Water Affairs Mulling Standardisation of Wastewater Treatment Technologies
Wednesday, 30 March 2011 |  Schalk Burger  |  0 comment

Image by Defmo

The Department of Water Affairs (DWA) is considering standardising wastewater treatment technologies following the installation of high-end technologies at municipalities, at high capital and operational costs. But the muncipalities have proved unable to afford, run or maintain these systems efficiently.

DWA water services regulations director Leonardo Manus says that these technologies continue to be implemented despite smaller or periurban municipalities being unable to afford, operate or maintain them.

“While the department welcomes technological innovation that has proven its effectiveness elsewhere, it believes that a situation where high-technology plants are built in municipalities that do not have the necessary revenue base to ensure adequate maintenance may cause long-term inefficiencies in the country,” he says.

“The DWA is considering the standardisation of wastewater treatment technology to protect future generations from inheriting engineering marvels at unaffordable costs,” Manus states.

Further, he warns that rising electricity prices will also increase the overall cost of operating these treatment facilities, prompting engineers to reconsider the design of high-energy-demanding treatment options.

However, the urgent improvement in managing the current wastewater infrastructure is a top priority, he adds.

“The state of wastewater collection and treatment infrastructure varies from excellent to poor across the country. Treatment facilities, such as the City of Johannesburg’s Northern Works, which is the largest in the country, are being operated to produce effluent that complies with far stricter water quality limits than required by the licence,” he says.

Simultaneously, there is still significant concern about the condition of many treatment works, where inadequate refurbishment and maintenance investment, together with a lack of understanding and skill at both management and operational level, sees continued deterioration.

The DWA is expediting various regulatory intervention models at this stage to inform the next steps to be taken in addition to the current support provided and the conventional regulatory adherence required.

“The incentive-based initiative, the Green Drop certification programme, ensures that all municipal wastewater treatment facilities are subjected to a uniform assessment process to verify the management, operations and performance-efficacy levels of all systems. The next report is due in July,” he notes.

Further, the DWA implemented an accelerated community infrastructure develop- ment programme, which helped with the refurbishment of some wastewater infrastructure.

“The point was to choose those projects that best addressed the priorities stipulated in Water Affairs Minister Edna Molewa’s performance agreement, which includes a host of water sector improvement elements. Wastewater service management improvement is one of those initiatives,” Manus explains.

He urges individuals to help to improve wastewater services by not using the sewerage system to dispose of solid waste and to ensure that stormwater does not enter the sewerage system.

Similar, but larger-scale, measures must be undertaken by industries that have greater volumes of waste that are often of worse quality than residential waste.

The DWA will intensify the enforcement of water demand management and water conservation norms and standards to ensure that the ‘artificial’ wastewater loading, such as stormwater intrusion, is reduced. This will generate additional treatment capacity.

Meanwhile, the DWA and the Department of Health are working together to generate intelligence on the surveillance of diarrhoea cases in relation to the proximity of wastewater discharge points. This information is being gathered to produce spatial reporting for further planning and intervention processes, Manus concludes.