New Veolia Africa Water Initiative

Veolia, water solutions specialist, is laying out a new global vision that will enhance its ability to respond to Africa’s water treatment requirements.

Veolia’s Mossel Bay Plant, Source: Infrastructure News

Ambitions for Africa, a central growth initiative within Veolia Water Technologies’ Transformation Plan describes a range of organisational and technological innovations aimed at increasing Africa’s access to highly efficient, low-footprint treatment technologies through streamlined manufacturing, distribution and service networks.

“The Africa Organisation embraces a new platform of shared services between strategic anchor areas in Africa, including Southern Africa, and Veolia in Europe, enhancing our ability to offer global technology solutions within localised service, support and management structures,” explains Gunter Rencken, managing director, Veolia Water Technologies South Africa.

Aligned with this new organisational framework is the launch of an exciting Standard Product Portfolio, designed to provide reliable plug-and-play water treatment solutions with fast turnaround times for industrial and municipal water treatment requirements in Africa.“Our standard products comprise a range of packaged solutions of adapted Veolia products and technologies for specific market bases in Africa,” Rencken explains.

These include treatment solutions for municipal drinking water and wastewater, industrial process water and wastewater, agriculture, aquaculture, power generation, mining, pharmaceuticals and food and beverage.“Designed to meet the economic and operational realities of increasing the continent’s water security, our standard product range facilitates the provision of proven treatment solutions with short lead times through an enhanced African distribution and service network.”

Innovating sustainability

Today, Veolia’s technologies, such as the trademarked Biothane Memthane®, Biobed®, Upthane® and its clarification range of ActiFlo® and Multiflo® mean, water reuse and the harvesting of biogas are becoming increasingly profitable, rejuvenating both municipal and industrial budgets.

“At a recent dairy plant project in South Africa, for example, we supplied a 1 500 m3/day Memthane® anaerobic membrane bio-reactor to treat the plant’s high-oxygen-demand wastewater in such a way that enables water to be recycled internally, methane harvested and incinerated in boilers and dried biomass sold as fertiliser.

This delivers a significant total operating cost reduction compared to conventional technologies, and demonstrates how our technology is reconceptualising waste products as valuable resources that can lower costs and improve our sustainability,” says Braybrooke.

Another important pillar of consolidating future water security lies in desalination technology. While still more expensive than conventional water sources, it does provide a secure solution for potable water production from either seawater or brackish water, where other options are limited.

Veolia is the leading provider of desalination technology in South Africa, having constructed seven seawater desalination plants across the country to date, including the country’s largest at Mossel Bay (at 15 Mℓ/day). It has also supplied brackish water desalination systems to Sasol, Impala Platinum, Eskom and a number of other industrial companies.

Read more: Infrastructure News

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Taxonomy

• Treatment
• Resource Management
• Water Resource Management
• Technology
• Business Strategy
• Water Supply
• Infrastructure
• Water Resource Management