Old Mutual’s plant takes it off the water grid
First corporate-based waste-to-drinking-water filtration facility in SA
OLD MUTUAL’S Pinelands office has gone off the City of Cape Town’s water grid. Old Mutual launched its new Water Filtration Plant at its Mutualpark office in Pinelands yesterday, the first corporate-based waste-todrinking-water filtration facility in South Africa, which means that the 166000m² office, accommodating more than 9000 employees and contractors is now officially operating off the grid.
Employees consume about 450000 litres of water a day at Mutualpark and the new plant can produce between 650000 and 800000 litres a day, which will save the city 10 000 to 15 000 kilolitres of water a month, making the office self-sufficient and independent of the regional water grid.
Old Mutual’s chief operating officer, Iain Williamson, said before the installation of the plant the firm had implemented water savings initiatives and reduced consumption at Mutualpark by about 30%.
“By driving mutually beneficial projects, Old Mutual creates shared value. A project like this, which is both cost-effective and responsibly geared to ensuring a sustainable future, is a win-win for all,” Williamson said.
Khiyam Fredericks, Old Mutual’s national technical manager, said the environmental intervention would provide significant relief to the overall water demand in the City of Cape Town as the plant was earmarked to be Mutualpark’s main source of water.
“Our water filtration plant, which has undergone rigorous testing was certified SANS 241 compliant by the national and local governments, making the filtered water drinkable and is earmarked to be Mutualpark’s main source of water.”
“We have been piloting the plant since July 2018 and the results have been impressive.
“Not only is it contributing towards essential water conservation in the drought-stricken Western Cape, it has also encouraged a wonderful uptake in community involvement and participation in some of our water-saving initiatives,” said Fredericks.
Old Mutual’s chief executive, Peter Moyo, said the firm’s responsible business strategy and philosophy was based on its corporate purpose.
“Our responsibility is to inspire a sharedvalue proposition for its customers to help them achieve their lifetime financial goals, while at the same time creating a mutually beneficial and sustainable future for all,” said Moyo.