WATCH – #NewsYouCanUse: Rand Water explains the purification process

Many question the quality of water provided in Ekurhuleni and even in the City of Johannesburg. Therefore, Rand Water hosted a water purification tour at the water treatment plant at Rand Water Zuikerbosch in Vereeniging on September 14.

Riana Skamagas, from Rand Water, said they follow the safety, health, environment and quality (SHEQ) policy and stated it is committed to standards and risk control of water.

Also read: Rand Water speak at The Household Consumers League

“Rand Water Zuikerbosch is a National Key Point servicing 12 million customers, with four water treatment plants which follow Rand Water values,” said Skamagas.

The tour explained the various water purification processes which included:

Abstraction:

Yvonne Rakobane, process quality manager at Rand Water, said this is a screening process where rubble particles such as fish, grass and even dead cows get pulled from the water.

Also read: #JoburgToday City News – Rand Water Mobile

The water comes from the Vaal Dam to the canal and then flows into the buffer dam where there are over 3 000 megalitres of water pumped daily.

Flocculation and coagulation:

This is when raw water flows into the spiral flocculator where coagulants are added and mixed together.

“Flocculation occurs when the water slows down, and floc is formed,” said Yvonne.

This process is the mixing of raw water with chemicals.

Through the process of poly dosing, the product milk of lime is formed.

Sedimentation:

In this process, the floc will settle at the bottom of the tank, known as sludge, and is pumped out by desludging bridges.

Clear water will form after four hours.

Carbonation:

Water flows into carbonation bays whereby it is stabilised by adding carbon dioxide to control the PH level.

This is also where water will flow into filters with the use of valves.

Filtration:

Water is filtered and goes through a backwash process.

This process is covered in darkness so algae cannot grow and water is not exposed to light.

Disinfection:

There are two chlorine plants on site at Rand Water Zuikerbosch.

In an occurrence of an emergency, HTH is used instead of chlorine.

This may happen if there is a chlorine leak, which is dangerous.

Pumping:

Pumping is a distribution network.

Laboratory Online Instrument Quality is where water is sampled and tested for turbidity, conductivity and chlorine.

The readings are sent to the control room to verify.

Readings are taken every three seconds and placed in a report which is done after midnight.

Also read: Rand Water responds to Vaal Dam sewage reports

The water is then pumped to Rand Water customers such as the four booster stations, Eikenhof, Swartkopjes, Palmiet and Mapleton.

The Mapleton booster station provides water to Ekurhuleni and Eikenhof to Johannesburg.

Water quality manager for Ekurhuleni Smuts Marias said Ekurhuleni has 300 sampling points.

He said they do over 4 500 tests and a sample is taken every weekday.

“For three years Ekurhuleni has been in the top three for water compliance,” said Marias.

He said water quality is always above 90 per cent in Ekurhuleni, where they have a continuous monitoring system.

“I have confidence in our water system,” said Marias.

Water quality specialist for Ekurhuleni Elsie van Staden said sometimes residents’ own plumbing system could create problems with water quality.

“I do not want to insult a consumer, but there is larva that hatch from basins and worms come as a result,” said van Staden.

“Home incidents may occur and Ekurhuleni Water Quality gets the blame,” said van Staden.

“I am happy with the water from Rand Water. I feel more safe with water from Rand Water than bottled water,” said van Staden.

Lebogang Ramashala, Ekurhuleni’s executive manager for customer and stakeholder management, said peak season for water usage is coming up and she urged the public to save water as much as possible.

Be water wise at home

Rand Water’s Water Wise project offered the following water saving tips for households:

Geyser

• Insulate water pipes and geyser.

• Install geysers close to the draw-of points to avoid heat loss from piping water over long distances and large volumes of water being lost while the cold water is flushed out while the tap is open.

• Install solar panels.

Toilet

• Flush only when necessary.

• Don’t use the toilet as a rubbish bin.

• Install a low volume toilet, like a nine-litre toilet.

• Check your toilet for leaks.

• Pick up the flush handle right after flushing.

• Make sure washer in the cistern is fitted properly.

• Replace a tray urinal with a demand urinal.

Hand basin and bath

• Turn off taps while brushing your teeth, washing hair and shaving.

• Fix dripping taps.

• Don’t turn taps open on full.

• Wash hands with plug in place.

• Use cold water to wash taps instead of hot.

• Install aerators.

• Avoid filling baths to depths greater than 20cm.

• Keep water pressure as low as possible.

• Reuse bath water for heavy cleaning jobs like floors and carpets.

Shower

• Take five-minute showers.

• Install water-efficient shower heads (six to 10 litres per minute).

• Switch off water between soaping and rinsing.

• Place a bucket in your shower to collect water and reuse on lawns, shrubs and trees.

Kitchen

• Scrape out dishes into the dustbin before washing them.

• Plug the sink when rinsing glasses, fruit and vegetables and reuse water in the garden.

• Thaw frozen food in a bowl of water rather than running it under water.

• Reuse ice for watering plants, drinking and cooking.

• Keep a bottle of water in the fridge for cold water.

• Only put the necessary amount of water in your kettle.

• Cover boiling water pot with a lid.

Dishwasher

• Buy a water efficient dishwasher.

• Fully load dishwasher on economy cycle.

• Pre-rinse dishes in sink rather than running under water.

• If pre-rinsed, run load on lower cycle.

Laundry

• Wash clothes in cold water.

• Ensure a full load in washing machine.

• If washing is not too dirty, don’t use pre-rinse cycle.

• Buy a water efficient washing machine.

• Buy a washing machine that has different cycle options, choose water-efficient cycles.

• Front loaders are more water efficient.

• Select a machine that offers load detection, so the necessary amount of water is used.