Desalinated water on the cards for KZN
DESALINATED water will soon become a reality for many residents in Kwazulu-natal but not everyone is happy.
Due to the shortage of rain, desalinated water is among the options being looked at to boost our dams.
Desalination refers to the removal of salts and minerals from extracted seawater. The desalinated clean water is then pumped into reservoirs.
Last week Minister of Water and Sanitation Nomvula Mokonyane launched the province’s first portable desalination plant in Richards Bay, providing water to 150 000 households.
Umgeni Water, is also investigating the possibility of establishing a desalination plant in Elysium, on the Kwazulu-natal South Coast, to boost water supply to Mtwalume where the demand has exceeded the capacity and availability from local resources.
However, environmental activists are opposed to it, citing the severe impact desalination would cause.
The costs that would come with building desalination plants and selecting appropriate technology have also caused concerns and delays.
Corporate stakeholder manager at Umgeni Water Shami Harichunder said the Elysium desalination plant in Mtwalume, if established, will be able to initially produce 2 million litres of potable water per day and up to 10 million litres per day after upgrades.
“This would also be an important platform for Umgeni Water to learn about desalination technology and the cost of producing seawater to drinking water standards. Progress to date has been the completion of a site screening study.
“All sites were screened according to technical, biophysical and social factors resulting in two preferred site locations, with associated seawater intake/discharge and potable water delivery systems being selected,” said Harichunder.
Two potential sites and pipelines will be further evaluated during the planning study which, at this stage, is 85% complete.
“The environment screening assessment is being done in-house and is scheduled to be completed by the end of May. After this an environment impact assessment will be conducted,” said Harichunder.
He said if project milestones and timeframes go according to schedule and if a decision is taken to implement it, construction is expected to begin in November 2018 and final completion due in December 2019. If implemented, the Elysium scheme will be the first desalination plant on the South Coast.
In Durban, environmental activists and the Bluff community have raised their concerns about the newly proposed desalination plant at Bluff.
Shanice Gomez of the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance said they recently found out about the proposed desalination plant which she said involved ethekwini Municipality and the Japanese government.
“The consulting firm GIBB only wanted to meet with us and not with the community, people who will be affected by this development. They were surprised that we had invited the community to a meeting on Wednesday. Fishermen have been in the struggle on the south pier for many years and they recently got it back and once again this proposed development and its interests are going to replace the interests of the people in particular the fisher folks livelihood.
“Apparently this project is a result of investment exchange between the city and Japanese government where they would train our engineers in return,” said Gomez.
A desalination project by Umgeni water which was proposed for the South of Durban was cancelled due to the higher operating costs of the scheme.