A new report by the Water Research Commission (WRC) has found that almost half of South Africa’s wastewater treatment plants had “inappropriate” or “less than suitable” technology with respect to their resource base and their capacity to manage and provide effluent quality requirements.
The study, undertaken in conjunction with the South African Local Government Association, said that the municipalities’ technology choices, most often owing to a lack of funding, skills and capacity, compromised the quality and sustainability of service delivery in municipalities.
“When applying the 44% statistic to a comparative national base (consisting of 850 municipal plants), it would translate to approximately 374 plants that potentially have unsuitable technologies in place,” WRC executive manager for water use and waste management Jay Bhagwan.
The existing works were straining under demand, but more sophisticated wastewater systems required more maintenance, more skilled operators and more energy and finances to operate and maintain.
“In many of the small towns, municipalities have revenue bases that are not sufficient to cover the costs of operation and maintenance,” he explained.
Bhagwan attributed the lack of funding to low tariffs, lack of ring-fencing of the functional cost involved in wastewater treatment, inappropriate and unnecessarily expensive technology choices, billing and revenue collection difficulties, besides others.
However, the study showed that the existing systems failed most often because of poor maintenance, lack of skilled operators and lack of capacity, as opposed to inadequate technology choice.
Further, many municipalities followed a “reactive maintenance approach, whereby assets are run to failure”, he added.
“There is a vast range of adequate technologies that are available to deliver against almost any specification set,” said Green Drop project leader Dr Marlene van der Merwe-Botha.
The Department of Water Affairs initiated a wastewater services regulation programme, which had identified “innovative approaches and appropriate technologies” to ensure that the municipal decision-makers made sustainable choices.
She added that municipalities should reduce their reliance on consultants, whose core focus is business, not the broader principles of society, as well as ensure greater scrutiny of the capital funds of the proposed technologies, on a municipality and catchment basis.