Water and Sanitation Mayco Member, Dr Zahid Badroodien, Water Research Commission CEO, Dr Jennifer Molwantwa, Dr Risimati Mathye from the Department of Water and Sanitation and IWA Conference Chair, Jay Bhagwan.
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Water experts want the world to know that South Africa is a major player in the water security space, and is not only learning from others, but also has a few things it can teach.
This was the sentiment that emerged from the experts who addressed the media on Monday at the 14th International Water Association (IWA) International Conference on Water Reclamation and Reuse taking place until 20 March 2025.
Water re-use is increasingly at the forefront of realistic alternatives to rapidly diminishing supplies of existing water resources (largely surface and groundwater). It is the process of treating and reusing water from various sources for beneficial purposes by using the latest technologies, wastewater can be treated to meet drinking water standards.
Water Research Commission CEO, Dr Jennifer Molwantwa, said that research has to translate into either policy influence, into new knowledge, and into supporting government spheres in order to find answers to complex challenges that they have.
“In this issue around water reclamation and reuse, we know that the Water Research Commission has been in this business for a very, very long time. However, it is remarkable that when names of those countries that have pioneered this or that are leading in these technologies are mentioned, South Africa is not mentioned… and we are here to change that game plan.
“We are here to say that we need to be counted, we need to be acknowledged, and when we have brought the world here, about over 700 people, about 55 countries of the world represented, we are not here to just learn from others. We are here to also teach others a lot,” Molwantwa said.
She also appealed to the media to help change the myth around water reuse and that people will get sick.
Dr Risimati Mathye from the Department of Water and Sanitation said that some of the intermediate water supply issues current facing the different communities and areas have to do with the water articulation losses in the system, but the department is now integrating other sources of water into the water mix, due to SA being a water-scarce country.
“We enjoy most of the summer seasons. We are a semi-arid country, which means we have less rainfall. In our country for years, as Dr. Jennifer and the team will have told you quite a lot, that we are not going to get any more original water in the world. South Africa is one of those countries that we are ranked among the top 30 of the driest countries.
“Now, water mix for us, and water reuse and reclamation is what the department is actually championing in the more climate-resilient areas like our country.”
Water and Sanitation Mayco Member, Dr Zahid Badroodien said that while Cape Town's water journey has been a tough one, it provided a learning opportunity “especially as we made our way through the drought”.
“Those lessons (we got) from the drought, ultimately being the need to diversify our water sources. For too long as a municipality, there was an over-reliance on our surface water, which essentially then led us to the difficult challenges in the heart of the drought - with drastic restrictions and drastic reductions in water usage and water allowances that were then put in place by the province and then also the city in itself.”
He said the lessons from that manifested itself in their water strategy “moving away from surface water to desalinated water and water reuse”.
“We've just recently taken over our Zandvliet Wastewater Treatment works, which is a world-class, state-of-the-art, wastewater treatment facility that will ultimately be linked to our Faure New Water Project at our Faure Water Treatment Plant as a first, and I think one of the largest water treatment, and water reuse projects on our continent,” Badroodien said.
“In addition, our mayor has been quite clear, that investments in the water and sanitation sector not being a choice. It's something that must be done…so, over the next three years, as I shared as well, we're investing about 120 billion rand over the next 10 years in our capital pipeline, 42% of which will go straight into our water and sanitation program, which gives an indication at least of how serious we are in dealing with the need and the urgency of investing in the sector.”
Cape Argus
