Solving the Western Cape’s water crisis and others in Southern Africa through gravity-driven water delivery systems

Published: 03 December 2019

The Trans Africa Water Alliance (TAWA) consortium has announced a far reaching plan - three years in the making - to solve the looming water crisis in parts of South Africa, starting in the Western Cape.  Under the leadership of Dr. Konstant Bruinette, former Chairman of the consulting team behind the acclaimed Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP), the consortium's plan uses the principle of gravity-driven pipelines to bring water to drought stricken areas.

Intrinsic to the plan is that each project will pay for itself over a number of years.

TAWA comprises civil engineers, government partners and other relevant role players.  Although the idea of building gravity-driven water delivery systems for Southern Africa is not new, the significant funding challenges posed have meant that these ideas have, until now, not been implemented to deliver the water  required.

The 2017 water crisis in the Western Cape has prompted TAWA to promote four major pipeline projects to the Western Cape authorities, the Development Bank of Southern Africa, the Trans Caledon Tunnel Authority, Department of Water Affairs and Sanitation and the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission as well as authorities in Namibia, Zambia and Botswana.

The proposed major pipelines are the line from a new dam on the Orange River at Vioolsdrif to the Cape Town Metro; the line from Vioolsdrif to  Swakopmund;  a line from the Kunene River to outside Windhoek; and a fourth line from the Zambezi River to Eastern Botswana and South Africa.

Plans and cost estimates for four smaller pipelines have also been prepared and proposed to various water authorities. These are from the Eastern Cape's Van Der Kloof Dam to deliver water to Port Elizabeth and then to Cape Town; a second line from Boegoeberg to Cape Town; a third from Colenso to Albert Falls and on to Durban, and lastly from western Lesotho to the Modder River to supply water to Bloemfontein.

Bruinette and his team believe these gravity lines will solve the bulk of water problems in Southern Africa. The main constraining factor for water authorities is the funding required for these projects.

TAWA has responded by actively seeking funders for these long term plans.

Less cost than desalination
According to Bruinette, the most urgent project is the construction of a first phase Vioolsdrif Dam on the Orange River, and then to build a gravity-driven water delivery pipeline to the existing Voelvlei Dam, which currently supplies water to the Cape Town Metro water system.
This is so that the Western Cape no longer has to rely only on rainfall and be at the mercy of intermittent, catastrophic droughts.
The cost of the project will vary from US$2.5 billion to $4,5-billion depending on whether the Cape Town water supply quantity is expanded by 15% or to 50%.
The proposed cost is below US$1 per cubic meter which is a fraction of the cost of desalinated water and can be delivered over four years from start of the project to completion.
Later phases include plans to similarly bring water to Swakopmund in Namibia, as well as other drought stricken areas of Botswana and South Africa.

Reliable and sustainable
By way of background, a gravity-driven system allows water to flow through pipelines over vast distances under the force of gravity without the use of external and costly energy sources such as pumping.  Gravity-flow water delivery systems are reliable, cost-effective and can deliver large quantities of water to areas a long way from the source.

In 1986, Lesotho and South Africa signed a treaty to harness the former's abundant water resources. Dr. Bruinette’s engineering consultancy, BKS, in a joint venture with Acres International of Canada, was then commissioned to plan, design and project manage the construction of Phase One of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP).

Since then the LHWP has been acknowledged as a feat of engineering excellence, its essential achievement being the use of gravity fed tunnels and pipelines from dams to divert water from the mountains of Lesotho to water-starved Gauteng and other areas.

Dr. Bruinette explained, “This concept is not new and goes back thousands of years to Roman times.  As long as the source of the water is higher in altitude than the delivery point, the water will continue to flow.  The Romans successfully used aqueducts to move water over vast distances under gravity.  This literally transformed civilization in Europe.  Obviously, modern technology allows us to vastly improve on this ancient system.”

Opportune time
Questions will inevitably arise about international co-operation, funding, environmental impact and many other key issues. These will be answered.
However having worked on the scheme over the past three years, Dr. Bruinette and his partners believe the time is now for government, business, development agencies and other stakeholders to seriously consider an economically-sound and practical solution to the problem of water supply to Cape Town, and other areas in southern Africa, over the next 50 years.

“This solution is not a fantastic pipe-dream. LHWP has shown over more than 30 years that a gravity-driven water supply is a practical and economic way of solving the problem,” Dr Bruinette said. “We are actively engaging with potential investors in South Africa, Europe, USA and the UAE and we need government, local authorities and the general public to get behind this project.” he concluded.

/ends

About TAWA
The Trans Africa Water Alliance (TAWA) was registered in 1972 by Dr Konstant Bruinette an expert in the field of water with over 30 years of experience delivering water successfully to Gauteng via the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP), for which he was the team leader in the early 80's. Thirty years on Phase Two of  the LHWP is underway. The proposed TAWA plan is to supply fresh water from the major rivers in Southern Africa, the Orange River, the Kunene River and the Zambezi River, by gravity with no pumping, to the thirsty countries of Namibia, South Africa and Botswana.

Issued on behalf of:  The Trans Africa Water Alliance (TAWA)
Client contact:            Dr Konstant Bruinette
Email:                          This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Editorial contact:        Kerry Botha
Tel. No.                       083 263 0644
Email:                         This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

About Dr Bruinette
Dr. Konstant Bruinette has a PhD in structural engineering from the University of Illinois, USA, where the National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) funded his doctoral thesis on the Analysis of Space Frames. He received MSc(Eng) and BSc(Eng) degrees from the University of Pretoria – both Cum Laude.

He is a member of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering and a Professional Engineer registered with the Engineering Council of South Africa.  He was for many years a member of the American Association of Civil Engineers as well as a Board member of the Foundation of Research Development, a sister organization of the CSIR.

He is a leader of people and businesses with strong engineering, technical and innovative skills.

Pipes XI Conference sets the Bar High for Local Plastic Pipe Industry

Published: 14 September 2017

SAPPMA’s (Southern African Plastic Pipe Manufacturers Association) PIPES XI Conference that took place at Emperors Palace in Gauteng this past week (4-5 September 2017) has set the bar high for the future of South Africa’s water infrastructure and engineering professionals.

More than 300 delegates from around South Africa were treated to two days of in-depth and world-class presentations delivered by 18 international and 17 local experts on issues relating to plastic piping, water infrastructure and engineering courtesy of the Plastic Pipe Conference Association (PPCA) who sponsored the best speakers of the recent PIPES XVIII conference in Berlin last year, to present in South Africa in a spin-off conference.

According to the PPCA’s Zoran Davidovski, they have had six spin-off conferences around the world since the first one was hosted in Beijing in 2009. “Just as connections are vital in the pipe industry, so too are the connections made between people and professionals in this field, and for this reason we are pleased to see the South African industry so well represented as this year’s conference,” he said, stressing the importance of attending and hosting international conferences.

“Survival needs invention, and the best way to be inspired and to learn is by allowing yourself to be educated and your mind stretched by learning from your local and international peers”.

Highlights of the conference included a keynote address by guest speaker and well-known economist, Dr Roelof Botha, who looked into his proverbial crystal ball to predict whether or not the state capture will force the South African economy into a recession.  Botha offered a closer look at the socio-political landscape of the country and how this would impact the local economy and the plastic pipe industry specifically.

“The next 18 months will be turbulent, but this doesn’t mean there won’t be opportunities for growth.  What we are currently experiencing in our country is a deepening of a democracy. It is important for us to invest in skills transfer, public-private partnerships and to restore the functionality of our leadership.  With effective leadership, smart policies and team work, there can still be a bright future for South Africa,” Botha encouraged.

Other speakers who presented include Tony Radoszewski (PPI in the USA) who presented on “Manufacturing and Infrastructure in the Age of Trump”, Bruce Hollands (PVC Pipe Association in the USA) on “Life cycle assessment of PVC water and sewer pipe and a comparative sustainability analysis of pipe materials”, and Dr Andreas Frank (Polymer Competence Centre in Austria) on “Lifetime prediction of PE100 pipes based on slow crack growth resistance,” to name but a few.

When asked what they thought of this year’s PIPES XI conference and whether or not it had benefitted them to attend, the delegates were very outspoken and full of praise for the level of expertise of the presenters.

“This was a high quality conference with excellent networking opportunities,” said Charl Fourie, Technical Manager at Chemsystems.

“It was a great platform for learning and interacting with my South African and international peers. I was very impressed,” said Neo Mekgoe, Marketing Assistant at Safripol.

“I will definitely attend SAPPMA’s PIPES conferences in future.  I highly recommend it to anyone! I really enjoyed the last two days and learned a lot,” said Werner van Huysteen, Sales Manager at Alprene Plastic Products.

“It was amazing to have these world leaders who are considered to be the guru’s in the field on South African turf and presenting to us. Attending their presentations at international conferences is almost an economic impossibility for South Africans, but having these calibre of speakers here and at such an affordable rate was an opportunity that nobody should have missed,” said George Dilliyannis, Technical Support Engineer at Safripol.

SAPPMA CEO Jan Venter said the PIPES XI conference once again highlighted the importance of pipes and pipelines in civilization and infrastructure. “Water distribution, waste disposal, irrigation and telecommunications all rely on pipelines to function. An extensive network of reliable water and sewage pipelines are essential for establishment and growth of civilization.  Although we find ourselves operating in a tough business climate and the economic recovery has not been what we hoped it would be, the importance of what we are do remains undiminished.  We take a long term view on these things, and will continue to fight for maintaining the standards and integrity of the plastic pipes being manufactured and installed locally,” Venter said.

Davidovski concluded the conference by saying that it is clear that South Africa faces many challenges and resistance to change. However, technology it is encouraging to see that despite this, the technology employed in the manufacturing of plastic pipes is increasing both the quality and the quantity of drinking water to the country and its people.

“Much of the presentations delivered at this conference centred around sustainability and invention.  It is important to remember that these are never cast in concrete... We look forward to seeing what will come out of SAPPMA’s PIPES XII Conference next year, and will continue to keep a watchful and expectant eye on the South African plastic pipe industry which has proved itself to be tenacious, committed to excellence and passionate about raising standards,” Davidovski said.

For more information about this year’s PIPES XI conference, visit www.pipesxiconference.co.za or www.sappma.co.za