A chance to capitalise on drought
We need a can-do spirit to find solutions to South Africa’s water crisis
IT has been 10 years since South Africa first began experiencing blackouts due to power shortages. Initially, we believed that these blackouts were driven purely by Koeberg power station’s maintenance issues. Eventually, it became clear that the pressure was on the whole power grid and that recurring blackouts would become the norm.
This was a shock to many, especially because South Africa is one of the most developed countries on the continent and Eskom is among the world’s 10 biggest power utilities.
We waited for the government to address the issue and, although progress has been made, we are still experiencing blackouts 10 years later. In fact, load-shedding is something we hardly question nowadays.
What is disappointing is the low level of innovation that followed the initial blackouts. We spent more time being shocked by the darkness than on focusing on designing and supporting innovations that could end the power crisis. As a result, we are still looking to Eskom to fix the problem — with only a few start-ups getting traction in this space.
Now the water crisis is upon us. Our country is experiencing its worst drought in decades. Already five provinces have been declared disaster areas, and predictions state the next significant rainfall may be as far away as March.
I sincerely hope that we do not find ourselves in the same situation with water as with power. In the worst-case scenario, human beings can survive without electricity, but not without water. The combination of increasing temperatures and decreasing water supply affects everyone, and most severely the poor — the majority of the population — who already have limited access to water and are most sensitive to rising food prices.
The events unfolding so far are quite similar to the events that unfolded during the early stages of the power crisis. First is the outrage that South Africa is in this situation in the first place — especially since El Niño was predicted many years ago and little was done to prepare for it. Second is that the more we dig beneath the surface of the crisis, the more we realise that deteriorating infrastructure has led to as much as 37% of our water supply being lost to leakages. Third is that we are waiting for the government to propose a viable solution. Without that we would need to start rationing water, as we do power.
I hope the path forward is not at all similar to how we responded to the power crisis. Instead, we need to be looking to propose innovations that could solve the challenges faced by our water sector. It is at times like these that the role of innovative entrepreneurs becomes key to the country’s continued development.
The government is looking into some innovations to fix this, but if history is anything to go by, it will be worthwhile for a wide range of innovators to also look into solutions. Any innovator who can design a viable solution for this problem stands to gain significantly. The water-shortage issue does not just affect South Africa but eventually will affect the entire planet. That is a large potential customer base and an attractive investment opportunity for both private and public sector investors.
Effective innovations can be as simple as figuring out how to quickly address leakages or collect data that could help reduce wastage in the existing distribution system. The innovations can also be as complex as the world-class water management system designed in Australia to address recurring droughts there.
For example, they invented an online system to trade water access rights for the highest water consumer: the agricultural sector.
Locally, this sector consumes 60% of South Africa’s water.
A few other countries are testing ways to make ocean water usable for everyday purposes through desalination systems. The challenge is in making this environmentally efficient and cost-effective. Given that we are not a landlocked country, I see no reason why we should not be exploring such innovation in more depth.
Some extreme innovations include a start-up in the US called Rain On Request that is working on a programme that claims to induce rain within a 24km radius. Singapore pioneered the concept of converting water from “toilet to tap”. As strange as these sound, they are clear proof that when it comes to innovation, opportunities are endless.
We need more innovators to start rolling up their sleeves to help solve this crisis. Not just for us in South Africa, but for all of humanity — we cannot live in a world without sufficient water.
The challenge is in making this environmentally efficient and cost-effective
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