Events centre cuts water use

Hand sanitisers at wash basins and paper napkins used

Diamonds are forever but not fresh water, which is in short supply at this year’s mining indaba at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC).

Delegates arriving yesterday at the country’s biggest mining talk-shop washed with hand sanitisers and used biodegradable crockery to reduce their water “footprint”.

CTICC chief executive Julie-May Ellingson confirmed several new measures aimed at water saving at all its events. Even bottled water is being imported from suppliers outside the Western Cape.

“In addition‚ our water account shows the CTICC has already recorded a 42% saving in water consumption for the first quarter of its current financial year compared to the same period last year.

“Indeed‚ our rain water and grey water re-use system has been very effective in reducing our use of municipal water over the past year.”

All hand-wash basins only offer hand sanitisers and linen napkins have been replaced with high-quality disposable napkins to “reduce laundry loads”.

She said CTICC’s water supply would not be affected in the event of Day Zero – when the city plans to cut supply to a large proportion of urban households – because the central business district is one of the areas excluded from cutoffs.

“As such‚ our doors will remain open and we will continue to host all our events.

“The only area that might be affected is air-conditioning‚ which requires relatively large amounts of potable water… we can‚ however‚ assure fresh air is circulated throughout all venues,” added Ellingson.

‘‘ Our rain water and grey water re-use has been very effective