Sanitation innovation key
It is time for some ‘SaNiTI’ in South Africa’s water purification sector, argues the writer...
VERY FEW countries will masterfully craft a strategy and process which will turn a challenge into an industrial opportunity – which grows the economy, creates jobs and provides universal access to equitable sanitation to all – while solving a water security issue.
“Is this the future of small-town South Africa when the taps run dry and the lights go out?”, said a recent media article referring to situations in Bethal, Beaufort West, Makhanda and several other towns in the Free State, North West, KZN and Mpumalanga.
We need to recognise that this situation is on our doorstep and will continue to escalate due to poor governance, poor capacity, competencies, poor O&M, non-payment and the lack of uptake of innovations and new solutions.
We continue to spread the gospel that we are a water-rich country, hiding behind our history and continuing a behavioural culture which continues to distance us from our constitutional imperative “some for all forever”.
We need to acknowledge that now and in the near future, the water crisis and water security will be key risk factors for the socio-economic stability of South Africa.
Emerging into a new dispensation of 1994, we have made many strides towards creating a secure water future for all South Africans – we changed the law, we drove new infrastructure programmes, increased access to water and sanitation. However, the challenge is far from over as we deal with the last mile issues and those related to that of climate reality.
So, Mr President, why am I and a group of international professionals (including Mr Bill Gates whom you met at the 32nd ordinary session of African Union heads of state) so passionate about innovative, non-sewered sanitation?
It is as someone mentioned that “it is a sin that in today’s times we continue to flush our human wastes in times of growing water constraints”. The sector’s infrastructure-driven culture has blinded us from adopting innovation and disruptive solutions. That is our crisis, continuing to perpetuate this “sin” – where our objective at the city level has become to keep the s*** flowing (ask Cape Town and many other modern cities).
The lack of technology shifts and solutions is one of the key factors, which also contributes to poor and undignified sanitation in informal and rural settlements, rural schools, clinics, hospitals and households. It is time for some SaNiTi in the sanitation sector. Through the use of innovative technical solutions, we can shift the paradigm in which we serve our towns and cities towards more responsible use of our water while achieving the main aim of sanitation – protecting public health and the environment.
There is an opportunity to grow a resource recovery and usage industry, and a service industry for operation and maintenance through the use of innovative products which result in smart supply chain management.
The Sanitation Transformation Initiative (SaNiTi) is an approach conceptualised by the Water Research Commission (WRC) which aims to disrupt the current sanitation paradigm by presenting a new pathway that incorporates the elements described here:
● Off-the-grid sanitation that meets user needs and expectations
● Circular economy principles in which products in the value chain are recycled or re-used with the addition of other revenue streams
● Establishing market needs and demands.
● Presenting a R&D pathway to achieve technical, policy and procurement targets in line with our vision.
SaNiTI presents a national strategic direction for the South African sanitation sector and stimulates a new industry platform for various partners and stakeholders to break away from the current engineering and economic paradigm.
A new paradigm for sanitation which is proposed is based on technology disrupters which can safely treat human excreta and matches user preferences without the need for sewers, and limited reliance for external water and energy supply.
This, Mr President, is the social gamechanger, which alone will free up nearly 30% to 50% of treated freshwater in our water environment, and eliminate pollution pathways from our overburdened water courses, contributing to more longer-term security in water quantity and quality.
I am of the view that we need some decisive leadership from government to invest greatly in the sanitation innovation space if we want to build a water and sanitation secure world.
Next week, the Global and African sanitation community will meet in Cape Town at the CTICC from February 19-22 to advance this agenda under the name of the International Faecal Sludge Management Conference. Let us use this privilege to acquire knowledge and best practice to advance our own cause.
“We need some decisive leadership from government to invest greatly in the sanitation innovation space...”