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The recent rains may have fogged our memories of the time when Helen Zille showed us how to bathe in a bucket, but the Western Cape is still a semi-desert region, and Day Zero might become a buzzword once again if we’re not careful.

With Zille’s hygiene in mind, the City of Cape Town is embarking on feasibility studies to investigate the most suitable options for construction, financing and operations of the planned Paarden Eiland Desalination Plant and Faure New Water Scheme, for purified recycled water.

The study will be undertaken by a suitably qualified advisory team, who have been appointed as approved by Council resolution.

In the face of climate change, unpredictable rainfall and a growing population, the City’s plans for a permanent desalination plant is a key project in the City’s New Water Programme (NWP) and Water Strategy, which aims to diversify drinking water supply resources.

The desalination project is expected to produce 50 to 70 million litres of water a day by 2030.

Overall, the City aims to add an extra 300 million litres of water per day from various sources, including desalination, water reuse, groundwater and clearing of alien invasive species.

Progress made on desalination to date includes:

• An independent advisory panel (IAP) of 12 esteemed international and local desalination experts, consisting of scientists, engineers, public health and social science practitioners, was established to guide the City in making informed decisions regarding the establishment of a permanent seawater desalination plant.
• The National Treasury’s Government Technical Advisory Centre (GTAC) appointed a Transaction Advisor on behalf of the City to investigate the most appropriate approach to deliver the desalination project.
• The City together with the Transaction Advisor evaluated the viability of the proposed site for the desalination plant, comparing it with other locations identified.
• The findings of the Section 78(1) assessment were presented to Council in March 2024. Council granted approval in terms of Section 78(2) of the MSA, to proceed with detailed feasibility studies of alternative options for the implementation and operation of the City’s first Permanent Desalination Plant and as well as Faure New Water Scheme (FNWS) (in compliance with Section 78(3) of the MSA).
• These detailed studies will explore various implementation options, including the potential for external mechanisms such as a Public Private Partnership (PPP), and will include among others a value assessment and due diligence assessment of the considered options.
• Through published public notices, the City announced its plans, under Section 78(3) of the MSA, to explore implementing and operating a permanent Sea Water Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) Desalination Plant at Paarden Eiland and a water re-use scheme at Faure (FNWS) through external mechanisms; encouraging the public to submit any enquiries for clarification.
• An environmental impact assessment is underway.

The IAP reviewed the technical, scientific, socio-economic, and regulatory aspects of the project, emphasising the long-term benefits of their input. The City is also pursuing a long-term phase 2 of the Memorandum of Agreement with the Water Research Commission. This will ensure the Scheme development continues the journey with the IAP.

“We are committed to advancing our water security by developing a permanent desalination plant, among all other interventions which comprise the New Water Programme”, says the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation, Councillor Zahid Badroodien.

“By leveraging on a diverse pool of expertise and exploring all feasible options for implementation, we are confident that Cape Town will establish quality technologies in water treatment from diverse sources, which meet safety, technical and regulatory standards.”

There are now about 21,000 desalination plants in operation around the globe, with the world’s largest desalination plant located in Saudi Arabia (Ras Al-Khair Power and Desalination Plant) with a capacity of 1,401,000 cubic meters per day.

Desalination is an artificial process by which seawater is converted to fresh water. The most common desalination processes are distillation and reverse osmosis.

[source:capetown.gov]