OUTSOURCED water treatment could be an answer to the crippling drought in Nelson Mandela Bay within a matter of weeks.
This is according to a media statement supplied by Andre Agenbag, Divisional CEO of EP Water, who said that the company has put forward a proposal to the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) for a drought solution.
While a common response to the metro’s drought has been to drill bore holes, a desalination plant is on the cards by means of taking water from the sea and removing the salt in order to make it usable.
“A South African designed and built desalination plant could be delivering low cost and fresh water to the drought stricken Nelson Mandela Bay area within a matter of weeks.
“We can provide between 2.5 and 10 million litres of potable water to the Coega Industrial Development Zone in the Nelson Mandela Bay area,” Agenbag said.
However, the municipality is yet to explore this avenue.
NMBM spokesperson, Mthubanzi Mniki, said that the metro is still in the planning phase of a desalination solution.
“Desalination is part of the long term water mix for the metro.
“On matters of this nature, a process is followed,” Mniki said.
With this said, it remains unclear when a desalination plant will be operational in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro. The metro, penned in by over 40km coast that boasts a multitude of Blue Flag Beaches, is in the grip of a widespread water crisis. The former NMBM executive mayor, Mongameli Bobani, had recently signed a letter to declare the metro a drought disaster area.
The current dam levels are at 35.28% of total combined capacity as of December 5.
Agenbag explained that the state-of-the-art desalination plant was constructed during the Cape Town drought of 2017 and is owned by EP Water.
According to him, they can deploy the plant to Nelson Mandela Bay within eight to 10 weeks at no cost to the region.
He said, “We can then supply water to clients at fees that are 10% to 25% lower than the cost of municipal supply. Much more importantly, the desalination plant will deliver a guaranteed supply of clean water and reduce the strain on the local municipality. Our desalination plant can double the water allocation for 50 000 to 200 000 people in the region.”
EP Water said that they are still waiting on the municipality’s approval to provide much-needed relief to Nelson Mandela Bay during its crisis, and hope to be able to roll out their plan as soon as possible.
However, Mniki said that there might be a number of companies who can offer the same service as EP Water. Mniki explained, “In the process of considering desalination, a fair and transparent process will be followed when that time comes.”
