Western Cape needs to plan for long-term solutions to years of drought ahead

LONG- TERM solutions are needed for resolving the water crisis in the Western Cape as this is unlikely to be the last of the province’s drought cycles, according to Tjaart van der Walt, a director at AVK Holding Southern Africa, one of the leading valve suppliers for the water, sewage and mining industries as well as fire protection on the African continent.

Van der Walt said steps taken now would need to go a long way towards securing alternative water sources and resilience in the immediate short-term and to spare the region future potential water crises.

“While there is certainly national and even international awareness on the water shortage situation and restrictions being implemented in the Western Cape, what is lacking is widespread acceptance and appreciation for the urgency of the situation.”

He said dam levels in the Western Cape region were sitting at 36-38% full, while last year these levels were closer to 68% and the situation had also been intensified by less rainfall in critical catchment areas during this year’s winter rain season and, without further significant out-of-sea- son rainfall over the summer months or alternative means of water contributions and water saving measures, the region would run out of water before next year’s winter rainfall season.

Van der Walt said although water resources in the Western Cape were in a critical state, this cannot be attributed to poorly maintained infrastructure as the condition of reticulation and non-revenue water management in the region is better than the rest of the country and on par with global best standards.

“Simply put, we hoped for rain and took too long to respond. Action should have been taken sooner, not only in terms of driving awareness to save water and employing water restrictions, but also to invest in alternative suppliers of water. Now, given the state of emergency, the Cape Town City Council is under immense pressure to strictly manage what resources remain.”

Van der Walt said this was not a phenomenon in the Western Cape only, as the region was one of six Mediterranean classified areas across the world that are experiencing huge drought patterns with significantly below-average rainfall. He added that efforts by the city must be commended.

“The council has planned to spend upwards of R3.3 billion investing in urgent alternative projects to remedy the emergency situation and secure resources in the region for the future, though it will take at least a year before the region will feel the difference of these contributions.

The ‘ new build’ projects under way simultaneously as part of this emergency plan are focused in three possible supply streams, including drilling for groundwater, recycling of wastewater, or similar to a city like Dubai that only uses desalinated water, we can recognise the potential to increase the capacities of these alternative water supplies on a much larger scale.”

Mich Nieuwoudt, the chief investment officer at Gaia Infrastructure Partners, said that as South Africa grapples with the drought and increasing water demand from the burgeoning urban population, the development and maintenance of water infrastructure was expected to move higher up on the agenda.

Nieuwoudt, commenting on the crisis in the Western Cape, highlighted the maintenance of leaking pipes and the reclamation of water as some measures to stretch existing supply.

“It is much easier to use the available water more effi- ciently, than to increase supply. For instance, partnering with private plumbing and water experts to reduce leakages, could have a considerable impact.”

Van der Walt said one of the biggest challenges remained to reduce water consumption to as low as possible such as the 600 megalitres a day consumption target as 65% of this water is used by single-residential houses and not by industries and businesses, as might be expected.

He said some single residential houses were recorded to be using more than 20 000 litres of water a month and to address this, the municipality in Cape Town was also looking at installing 70 000 smart meters, which would provide for more accurate assessment of and control over water usage.

“The water crisis will continue to have a negative impact on businesses, industries and the general economy of the Western Cape and as a result, the percentage contributed by the region to the country’s gross domestic product.

“Added to this, because of all the investment into securing alternative water resources for the future, the cost of water in the region will become more expensive, adding costs to business and citizen consumers alike “