Water, Sewage & Effluent September October 2018 | Page 42

Central to the New Paradigm of
Abundance, is recycling of water
from waste, so sewage becomes
a resource rather than a problem.
environment
with the collapse of many municipalities,
the domino effect is likely to accelerate.
This means that the likelihood of these
dysfunctional sewage works being repaired
using municipal funds, is diminishing. This
is a disaster, because we already have
over 4.2-billion litres of untreated sewage
being discharged daily into our national
water resources. Because of this, the
little water we still have available is fast
becoming unfit for purpose. While the
public is increasingly outraged at the sight
of dead fish and floating mats of congealed
excrement, that is not the biggest risk.
The biggest risk is from microcystin
toxin produced by single-celled organisms
known as cyanobacteria. When these
creatures are distressed, as happens when
they are exposed to the turbulence of a
pump or a filter bed of sand, they release
their toxins into the water. Each molecule
becomes part of the water, so it cannot be
filtered out by conventional treatment. The
active toxin is known as BMAA, which is the
acronym for a complex molecule known as
ß Methylamino – L – Alanine. Technically, it
is an amino acid known as Alanine, with a
complex side chain from the Methylamino
group. Don’t let this jargon scare you off,
because BMAA is very important to you all,
for this is the invisible toxin that is released
from cyanobacteria now found in almost
all South Africa’s rivers and dams. So,
we simply have to get our sewage works
sorted out.
Some financial institutions are showing
interest in developing what they call a
‘cookie cutter’ solution. This would be
packaged in a legal instrument known as
a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), which
protects the capital from the hands of
corrupt officials. Each new SPV is a replica
of the first, hence the cookie cutter model.
Each consists of a technology package,
such as the MBR upgrade noted above,
supported by a financial package that
enables the upgrade to happen in the
first place.
If we accept that water is a flux and thus
infinitely renewable, South Africa has a
bright future. u
About the author
Dr Anthony Turton is a trained
scientist specialising in water resource
management as a strategic issue, with a
robust publication record, contributing
regularly across all media platforms.
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Water Sewage & Effluent September/October 2018