MechChem Africa May 2018

⎪ Water and wastewater processing ⎪

Is desalination the key to South Africa’s water future? Marcel Ley,Victaulic SouthAfrica, believes that desalination is key to securing our water future and his company’s alternate pipe joining systems could well ensure optimal productivity for these vital water plants.

R ecentdroughtshavecausedmuchof the country to be declared disaster zones, and toavoid thedreadedDay Zero, the only solution appears to be themanner inwhich toutilise the country’s only constant water source – the ocean. “As a predominantly semi-arid country, South Africa boasts in excess of 2 500 km of coastline,” notesMarcel Ley, regionalmanager of Victaulic South Africa – a leading global mechanical pipe joining system company. “Future-thinkersshouldbeconsideringthe ocean as an abundantwater source, following suitwith countless countries across theglobe. This said, numerous nations see less rainfall andhave fewer resources thanours, andhave taken it upon themselves to explore alterna- tive sources of water such as desalination.” The rapid pace at which Cape Town’s desalination programme has had to be imple- mented, Ley says, presents opportunities for companies such as Victaulic to employ its expertise, offering customers a superior and reliable product range, that can be installed quickly and with minimal assembly training. This can optimise construction productivity, ensuring that projects are completed safely, on time, and within budget. Desalination is a technology that is far from new; it has in fact been around for cen- turies. References can be found as far back as the writings of Aristotle in 320 AD, and it is a practice widely used at sea to enable mariners to survive on long ocean trips. Even today, a typical nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier uses waste reactor heat to desalinate 1.5-million litres of water per day. According to the International Desali­ nation Association, as of June 2015, a total of 18 426 desalination plants were in opera- tion worldwide, producing 86.8-million m 3 of water per day, providing clean drinkingwater for some 300-million people. The drought that impacted Israel a few years ago was labelled as the worst in over 900 years, with the nation quickly running out of water. Israel now boasts as much as 55% of its water from its Sorek desalination plant, and has transformed one of theworld’s driest countries into the unlikeliest of water champions. “Keepinginmindthatatemporarysolution

has been found, we have to also consider the possibility of a problem arising in terms of pipe leakage due to incorrect materials or in- adequate joining methods taking preference over what has been proven to work in other successful projects,” says Ley. “We partner with reputable major water contractors around the globe, including involvement in Israel’s Sorek plant, and on a local scale, we deal largelywithVeoliaWater, the company that built the country’s largest desalination plant in Mossel Bay,” he adds. With the business dating back to 1919, Victaulic’s expertise can be seen in multiple projects around the globe. With a focus on water management, its systems have been used in developments such as the Hoover Dam and the Santa Barbara desalination plant. The company’s expertise has successfully proven its worth.

Cape regionfinds itself in at present, one can- not afford towastewater due to preventable situations suchas leaks. That iswhy it is vitally important to ensure quality pipe joining sys- tems are used to minimise leakage,” he adds. “Accordingtothe2017GreenCapemarket intelligence report, as much as 37% of South Africa’s water supply is lost through leaks across multiple cities. Imagine the amount of surplus water we as a country could have if solutions and preventative measures were installed? “In order to help resolve the Cape’s cur- rent crisis, Victaulic is currently partnering on a number of projects with various water consultants such as PCI Africa, Prentec, Grahamtek, and ProxaWater to name a few,” Ley concludes. q

Conventionally, pipingwas joined by methods of welding to ensure a near water-tight fit. This however, according to Victaulic studies, re- quires up to 50% more man-hours on average over the use of grooved couplings and fittings. “Unlike welded systems, a me- chanical pipe joining systemcaneas- ily be taken apart and the same parts can be reassembled,” Ley continues. “The initial installation of the Victaulic system is about five times faster thanwelding, but whenweld- ed systems need tobe reworked, the Victaulic system can be ten times faster. Moreover, the couplings require minimal expertise to install and the system allows for pipe mis- alignment, which greatly reduces associated time and expertise costs. This is hugely beneficial in situations such as the rapid pace atwhichCape Town’sdesalinationplantshavebeen built,” he argues. Ley reiterates the importance of partnering with a reputable brand and cites the cost associated with themaintenanceofweldedpipe,ver- sus simply replacing a couplingwhen the need arises, as a key reason. “In a situation such as the one the

With a focus on water management, Victaulic’s mechanical pipe joining systems have been used in developments such as Israel’s Sorek and Veolia Water’s Mossel Bay desalination plants, as well as the Hoover Dam and the Santa Barbara desalination plants in USA.

May 2018 • MechChem Africa ¦ 33