Siza Water, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa – Operating reuse scheme incorporating reservoir and treated water augmentation
Siza Water has a 30-year concession agreement with Illembe District Municipality which began on the 1st of April 1999.
Umgeni Water has been the bulk water supplier for the Dolphin Coast since 1999. During the dreadful 2014 drought Hazelmere Dam had reached significantly low levels, taps ran dry, and dams were drying up; various alternatives had to be investigated.
The Frasers wastewater treatment plant had received numerous accolades and underwent rigorous pre-assessments and testing prior to being selected as an alternative source for recycling. In December 2014, JoJo tanks with sand filters had been setup to treat final effluent into approximately 0.5 million litres (0.13 million gallons) of water per day for filling of swimming pools and for construction use only.
In January 2015, appropriate treatment methods to meet South African National Standard drinking water quality standards were established. An independent laboratory had verified all results. Public participation surveys had taken place with 97% of the homes accepting the recycling plant. In July 2016, the Ultrafiltration and Reverse Osmosis systems were commissioned. The direct water reuse plant was designed, built, and operated to produce 3 million litres (0.79 million gallons) of drinking water per day. It has since been upgraded with a reverse osmosis system that can treat the brine produced by the previous reverse osmosis skids.
The plant currently supplies reuse water to consumers within the Ballito and Zimbali areas. Rigorous sampling and testing at various points within the plants takes place by both the internal and external laboratories.
Site visits are available upon request.