Water, Sewage & Effluent March April 2019 | Page 16

Wastewater solutions
go to waste!
A technical re-evaluation by the Water Research Commission of this wastewater treatment technology confirmed that IAPS, when
configured and operated correctly, and with appropriate tertiary treatment, yield a final effluent that meets the general authorisation
limit values for either irrigation or discharge to a water resource that is not a listed water resource.
Challenges to implementing a sewage treatment
demonstrator technology in South Africa.
By Professor A Keith Cowan and Richard K Laubscher
C
onfronted with population growth,
continued urbanisation, financial
constraints at local government
level, scarcity of skilled personnel,
rising energy costs together with water
shortages, provision and upkeep of
wastewater treatment facilities should
be an invigorating challenge relished
14
by policymakers, local authorities, civil
engineers, and water technologists.
Instead, the situation for many people is
to bear the brunt of ineptitude, indecision,
and obfuscation while innovators and
entrepreneurs struggle to gain foothold
to implement and demonstrate local
research and development initiatives.
Water Sewage & Effluent March/April 2019
At municipal level, the dire state
of sanitation infrastructure or lack
thereof is clearly evident — as is its
impact. Residential areas and the peri-
urban space are directly affected by
raw sewage, waterborne diseases,
and infections, and the limited water
resource is threatened daily with
pollutants and contamination.
Integrated algal pond
systems
Dwindling reserves of both fresh water
and arable land, along with sustained
escalation in fuel, fertiliser, and electricity
www.waterafrica.co.za