Low maintenance treatment plants supplied to hospital

6th July 2018

Low maintenance treatment plants supplied to hospital

WATER SOLUTION Veolia's packaged water treatment plants provide potable water to Bambisana Hospital and treats its sewage water

Global optimised resource management company Veolia Water Technologies South Africa recently designed, manufactured and commissioned two containerised, plug-and-play solutions for State-owned Bambisana Hospital, in Goqwana township, the Eastern Cape.

The two packaged low-footprint and low maintenance water treatment plants will provide 120 000 ℓ/d of potable water for the hospital, as well as treat its sewage water for the local community to reuse.

“Our packaged plants solutions are a cost-effective alternative to in-ground plants and are well suited for remote areas such as in the Goqwana township that are situated away from bulk water infrastructure,” says Veolia Water Technologies South Africa project engineer Royston Moses.

He explains that the previous reservoir infrastructure in the area provided an inconsistent supply of water and was therefore unsuitable for the hospital, which requires a consistent supply of high-quality water for its everyday operations.

“Further, our water quality studies indicate that the existing reservoir and borehole water were host to a low concentration bacteria, and displayed high turbidity and slight residual colouring.”

He says the potable water treatment plant features a clarifier, sand filter, carbon filter and a range of chlorine, coagulant, flocculant and acid-base scale dosing equipment, all packaged in a single container to treat the water in compliance with South African National Standard 241, as well as World Health Organisation standards.

Sewage

Moses points out that, owing to a lack of sewage treatment infrastructure in the area, the hospital also required a packaged plant to treat its waste water according to South African General Standard for discharge.

“Veolia supplied its packaged sewage treatment plant that treats 60 000 ℓ/d of sewage water. “These six containers consist of a bar screen, septic tanks, clarifiers and chlorine dosing equipment and cost-effective trickling filter technology to treat the sewage water to a certified reuse standard.”

He says the treated water is now reused by the community for irrigation and agricultural purposes in the area.

Moses explains that the packaged water treatment solutions are preassembled and factory acceptance tested at the company’s workshop in Johannesburg and are fully containerised to protect the equipment from environmental impacts and for security reasons.

“What this means for Bambisana Hospital is that the plants simply needed to be plugged in and switched on when they arrived on site. By lowering manufacturing and commissioning time, we were able to supply these cost-effective water treatment plants in just three months,” he concludes.