Circular economy is a system designed to maximize the use of resources and reduce waste by maximizing the use of resources. It is a way to ensure sustainable water energy, food security, and water resources in South Africa. And innovation. On September 23, Government Communications and Information Systems, together with the Ministry of Science and Innovation, the Ministry of Water and Sanitation, and the National Press Club, hosted a webinar to discuss the status of the sewage treatment plant in South Africa. The webinar also discussed innovative measures to address South Africa’s wastewater challenges from a national and municipal perspective and reviewed scientific research knowledge and insights to ensure water security in the country. Roman said that circular economy has been identified as one of the nine priorities in the government’s white paper, which informs the Ministry of Science and Innovation of its ten-year plan.
“The plan is discussing water management, flood risk, extreme weather, water security, all of which are related to food security. All of these are also affected by climate change. It is also focusing on biodiversity, conservation and land use,” he said. Roman said that South Africa is one of the driest countries in the world. “Our rainfall is much lower than the global average. Our strategic water source area accounts for 10% of the country’s land. 44% of our wastewater treatment projects are in critical condition. We suffer losses due to non-revenue water, with an annual loss of approximately 9.9 billion Rand.” He said that the interface between the built environment and ecology is very important, because what is done in the architectural space has a direct impact on what happens in the ecological space, and the ecological space, in turn, has an impact on the architectural space.
“If you have a town or city located downstream of another town or city, the substances that that town or city emits into rivers and streams will have a direct impact on the quality of your water downstream. Respect for connections and the nature of circulation is important,” Rohmann Say. Leonardo Manus of the Ministry of Water and Sanitation stated that 22.7% of households in South Africa do not have access to sanitation services above the RDP level. “This means that we are in a situation where people cannot receive services. Sometimes there are water supply interruptions. Statistics show that the current water supply guarantee rate is 65%, which is much lower than what we need to ensure people have access to water services or meet their needs. 98% as it should be.” He said that one of the needs is hygiene.
“If the water is cut off, it will basically automatically cancel the sanitation service. There are still a lot of undisclosed leaks, which is also a problem when you do not operate and maintain municipal services in the way they should.” Manus said that about 5,258 megaliters of waste flow into the waste treatment plant every day, and its design capacity should be 6,614 megaliters per day. “We used less than 80% of the design capacity, and some of the treatment projects were not operational. Assuming that all waste did not enter the system, this means that if everything does not go through the waste treatment as expected, the design capacity may be smaller.” He said that about 31% of the country’s sewage treatment plants are small in scale, accounting for 4% of the daily flow. “Although 7% of water treatment facilities are large-scale water treatment facilities, they hydraulically contribute nearly 67% of the daily flow.
In other words, centralized sewage treatment plants may have its benefits, but… if problems arise, many problems will arise. “Scientifically speaking, if any problems arise, studying the smaller and micro aspects of sewage treatment projects will lead to much smaller risks and impacts.” Manus said that ordinary South Africans hope that the toilet can be used, so that they have dignity, safe to use, and can ensure their health and hygiene. “When we think about basic sanitation, one mistake we make may be that we only look at technology. We don’t think about the services that are still needed to ensure that the technology remains operational. “When we put down the facility, we let the family make a decision or respond to the needs of the facility to keep it operational.” He said that wastewater treatment projects need continuous attention, operation management, and maintenance.
With information from: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-09-28-water-security-circular-economy-the-way-forward-for-a-sustainable-south-africa-delegates-tell-webinar/
