South Africa is experiencing many challenges in terms of meeting water demand and the country will have to pursue a number of different solutions to engender water security, says multidisciplinary engineering consultancy GIBB senior associate Ron Tluczek.

During a roundtable on Thursday, he indicated that South Africa’s yearly rainfall was only half of the world average, making it a water-scarce country.

Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) former deputy director-general Trevor Balzer added that the country’s water security was under threat, with a 17% supply-demand supply gap expected by 2030, in a “do nothing” scenario.  

There are several infrastructure projects being pursued to help secure water supply in the country, such as the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) Phase 2; however, the project is only expected to start contributing to the country’s water supply by 2026.

In the interim, and to augment such water supply projects, roundtable participants called for the pursuit of innovative alternatives.

Tluczek cited options such as using nonpotable water for irrigation and the removal of alien vegetation that uses a lot of water.

The participants also touched on the proposals to tow and harvest icebergs south of the African coastline.

Tluczek indicated that it may seem like a “pie in the sky” option; however, the LHWP Phase 2 was once viewed in similar terms, and, in engineering terms, nothing was impossible.  

However, Gibb technical executive and project manager Dave Clark posited that money would be better spent on pursing other solutions. He indicated that with the majority of an iceberg being underwater, and it being susceptible to wind and currents, extracting the water would not be an efficient solution.

Balzer emphasised that before pursuing new water infrastructure, the country first had to look at where it was sourcing water from and protect those areas.

In this vein, he noted that the country shared four major basins with neighbouring countries, and relationships had to be protected in terms of water sharing protocols and treaties.

He further highlighted the need to protect ecological infrastructure. He noted that statistics indicate that 50% of the country’s water comes from 10% of its land mass, and a difficulty presented here is that these water sources are the intersection of many activities, such as mining and agriculture.

Therefore, moving forward, Balzer emphasised the need to protect these ecological areas. For example, development has led to a major loss of wetlands, and many more are under threat.

He also noted that, on a personal level, citizens required an attitude change to water, to reduce consumption. This could be done, as evidenced by the reaction to the recent drought in Cape Town, he said.

Moreover, a vital element is managing municipal infrastructure. Twenty-seven per cent of water used in the country is in the municipal space; however, a considerably high amount of 35% to 41% of this is unaccounted for, thereby not generating any income for municipalities, resulting in R9-billion to R10-billion lost yearly.

Balzer emphasised that just by reducing nonrevenue water by improving water infrastructure management, there would be considerable savings in closing the supply-demand gap.

While he indicated that there was will from government to plug these losses, challenges were encountered at a local management level.

Balzer also called for a considerable change in the country’s water mix, which is currently overly reliant on surface water, and must move towards groundwater, recycled sources and acid mine drainage.

Clark emphasised the need to reduce losses of water in the sewerage system.

Balzer posited that through such interventions and with several infrastructure projects being pursued, the country can secure water supply to 2030 and beyond.

However, this requires capital, with this estimated at R900-billion for the next decade, or R90-billion a year. Balzer said currently, 43% of this was funded, and solutions would have to be sought to fund the rest.