The planet is facing a real freshwater crisis.
Water covers two-thirds of the Earth’s surface but, with increasing population growth, industrialisation, mining, agricultural irrigation and the threat of climate change, freshwater is already a critical issue in many parts of the world.
By 2025 1.8-billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, Pierre Gadonneix, chairperson of the World Energy Council, told the World Energy Congress in Montreal, Canada, last year.
In South Africa freshwater resources are under stress and supply shortages are expected to become a major restriction to socioeconomic development.
The challenge is to find solutions to preserve and balance water use throughout the water cycle of domestic, industrial, mining and agricultural uses.
Water resources need to be preserved by efficient transport, reduced energy consumption, minimised losses, improved treatment quality and efficiencies before and after use.
“Water is a critical resource for the world,” says Carlos Pone, chief executive of ABB South Africa.
The rise in countries urgently seeking water solutions has led to ABB supplying desalination plants in the Middle East, Asia Pacific and the Americas.
With the challenges facing the water industry in Southern Africa, the company has supplied the North South Water Carrier project in Botswana, the Mhlathuze water treatment plant at Richards Bay and the Eskom Kendal Power Station water treatment plant.
It has also taken steps to reduce its own water footprint at its operations. Its new green head office, manufacturing and logistics centre in Longmeadow, Johannesburg, uses far less water than conventional buildings and factories.
Rain-water harvesting feeds indigenous gardens and a grey-water recycling system conserves water. Solar energy is used extensively to heat water, minimising the company’s carbon footprint.
Chesney Bradshaw is group communications and sustainability manager at ABB South Africa