The Leading Utilities of the World (LUOW) is a global network of the most successful and innovative water and wastewater utilities. Attaining membership in this network is the gold standard of utility performance. Cape Town received this trailblazing accolade at an award ceremony in Berlin last week, becoming the first city to put Africa on the LUOW map.
See the map: Leading Utilities – Current Members
The City’s Water and Sanitation Directorate worked steadfastly towards this international milestone for more than three years, and are proud to have now joined the ranks as the first member of LUOW from the African continent.
To be recognised as a Leading Utility of the World requires two things: outstanding achievement and innovation in at least three aspects of utility management, and an ambition to continue to drive performance in the years to come.
LUOW currently has 66 members. Cape Town was welcomed together with Athens and Milan, as new members of the network at an award ceremony in Berlin on 9 May. Membership is valid for five years and can be renewed by demonstrating ongoing performance improvements and progress on stated commitments.
After being nominated for membership and following a four-stage selection process, the City was recognised by LUOW for outstanding achievement in three areas:
- response to drought,
- network operations and financial management and,
- for the commitment to implementing the City’s forward looking water strategy
The drought in Cape Town from 2015-2018 was an unprecedented 1 in 590 year event. During this time, the City managed to reduce water demand by 55% over three years through a range of technical, financial and communications measures to avoid a crisis.
Customers also played a significant role by effectively changing their water use habits, to enable the City to become the number one water-saving city in the world.
‘The City has demonstrated innovation in network operations by applying advanced water pressure management beyond previously accepted norms, which saved 70 Ml/day at the height of the drought in early 2018. We were also recognised for sustaining financial performance, by significantly increasing collection rates to fund an ambitious capital programme, while supplying free basic services to 38% of our customers through formal water and sewerage connections, as well as to those living in informal settlements,’ said Member of the Mayoral Committee for Water and Sanitation, Councillor Zahid Badroodien.
Looking forward, the City is committed to becoming resilient to climate change and achieving its vision of a City of hope. In support of this, the Water and Sanitation Directorate is implementing a R50 billion, 10-year capital programme, to address water security, water pollution and basic services. In the next three years, R18 billion has been allocated to improve water and sewage infrastructure. Major projects include the R5 billion upgrade of the Potsdam Wastewater Treatment Works, R1,9bn upgrade of Zandvliet Wastewater Treatment Works, R 1,1 billion for sewer pump station upgrades (paired with generators to help protect against load-shedding), and an increased allocation to replace hundreds of kilometres of aged sewer pipelines.
‘Cape Town has managed to turn the drought into an opportunity, in the spirit of “never let a good crisis go to waste”. The drought created the impetus to set clear goals defined in a Council-approved strategy. The Directorate has transformed itself by creating the capabilities necessary to implement their strategy. During the LUOW application process, the City also benefited from knowledge exchange seminars with other members, learning from their best practices. We can now pass this on, sharing our own experience and practical knowledge as part of this international network and beyond,’ said Councillor Badroodien.
More information:
- About LUOW visit www.leadingutilities.org.
- See Cape Town’s water strategy on the City’s website.
- For the latest outlook on water security for Cape Town, download the latest Water Outlook.
