Johannesburg Water Silver Ngwenya explains the ins and outs of the facility to attentive CSIR colleagues.
CSIR Group Manager: Contract R&D, Berenice Lue Marais, led a CSIR delegation to Johannesburg Water (JW) Northern Works Waste Water Treatment facilities, for the third time on 6 June 2011 to discuss key collaboration areas as part of an effort to move towards signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in July 2011.
Key areas of discussion included:
- Preventative maintenance;
- Energy management;
- Pipeline integrity materials and biogas;
- Quality control of small enterprises to monitor the implementation of operations, fixing leaks and sewer detection mechanisms; and
- Emerging pollutants research.
Johannesburg Water Innovation and Technology: Manager, Henry Roman, said that the areas of collaboration were however not exhaustive.
Roman said that this collaboration was important because, “Sanitation is not only of national interest, but it is one of the Millennium Development Goalsset by the United Nations, and is of paramount importance to Johannesburg, which has about 180 informal settlements. Unaccounted water is also an issue with most municipalities around the world, accounting for more than 30% of water lost through the distribution network. Reducing this loss will go a long way towards meeting the Department of Water Affairs’ recommendation of reducing water demand by 15%, and is thus an integral part of JW’s Water Demand Management Strategy.
 The CSIR colleagues and the Johannesburg Water colleagues take a short ride from the facilities back to the boardroom for further discussion. |
“Finally, emerging contaminants is a new area of research in South Africa and some of the compounds are already legislated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and European Union, but not yet in South Africa. Thus a project in this area would prepare JW for possible changes in legislation that may regulate the discharge of these compounds from Wastewater Treatment Works.”
Dr Mlawule Mashego, from CSIR National Resources and Environment (NRE) says “With respect to emerging pollutants research collaboration with JW, we hope to co-invest on the research projects in both funding and infrastructure. That is, JW would be expected to provide infrastructure in terms of facilities for sampling and analysing the identified and prioritised emerging contaminants.”
Senzo Makhathini, Contract R&D Manager for CSIR NRE, saysthat this type of collaboration is long overdue considering that in the near future – two decades or so – water is predicted to be a scarce commodity, and that other water boards and academics should consider similar partnerships.
“Interaction with institutions such as JW is critical in creating a coordinated approach to secure our water future of especially in a province such as Gauteng, where demand for water already exceeds local supply,” Senzo said.
“Nationally, NRE has arguably the largest collection of environmental scientists in one organisation. As such, their involvement is important in creating a successful partnership that will have lasting impact on society,” Berenice said.
Mlawule explained that NRE is excited about this project because, “it profiles the business unit expertise particularly with key stakeholders and potential clients in the water sector which is one of the key South African Economic drivers”.
The CSIR and JW met in February for in-depth presentations on each organisation.
 The CSIR and Johanneburg Water colleagues take a moment for a group picture, before a tour at the Johannesburg Water (JW) Northern Works Waste Water Treatment facilities. Back row: Ronell Viljoen (JW), Russell Rimmer (JW), Silver Ngwenya (JW), Wildred Peach (CSIR: NRE), Alastair Galt (JW) and Loyd Tisdale (JW). Middle row: Amanda Nkomo (JW), Enoch Mudau (JW), Berenice Lue Marais (CSIR: Contract R&D), Henry Roman (JW), Senzo Makhathini (CSIR:NRE), Dr Jean Mulopo (CSIR: NRE), Nevil Enslin (JW) and Adries Lotz (JW) Bottom: Dr Kevin Wall (CSIR:BE), Gwarega Dambudzo (JW), Edward Livesey (JW), Dr Mlawule Mashego (CSIR:NRE). |
