing about 20% of the water it consumes.
“We must remember that groundwater is still the cheapest water, projects like desalination are very expensive, but the City is looking at such a project and we will be conducting a feasibility study.
“We are also looking at a water reuse project, some of the processes that are involved in this project are already at an advanced stage,” said Msweli.
He said once these two projects come online, they were expected to produce about 100 mega litres of fresh water each day.
The City is under pressure to address water supply problems, with water outages in areas like Phoenix and Verulam, where residents have been without reliable water supply for extended periods, having sparked protests.
Furthermore, this month UUW will begin a process of reducing the amount of water it is abstracting from the river systems. It has been warned by the Department of Water and Sanitation that it is over-abstracting and needs to gradually reduce this.
The directive led to calls by city officials for residents to use water sparingly as it meant there would be less water available.
Themba Mvubu, chairperson of the
Human Settlement and Infrastructure (HSI) services committee, which oversees the water unit, said: “I would like the City to be in a situation where we are supplying about 50% of the water that we need and we are getting the other 50% from UUW.
“Even if we were to fix leaking pipes and address all the issues around the non-revenue water, which accounts for more than 50% of the water losses that we're recording, the water that is supplied to us by the water board is not enough," he said.
Mvubu said addressing the issue of non-revenue water was amongst his top priorities.
“Close to 60% of the water we buy we ‘do not consume’, that should be addressed. I have asked that we must quantify these losses – how much is lost through leaks, and how much is supplied to communities through tankers as all these constitute non-revenue water.“
The plan for a desalination plant was ridiculed by the DA with councillor Mzamo Billy calling it “a fantasy”.
“This is a costly undertaking that will require serious financing but more importantly, it will need competent leadership.
“The reality is the current leadership under mayor Mxolisi Kaunda and the EFF’s Mvubu has failed to take care of the existing water infrastructure, upgrade it as required and provide stable and sufficient water supply to the people of eThekwini. In essence, none of what they are saying will happen,” Billy said.
Water and sanitation consultant Neil Macleod said between the two options, water reuse was a much more viable solution, adding that there was already a plant in Durban that implements this and supplies water to industrial customers.
He said desalination was typically a five-year plan from conception to when the customers get the water and would be very expensive and water will cost at least double what the City is currently paying.
“The City does not need more water right now, they have enough, all they have to do is implement their plans to address water leaks. More than 50% of the water they buy is not paid for, if they were to address the leaks, consumption could drop by 25% and the City will have enough water,” he said.
Professor Faizal Bux, director of the Institute for Water and Wastewater Technology at the Durban University of Technology, said he was aware that the municipality was currently preparing guidelines towards a policy document on water reuse.
“It is a very detailed document and very stringent on water quality to ensure public safety. There are other metro in SA that are also considering alternative water sources.
“Currently I do not believe that the City has the resources or capacity to initiate and implement these projects to full scale. However, the City should be commended on planning for the future.”
He said other options that the municipality should consider was reducing non-revenue water and implementing a repair and maintenance schedule to reduce water leaks.
The Mercury