SOUTH Africa’s water transmission network can be significantly improved by outsourcing water and wastewater treatment to private sector experts such as NuWater. The South African Infrastructure Fund’s public-private partnership (PPP) model supports this dynamic view. An example of a PPP in action is NuWater’s agreement with various local municipalities to operate several UF package plants.
Alleviating Water Stress Since 2015
The initial capacity at a municipal water treatment plant in 2015 was six megalitres per day. NuWater successfully increased the plant’s ability to 15 megalitres at the beginning of 2019 and installed the last five megalitres per day later.
Now the plant treats 20 megalitres per day, while it has already treated over nine billion litres of water to a potable standard.
Still Going Strong
In February 2020, NuWater approached a South African municipality with a voluntary bid to supply additional water using a Seawater Reverse Osmosis plant. The proposal was accepted in 2021 due to an ongoing water crisis, which started with the severe drought in 2018. The daily water requirements for the region fluctuate between 6-8Mℓ/day, and the previous water treatment plant failed to deliver the required output.
NuWater supplied the infrastructure to connect the water treatment plant to the existing network along with all the necessary process equipment. An operation and maintenance contract supports the delivery of infrastructure and equipment to ensure the plant is operated as efficiently as possible. Given the crisis and the severe lack of water, 0.25Mℓ/day is provided to the city free of charge.
For further information visit: https://nuwater.com/
