Abstract
Gauteng Province is the industrial heartland of South Africa and is one of the few large urbanised areas in the world that is not located adjacent to a major source of water. The demand for water in Gauteng outstripped the local resource of the Vaal River many years ago with the result that the area relies heavily on large water schemes which transfer water from adjacent river basins into the Vaal River basin. The water transfer schemes associated with the Vaal River basin are large by any international standards and the water resource system is one of the most complex and integrated anywhere in the world. As the demand for water continues to grow in Gauteng, the Department of Water Affairs and forestry is investigating the various alternative water resource development options as well as the potential for reducing the growth in demand through water conservation (WC) and water demand management (WDM) measures. From the most recent investigations it has become clear that WDM is no longer considered a possible option but rather a necessity that must be implemented as a matter of urgency. It has been established that even if new water resource development options are implemented, it will still be necessary to introduce the WDM measures. In this regard, several of the large municipalities in Gauteng have already commenced with various WDM interventions, some of which are already in operation and showing significant savings. The paper will highlight the need for WDM in Gauteng and provide details of the latest investigations into the potential savings that can be achieved. Some of the key problems that are hampering the implementation of WDM interventions in Gauteng will be discussed and the measures taken to overcome these difficulties will be explained. The benefits that can be obtained from a potent web-based data acquisition system which is already operational in several parts of Gauteng will also be highlighted. The paper concludes with the clear message that wasting water in Gauteng province is a luxury that cannot be sustained and measures to eliminate the wastage must be introduced as a priority before the situation deteriorates to such an extent that water shortages become a common occurrence.
Highlights
IntroductionTotal water losses from municipal water distribution systems are generally considered to be the sum of the apparent (often referred to as administrative) losses and the real (often referred to as physical) losses or leakage
Total water losses from municipal water distribution systems are generally considered to be the sum of the apparent losses and the real losses or leakage
Preliminary water audits were undertaken for the key demand centres in Gauteng and the surrounding areas which effectively involved developing water audits for 49 separate systems. This was one of the most comprehensive water audit assessments undertaken to date in South Africa and the results proved very useful and informative and are provided in the appropriate Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) report (DWAF, 2006)
Summary
Total water losses from municipal water distribution systems are generally considered to be the sum of the apparent (often referred to as administrative) losses and the real (often referred to as physical) losses or leakage. It was not possible to examine all municipalities and the figures were extrapolated to provide an estimate of the losses for the country as a whole. These preliminary estimates of water loss provide the first realistic estimate of water losses from municipalities throughout South Africa based on a pragmatic and realistic assessment of more than 300 individual water supply systems. The estimated total water losses (30%) for the whole of South Africa is clearly a large portion of the water supplied to the municipalities but is not abnormally high.
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