Veolia Water Technologies South Africa was contracted to alleviate Mbombela’s water constraints with three new water treatment plants. Addressing the need for low-footprint, portability and easily maintained water treatment solutions, Veolia supplied three Potable Water Treatment Plants (PWTP™) to Mpumalanga’s capital city.
“Our Water Techno Packages are fast becoming very popular water treatment solutions across South Africa,” says Nishaal Rooplall, Project Engineer, Veolia Water Technologies South Africa. “Not only are these compact solutions a cost-effective alternative to in-ground plants, but their ‘plug-and-play’ and low maintenance functionality makes them ideal for remote locations. Furthermore, these plants are packaged and movable by nature and can be transported elsewhere if the city’s water requirements change.” Water Techno Packages are specifically designed to supply treated water to isolated communities and in compliance with SANS 241 and WHO requirements.
Supplying potable water to Makoko Village
In the first project Veolia installed a packaged PTWP™ to the Makoko Village;a remote village situated 30 minutes from the city that does not have enough potable water for its community’s needs. The PTWP™ is equipped with clarification and sand filter technologies to treat 0.75 megalitres of potable water per day.
Upgrading Mshadza Water Treatment Plant
The second project saw Veolia upgrading the existing Water Treatment Plant at the Mshadza Village, another remote village outside the city of Mbombela. The existing 30-year old Water Treatment Plant utilized older technologies that made it unable to meet the village’s growing potable water demands. In this installation, raw water was diverted from the old plant to Veolia’s new packaged PTWP™ where it used clarification, sand filtration and carbon filtration technologies to treat one megalitre of potable water per day.
Containerised solution for White River Country Estate
Similar to the Mshadza installation, albeit on a smaller scale, Mbombela’s White River Country Estate had an existing water treatment plant that was unable to meet growing demands due to its older systems and technologies. Veolia supplied a containerised water treatment plant that will treat 58 m3/hr of potable water for the Estate. It features clarification, sand filtration and carbon filtration technologies – all packaged into two containers next to the old plant.
Veolia’s Water Techno Packages are designed for ease of service and maintenance, which translates to fewer challenges for plant managers. Supplied since 2005 initially as made-to-order, customized plants, Veolia now supplies these plants as standard, off-the-shelf solution.
The benefit is even greater fabrication speed, with complete Factory Acceptance Tested plants being produced in 10 to 12 weeks according to ISO 9001 quality standards from Johannesburg-based production facility.
The Mbombela water treatment plants are operated locally and Veolia remained on site to provide operator and best-practice training for all three installations.
“This training is of vital importance to Veolia. It not only allows us to educate the community on best-practice water handling but, with proper maintenance and operation, these plants should provide a consistent supply of potable water for the next 20 years,” concludes Rooplall.
About Veolia
Veolia group is the global leader in optimized resource management. With over 163 000 employees worldwide, the Group designs and provides water, waste and energy management solutions that contribute to the sustainable development of communities and industries.
Through its three complementary business activities, Veolia helps to develop access to resources, preserve available resources, and to replenish them.In 2016, the Veolia group supplied 100 million people with drinking water and 61 million people with wastewater service, produced 54 million megawatt hours of energy and converted 31 million metric tons of waste into new materials and energy. Veolia Environment (listed on Paris Euronext: VIE) recorded consolidated revenue of €24.39 billion in 2016.