Importantly, the MoU will focus on energy, hydrogen, and water, especially the construction of dams, transport especially logistics and road-to-rail initiatives, as well as the construction of bridges.
The timing is serendipitous, South Africa’s water infrastructure, like many of our counterparts across the worlds, is aging and to add insult to injury, taking quite a beating with the country’s relentless load shedding.
Knowledge sharing can become an invaluable tool in taking the world one step closer to solving its water infrastructure crisis. There are numerous successful projects that pave the way for similar application without reinventing wheel.
Realistically, we have no time to waste, aging and failing water infrastructure leads to water scarcity. Water is crucial to hygiene and health; households deteriorate when water is removed from the equation. Also, water scarcity increases food prices, which again disproportionally affects the most vulnerable members of our society.
The wheels are already turning
The Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority (WMUA) based in New Jersey, US had been facing the drawbacks of an aging water and wastewater (WWW) infrastructure. The system, dating as far as back as1950, could no longer adequately supply WWW to Willingboro’s 34,000-strong community.
Township leaders recognised that the increasing cost of maintaining and operating aging assets, paired with the need to mitigate future risks, meant that improving infrastructure to be resilient and energy-efficient would provide the greatest value to residents.
The project, among others, replaced the outdated and inefficient manual metering system with 13,000 new Advanced Metering (AMI) smart meters. The metering system benefit both township and residents as it provides leak alarms, therefore saving time and costs.
The metering system also provides real-time measurement readings for improved data analysis that delivers a more accurate reflection of how water is being used and where it is coming from. Subsequently, personnel are freed up from manual meter reading to respond to faults int eh system faster and keep up with routine system maintenance.
The WMUA rolled out in partnership with Schneider Electric included the following infrastructure improvements:
- Installation of 13 000 AMI water meters.
- Improved Pollutions Control Plant (PCP) processes including a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant.
- Microgrid which includes battery storage and cogeneration.
- Real-time data and reporting to monitor controls and equipment.
- PCP plant process optimisation including a digester mixing system to the improve circulation and consistency of sludge thickener.
- Energy-saving LED lighting throughout the authority’s facilities.
It is estimated that the project will save the WMU approximately R127 million ($7 million) over twenty years and will have a minimal impact to the rate structure, primarily due to significant savings from process and operational improvements.
Importantly, the upgraded infrastructure will ensure high quality, clean drinking water and safe sanitation that is essential for the daily lives of Willingboro and other communities served by WMUA.
The above project is one of many that illustrates that there a real and tangible solutions to overcome aging WWW infrastructure challenges. Moreover, it outlines the technologies that are making a tremendous difference to the daily management, monitoring and maintenance of the system.
