The World Wildlife Federation (WWF), South African Breweries (SAB), and the government’s Working for Water Programme on Wednesday launched what is believed to be the world’s first fully quantitative water neutral scheme.

The scheme was aimed primarily at the private sector, and would allow participants to quantitatively balance their water useaccounts through a three-step process of reviewing, reducing, and replenishing water supplies.

Water neutrality implied a voluntary process in which participants would seek to quantitatively balance their water use accounts by both reducing water use, and investing in projects that increased supplies of clean water.

Head of the WWF Sanlam Living Waters Partnership, Dr Deon Nel, explained that, as a start, participants would invest in the clearing and rehabilitation of areas infested with water-intensive invasive alien trees. This would be done in partnership with the Working for Water Programme.

“The impact of these invasive trees on our water resources cannot be overstated. South Africa loses more than 3 300-million kiloliters of water, the equivalent of 26 large dams, annually to these infestations. The fact that the projects makes a significant contribution to job-creation and poverty alleviation, makes it even more significant in the South African socioeconomic context.”

The SAB had also committed two of its breweries to becoming water neutral. The company stated that over the past two years, it had made effective use of the of the company-wide reporting measures on water consumption, which assisted it to report on, manage, and monitor water consumption.

“We are committed to further improving out water consumption performance through creative, collaborative, and coordinated water and effluent management interventions, further reducing our water-to-beer and water-to-softdrink rations, continuing to define optimal water use at all seven of our breweries,” the company stated.

The WWF was urging widespread investment in the scheme, and believed that water should be top of mind for any corporation that was planning a medium- to long-term future in the country.

“If we wish to avert a water-shedding scenario, we need to invest in water security now. Currently, more than 98% of South Africa’s available water supplies are allocated. With limited options left for new dams, ever-increasing demand owing to economic growth and unfavourable climate change predictions, we need to think innovatively about how we manage our water supplies,” Nel said.