Thirty-seven per cent of South Africa’s water supply is lost in urban infrastructure through leaks, the GreenCape ‘Water Market Intelligence Report 2017’ has revealed.
Launched by Western Cape Economic Opportunities Minister Alan Winde on Thursday, GreenCape’s research showed that 96% of companies reported water as a direct risk to their operations.
“Our current water situation is severe; the Western Cape is experiencing its worse drought in 100 years. Besides us all playing a role in saving water, the current situation also calls for innovative approaches from the public and private sector. We simply cannot afford this,” Winde said.
He pointed out, however, that these challenges should be viewed as opportunities, noting that the recycled industrial water market currently stood at R600-million and was growing rapidly.
GreenCape’s Raymond Siebrits added that it presented an opportunity for households, businesses and industry to invest in water solutions that allow for the saving of the resource and money in years to come.
“There are clear business cases to invest in water reuse, resource efficiency and circular economy solutions for water,” he added.