Client Press Releases

SA facing water supply crunch – one university study found a solution

29 September

A new study fielded by the Water Research Commission that has revealed that SA had 4% less water than believed coincides with another study at North West University that revealed a pilot project that led to an average water savings of 35%. This study providing useful data for other universities and large multi-purpose facilities as pressure on water supplies intensifies.

Water and energy conservation firm RST (www.rst.co.za) has released the results of a two year study that demonstrate the significant impact energy and water-saving devices can have. The study monitored 3,000 water-saving showerheads and other devices installed in nine hostels across three campuses at the North West University (NWU).

The timing of the study’s findings couldn’t be more pertinent. The Water Research Commission is warning that SA development priorities may have to be re-evaluated while regulators and utilities are preparing to  more stringently control water consumption.

The President of the Water Institute of South Africa (WISA), Dr Heidi Snyman’s added that continued pollution of the country’s scarce water resources will drive up water prices as providers rely on increasingly expensive and complex technologies to plumb new water resources and treat sewerage.

Promising beginnings

The initial results from the study’s pilot dormitory showed much promise and a chance to demonstrate the value of implementing water-saving products on a larger scale. “The university was happy to start installing further shower roses on this basis, but RST and NWU’s project manager, Arno de Beer, saw a perfect opportunity to implement a case study that would provide useful data for any university or large dwelling complex to benefit from,” Matern explains.

Utilising the NWU control centre – nicknamed ‘Meet en Veet’ – Arno de Beer, the project manager responsible for the hot water systems, energy management, and electrical control and monitoring of all the electrical distribution across the three campuses, has been able to collect over two years of auditable data from pressure meters, kilowatt meters and water meters.

According to de Beer, the domestic consumption of water — directly attributable to the some 5,000 students on the three campuses — accounts for 75% of the NWU usage, so the savings achieved are quite significant.