With a rapidly growing population, City of Cape Town officials are working around the clock to expand the city’s water sources.
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According to Census 2022 data, Cape Town’s population is now 4 772 846 up 27.6% from 2011.
The City stated that increasing Cape Town’s water supply sources is critical for accommodating rapid population growth, which has put a strain on existing water infrastructure.
Population growth and climate change pose direct threats to water security in a city prone to drought.
The Water and Sanitation Directorate implemented the New Water Programme (NWP) to increase water supply sources.
The NWP intends to add 300 million litres of water per day from new sources by 2030.
This will include clearing alien invasive plants, extracting groundwater from aquifers, reusing water, maintaining infrastructure, and developing long-term desalination plans.
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Removal of Alien Invasive Species
Conservationists are still working to eliminate alien invasive species near dams, as well as flora and fauna.
These invasive trees consume over 54 billion litres of water each year. According to The Nature Conservancy, this prevents water from draining into the Theewaterskloof Dam, which provides much of Cape Town’s water supply as well as that of neighbouring municipalities and agriculture.
In just six months, the alien invasive clearing programme has replenished 16.1 billion litres of water.
The removal of non-indigenous plants results in 44 million litres more water per day.
Faure New Water Scheme
The New Water Scheme will be built at the Faure Water Treatment Plant and Reservoir in the coming years.
The scheme aims to increase and diversify the City’s drinking water supply to a maximum capacity of 100 million litres per day.
But how will this work? To produce safe drinking water, treated wastewater will be purified using a new advanced water purification plant that follows international best practices.
Groundwater
One strategy for increasing water supply is to tap into groundwater.
The city claims that this will provide an additional source of water while reducing reliance on dams.
This process involves extracting water from underground sources, which is then filtered and treated to meet national standards.
Desalination
The proposed permanent desalination plant, a seawater reverse osmosis plant, aims to diversify the City’s drinking water supply with a capacity of 50-70 million litres per day (Mℓ).
It is worth noting that the infrastructure for the plant has been planned and that technical feasibility studies have been completed.
Treated effluent as an alternative to potable water
Councillor Zahid Badroodien, mayoral committee member for water and sanitation, stated that the City is investing in advanced wastewater treatment technologies to improve its water reuse capabilities.
Currently, treated effluent is used in non-potable applications such as irrigation and industrial processes.
Water shortages in Cape Town
The NWP announcement comes as various areas in Cape Town have experienced water outages this week due to what the City claims is planned work.
The City advised residents to prepare for infrastructure work that would benefit them.
‘Zero-pressure testing and step-testing are part of the installation process for pressure management technology.’
‘Tests are done in advance to see if any unmapped inflows need to be considered before installing smart pressure-reducing valves (PRVs),’ said the City.
Residents in affected areas may experience low water pressure, and some may have no water coming out of their taps for an extended period of time during the overnight testing.
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