Engineers from consulting and engineering services provider Royal HaskoningDHV’s branches in Holland and Portugal have been brought in to transfer knowledge and expertise on the company’s Nereda wastewater-treatment technology to their South African counterparts, as demand is seen for such a solution in Africa.

The technology, which was developed by the University of Delft, in the Netherlands, in conjunction with engineering consultancy DHV before its merger with Royal Haskoning last year, purifies water using an aerobic granular biomass process.

Former Royal Haskoning director advisory for wastewater treatment in the Netherlands Bert Bakker has been appointed as Royal HaskoningDHV South Africa’s market segment leader for water and wastewater treatment since he landed in the country at the end of February.

He will oversee the running of all water and wastewater plants in the country and will be responsible for marketing Royal HaskoningDHV technology packages including Nereda, Crystalactor and Opir.

The first Nereda system was installed in South Africa, in Gansbaai, Western Cape, in 2009, with another installation currently under way in the province.

Nereda process engineer Joana Doutor, who will arrive this month, will be in charge of commissioning and rolling out the Nereda plant in Wemmershoek, in the Western Cape. Construction began in March last year and the commissioning of the plant should be completed by the end of the year.

The project entails the construction of an upgraded sewage treatment works, a new main transfer sewer pipeline from Franschoek to Wemmershoek and an outfall pipeline to the Berg river. Treated effluent will be pumped back to Franschoek through a separate rising main to irrigate parks and sports fields.

The capital cost of the five-million-litre-a-day Nereda plant will be about R40-million, which is significantly lower than that of conventional plants owing to the aerobic granular biomass process needing only one tank and none of the mechanical equipment found in traditional plants.

“It was a bold step for the water sector of the company to bring a senior employee like Bakker to South Africa. As a market- segment manager, he will ensure that we bring international best practices to South Africa. We feel that we are really bringing the world to Africa through his experience and we are also connecting the business undertaken by our sector to the entire group.

“Doutor has hands-on experience as a result of her being a process engineer for several years at a Nereda plant, in Lisbon, Portugal. It is also exciting to bring her to South Africa for a couple of years,” says Royal HaskoningDHV deputy group manager for water Hennie Erwee.

The company is confident about the growth of the Nereda technology in Africa and worldwide.

“There is nothing like it in the world. It has a tiny physical footprint, as it is compressed into one tank, and its biological footprint is also impressive, as it uses 30% less energy compared with other wastewater-treatment solutions.

“Nereda is already extremely popular in Europe and is gaining popularity in Africa and in the surrounding areas. Israel has recently signed a contract to install a plant that can serve 400 000 people. It will be the biggest Nereda plant to date and is the only viable solution, as it will be installed in a valley in a very small area.

“In the Netherlands, there are 25 water boards and most of them want a Nereda system. South Africa has 15 water boards, which we hope will adopt the technology,” says Bakker.

Changing Markets, Changing Business

Erwee notes that Bakker will also be instrumental for the company in dealing with the changing business market.

“Business and the way it is handled have changed dramatically in the last ten years in Europe and we are noticing this change in the South African market,” he says.

Erwee explains that customers no longer look for companies that purely provide consulting services.

“Customers are cautious when spending capital, as budgets are tight. They are looking for more tangible turnkey solutions, like design and build solutions, which Bakker’s experience in Europe will help bring to our clients in the best possible way,” he says, adding that the company wants to introduce European solutions such as self-sustainable water-treatment plants to South Africa.

“In Europe, we have started considering wastewater-treatment plants as generators of energy, heat, phosphates and a host of other products.

“We want to introduce this idea onto the South African market,” says Bakker, who notes, however, that the correct approach is needed to do so.

“In the Netherlands, water boards work out the cost for the lifetime of a plant and the cost for each year that it will operate. This is the best way to make good decisions on projects of this nature,” he says.

“When performing studies on efficiency, the way in which projects were undertaken was reviewed. We realised that when tender- ing for projects, the reams of paperwork we produced which were not read and were hired to do the work regardless.

“We assessed the quality of our calculations and how much of this paperwork we actually needed; we were then able to cut down significantly on the amount of paper- work produced and standardise the way we performed projects in the last couple of years,” he explains.

Bakker says 80% of the way in which a project is carried out is usually similar to past projects, while 20% is specific to a client’s requirements.

“By focusing 80% of our time on asking questions and listening to our clients’ needs and only 20% of our time on the work that is standard, we are able to deliver real fit-for-purpose, satisfactory projects. I want Royal HaskoningDHV to bring this work ethic to our African clients because I strongly believe in it,” he says.

However, he acknowledges that South Africa can also offer solutions to Europe, highlighting the country’s work in desalination and water reuse as some- thing that can be shared with the rest of the world.