5th Water Research Commission Biennial Symposium

Symposium offers solutions towards water secure future

Water touches every aspect of our lives. It is the most vital resource for life on earth as we know it. Yet, despite water’s importance to humanity, the world’s resources are increasingly threatened by overuse, pollution, and the threats of climate change. Clearly, disruptive and innovative solutions are required to lock in water security for the future. 

No single entity or sector can achieve success without collaboration and co-operation. The theme of the 5th Water Research Commission (WRC) Biennial Symposium, held over three days from 20 to 22 September 2021, was Re-Imagine, Re-Build and Repeat: Future Proofing Water. This key event in the South African water sector calendar aimed to make a valuable contribution to the promotion of joint efforts to achieve sustainable development and use of water resources for the benefit of future generations. 

The 5th WRC Symposium successfully convened around the virtual table delegates from research institutions, government departments, NGOs and civil society who participated actively in the plenary sessions, thematic and interactive discussions, as well as the side events. Pitched on the WRC’s 50-year celebration, the symposium presented an opportunity for reflection on South Africa’s water research, development and innovation journey, and served as a yardstick for the progress made in achieving the bold vision of highly informed water decision-making through research, development and innovation at all levels.

Delegates enjoyed a content-rich programme curated by seasoned experts from across the global water sector. The format comprised expert panels, specialist technical sessions and innovative technology demonstrations. This is the first time the symposium has been flighted as a virtual event. 

Several critical themes that emerged from the Symposium; each is detailed in the full report. A few notable themes are highlighted in this article. 

Sustainable development and future-proofing water

The future of water research, development and innovation in South Africa lies in enhancing the management of our natural water resources, in accessing alternative water sources and a strengthened focus on the circular and green economies, including the reuse and recycling of water.

To address the world’s biggest challenges —the climate crisis, biodiversity loss and poverty — all sectors of society must undergo major transitions where water is a crucial component. Water security is pivotal for economic growth, sustainable development and poverty reduction. Putting society and inclusiveness at the core allows for more opportunities for representation by various social actors and that becomes an exciting opportunity for the water sector. 

Water is central to building resilience in the face of climate change. The youth must play a central role in building resilience as beneficiaries and protagonists. In particular, the youth roundtable held on the third day of the symposium sought to reflect on the challenges experienced by young people in the water sector and the opportunities they have identified in the sector. 

Strategic partnerships

All Symposium delegates were in agreement that the water sector must continue to capitalise on the strengths of its partners locally, on the African continent and internationally, from the private and public sector institutions, as well as with different layers of government.

A highlight in this regard was the formal launch of the Water Institutes Alliance (WIA), the purpose of which is to provide a platform to promote interdisciplinary and intersectoral co-operation to facilitate the flow of information, exchange of data, joint learning and systemic planning in the water sector. The existence of the Alliance is envisaged to galvanise actors and catalyse multi-stakeholder processes to improve water security in the SADC region, expanding to the rest of the African continent in the medium to long term.

Innovating with new eyes

We cannot innovate while standing still, by looking with the same eyes, by going back to the same places, with the same ideas. Innovation is meant to be our way of culturally evolving to adapt to our rapidly changing dynamic environment. 

The symposium programme included a strong theme anchored on the protection, accounting for and management of water resources in South Africa, and numerous session discussions proposed the re-thinking of water resource management using innovative tools and methods. 

A highlight was the celebration of the one-year anniversary of the Local Government Technology Innovation Forum, a partnership between the WRC and the South African Local Government Association (SALGA). The forum was established to identify, test and accelerate disruptive technology and innovations to enhance the operational efficiency of water services institutions.

Successful developments under the umbrella of the forum include Streamliner, a web-based platform that facilitates access to international, established technology for the South African water sector. The platform also provides access to international funding instruments for innovative solutions.

Access to financing mechanisms

Access to suitable financing mechanisms to meet the needs of sustaining water security are an important aspect for consideration both for the government and the private sector. The session titled Pooling perspectives on ecological infrastructure restoration investment examined unlocking and finding sustainable finance for the restoration of ecological infrastructure and its strategic integration with built infrastructure solutions – particularly as this pertains to alleviating dam siltation in the country.

Data and research

African researchers have the proven ability to lead the research agenda on the continent and to lead SDG integration. This is especially true in water research. The Symposium discussed how we need to improve data collection to better estimate water demand and supply for more informed management, policy and regulatory decisions around water quality and water access.

A greater focus is needed on learning-from-doing — generating evidence through experimentation. The focus on new technological development may become secondary to testing what already exists and generating real-world data to prove the potential and adoption of emerging solutions.

An interesting session focused on citizen science. Citizen science is a form of community participation in scientific investigations, varying from assisting by collecting data or analysing results, to bottom-up practices that design and build new devices and knowledge processes that respond to local needs. It is this latter understanding of citizen science that a range of organisations, including the WRC, have sought to support and take to scale through a range of initiatives. 

This session provided an opportunity to examine current work supported by the WRC that is aimed at building the network of empowered citizen scientists able to collect data on water quality and quantity, in support of better management of water resources. The session highlighted how citizen science is not just a technical activity but can also be seen as a developmental practice with strong potential as a force for good — building democracy and empowering communities.

Improved governance in the water sector

Water governance is becoming an increasingly prominent field of research as recognition grows that many water crises are attributable more to governance failures than resource scarcity. Research agendas are increasingly turning to those aspects of water governance that remain in a state of flux in South Africa. The unfinished business of transforming the water sector and bedding down new models for policy and practice has been shown to cut directly to the heart of many of the persistent challenges being experienced in the sector. The session on governance and transformation provided an opportunity to examine some of the contemporary insights into governance and transformation emerging through WRC-supported research, and their relevance to the pressing challenges in the water sector and beyond. 

The 5th WRC Symposium offered the opportunity for robust dialogue with influencers, policymakers and key decision-makers. Participants engaged in a multilateral and multidisciplinary exchange about the role of research in addressing the challenges of water security. It is expected that the Symposium will serve as the starting point of many future collaborative successes in the water sector.

Learn more here: The 5th biennial WRC Symposium – FUTURE PROOFING WATER

http://5thwrcsymposium.co.za/#single/0

Partnering for sustainable water governance

How societies choose to govern their water resources and services has profound impacts on people’s livelihood and the sustainability of water resources. Access to water is, for many people, a matter of daily survival, and it can help to break the vicious circle of poverty. Improving water governance is therefore essential to alleviating global poverty.

The 5th Water Research Commission (WRC) Biennial Symposium, held virtually over three days from 20 to 22 September 2021, featured one minister and three deputy ministers, who participated in the event on the first day. 

In his opening address, Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu congratulated the WRC on its 50th anniversary and commended the organisation for the non-diminishing purpose that it fulfils. He said the WRC is a significant contributor to research, development and innovation in the sector, but also a significant convenor of the players in the water sector, giving everyone a sense of belonging in the water family. He said the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) is counting on the WRC family to help the department live up to its mantra: Water is Life, Sanitation is Dignity. 

“The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa is the highest law in the land,” Mchunu added, “All obligations imposed by it must be fulfilled. We therefore have a duty to improve the quality of life of all citizens.” He said a robust water security strategy will be implemented to future-proof the country’s water resources.

Mchunu said that the ongoing drought that continues to be experienced in some parts of the country and the Covid-19 pandemic have exacerbated water and sanitation challenges. He urged the WRC to continue addressing water quantity and quality challenges through innovation and new technologies. He said sustained investments in cutting-edge innovative technologies and solutions will revolutionise sanitation. 

He encouraged the water sector to embrace technological innovations and recognise them as the game-changer that is needed to secure our water, now and in the future. He encouraged the sector to be open to new ideas and approaches to deliver water services, and stressed the importance of embracing 4IR and new ways of doing things.

Deputy Minister’s Roundtable

The first day of the symposium also saw the convening of a special Deputy Minister’s Roundtable with the theme Partnering to Build a Resilient Water Sector. Facilitated by lecturer at the University of the Western Cape, Dr Kevin Pietersen, the panel comprised Thembi Nkadimeng, Deputy Minister of the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), as well as Deputy Ministers David Mahlobo and Dikeledi Magadzi of DWS.

Discussions centred around the need for partnership in challenging times and the value of meaningful partnership among institutions to ensure the expected outcomes are realised. Magadzi said the departments such as the DWS, Cogta and the Department of Higher Education, Science and Innovation (DHESI), as well as their research entities such as the CSIR, needed to work with the WRC to make sure South Africa is able to live up to its constitutional requirement of water as a right for all. “We need to work together in meaningful engagements and relationships with communities, especially more vulnerable communities, to ensure that we meet their needs and to do more to ensure that South Africans receive water,” she asserted. “This is a central issue, especially from a socioeconomic perspective.”

Unity of purpose and water for peace

Mahlobo spoke of the diplomatic value of water science and how water can build bridges, as demonstrated in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), where regional water policy provides a framework for sustainable, integrated and co-ordinated development, utilisation, protection and the control of national and transboundary water resources in the region. He said water could be a catalyst for peace in the region.

Continental engagement is also important and the vision of Agenda 2063 for the African continent is also a very important instrument towards achieving the SGDs, including SDG 6, he added.

He then zoned into the national level and spoke of marshalling all citizens in a social compact that can turn this country around. But, he cautioned, there must be a unity of purpose, a unity of understanding and shared aspirations. Access to water is a universal human right and it is captured in the National Water Act. Democratic freedom is incomplete without access to water and sanitation. We need to continue investing in institutions and in RDI to deliver water services.

Some practical and effective solutions

This symposium comes at a very important time in our lives as we face water scarcity and global climate change, said Nkadimeng. In her address she spoke of building a resilient water future through water conservation, demand management and groundwater. Her experience in local government shone through as she emphasised the need for partnerships and the need for addressing aspects related to co-operative governance.

 “As communities we continue to treat water as a resource that is in abundance and 100% renewable. It is renewable, but we have not reached the stage — especially at municipal level — where we are able to live with the levels as defined by the Triple R approach of reduce, reuse and recycle.”

She had some very practical suggestions to achieve the reuse model. “Water saving measures awareness through meaningful community engagement needs to be led by Cogta and implemented by municipalities. We need proper spatial planning and the nine-litre cisterns that are produced and installed as standard on ablution facilities must go down to six or seven litres at most. 

“We need to design wastewater treatment facilities in new ways and retrofit systems to reduce the use of potable water to flush toilets. The municipalities need to retrofit wastewater treatment facilities to reuse wastewater and the funds need to be made available for this. I think rainwater tanks must become commonplace. We also need to explore the sustainable use of additional underground water to complement supply.”

Finally, Nkadimeng alluded to infrastructure financing and suggested looking at the District Development Model. “If we all partner together through this model, it could be easy for the DWS to deal with the governance and planning of water supply in co-operation with entire districts in order to build a resilient water future.”

SaniTI – Sanitation transformed towards dignity for all

The Covid-19 pandemic has underlined the importance of access to safe, hygienic water and sanitation services towards population health and wellbeing. While a significant number of South Africa’s households have access to safe sanitation, reaching those who still lack adequate access requires new and innovative solutions.

Leading this “brown revolution” in South Africa is the Water Research Commission (WRC) under the banner of the Sanitation Transformation Initiative (SaniTI).  This approach aims to disrupt the current sanitation paradigm by presenting a new pathway and a national strategic direction for the South African sanitation industry, allowing various partners and stakeholders to break away from the current binary paradigm to a more dignified and water secure paradigm. The SaniTI initiative was one of the main foci of discussion of the recent 5th WRC Symposium, which was held virtually from 20 to 22 September 2021 under the theme Re-Imagine, Re-Build and Repeat: Future Proofing Water.

Previous apartheid spatial geography planning meant that large proportions of the South African population did not receive adequate potable water and sanitation provision. Full waterborne systems were scarce in these areas. With the advent of  South Africa’s new democracy  in 1994, the government focus shifted to the provision of access to basic water supply and sanitation services for unserved citizens.

While much progress has been made in the last two decades in tackling the huge inherited backlogs, the current urban migration trends along with population growth has meant that municipalities have to deliver sanitation services under challenging planning scenarios. This is especially so in growing informal settlements without formalised housing arrangements, and in government-subsidised housing areas where there is an ever-increasing backlog.

For the former, it is technically challenging to provide sanitation services to individual homes within an informal housing arrangement. The laying of sewers in unplanned housing sites limits the municipalities’ technical approach. Temporary options in the form of onsite solutions such as chemical toilets can be provided but are expensive to implement, while latrine technologies may require frequent emptying cycles in areas not conducive to such a task.

While servicing these challenges, responses become even more complicated when dealing with issues of climate change, growing dry spells, increased droughts and shortages of water in the near future.  Innovative thought is required for building greater water security in the future.  One of the low-hanging  fruits is sanitation.  For too long human waste has been flushed away using large amounts of water (nearly 50% of household consumption).  While it has brought significant health benefits, it has also created a growing complex pollutant to be managed downstream.  Human waste is a valuable resource; it is full of nutrients, energy and useful chemicals, and if approached as such warrants a disruption to the sanitation environment. 

The SaniTI approach to sanitation service delivery points to a strategic re-think of how sanitation is provided; a change to a systems approach in which all aspects of sanitation are interrelated and interdependent that requires the adoption of new business models, such as circular economy and market entry and market-based research as part of its approach.

Symposium delegates heard how the SaniTI strategy incorporates elements of behavioural change, industrial development, policy development for new sanitation, technology standards and regulations, technology testbeds, research, development and innovation (RDI) focused on supporting the strategy and sanitation academy, which will build the next cohort of skill and artisans required to service this new frontier. The outcome will result in:

New sanitation that meets user needs and expectations while demanding less of natural resources. The new sanitation must be replicable on a large scale and the components easily sourced throughout the supply chain.

Circular economy principles in which products in the value chain are recycled or reused with the addition of other revenue streams.

Establishing market needs and demands.

Presenting a RDI pathway to achieve technical, policy and procurement targets in line with the vision.

Creating a sanitation manufacturing industry around the technical advancements and creating several new jobs and employment around this.

The WRC will support transforming the sanitation environment through four programmes that are aligned to the vision of SaniTI:

Re-Engineered Toilets – The scope of this programme includes the development of innovative toilet options that combine the benefits of flush systems and dry sanitation systems while eliminating their limitations (reducing flush volumes, eliminating pathogens and sludge production, non-requirement for laying of sewers, appealing to users). Solutions developed must take into account circular economy principles as part of their design and operation, including the recycling of water and nutrients, energy-saving/generation and capability to generate by-products of commercial value.

Sanitation Sensitive Design – The development of institutional and municipal financial, planning, management, social and communication models that align to the objectives of SaniTI is required for this new form of service delivery to achieve critical mass. The focus of this programme is therefore the development, testing and evaluation of these models to ensure sustainability of approach. This programme addresses institutional and municipal sustainable service provision through incorporation of “sanitation as a business” approaches; creating enabling environments for new sanitation models; training, education and awareness aspects that contribute to sanitation sensitive design; and improved city-wide hygiene behaviours and health indicators.

Municipal Sludge Valorisation – Municipal wastewater sludge and faecal sludge from non-sewered systems are technically challenging to deal with. There is a need for cost-effective solutions to deal with them. The scope of this programme is to promote the development of appropriate and cost-effective techniques for municipal and faecal sludge treatment and/or valorisation. The focus of this programme is on RDI that optimises current treatment options and future valorisation-focused systems.

Sanitation-linked Business (SANIBUS) – The scope of this programme includes the development, inclusion, application and evaluation of business approaches as part of sanitation service provision. Traditionally, sanitation provision is subsidised through the public sector with little expectation of full cost recovery. The private sector can play an important role in accelerating sanitation provision by offering alternate sanitation products and services at appropriate prices, while generating income. This programme focuses on the development, application and evaluation of business plans for the dual purpose of income generation and sanitation provision. This includes market research and analysis, financing arrangements, business legislation analysis, product and service development, business management, and financial planning associated with new sanitation models.

While closing the sanitation gap, innovative sanitation technologies can save freshwater use and transform pollutant pathways to valorisation of human waste while establishing new utility management and processes. This means evolving away from pure hardcore engineering and asset management towards managing and regulating several supply chains. This transformation will embed a new market for sanitation and meet several of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, while ensuring dignity for all. 

Please contact Dr Sudhir Pillay for more information at [email protected]

Solutions sought for addressing emerging substances of concern

Chemicals are part of everyday life, and the chemicals sector contributes a sizable portion to the economy. However, if not properly managed, some chemicals may end up in the environment, posing a human health risk. The current water quality challenges confronting the world are unparalleled, as they are complex and dynamic in nature, calling for fundamental shifts in the way we use, manage and even think about water.

Recently, there has been increasing concern over the presence of so-called “emerging substances of concern” within the aquatic ecosystem. Emerging substances of concern can be defined as substances, both of chemical or biological nature, or of natural or synthetic origin, that have been detected in the environment, but which are currently not included in routine monitoring programmes and whose fate, behaviour and (eco)toxicological effects are not well understood. These substances can further be categorised as global organic contaminants; pharmaceuticals and personal care products; endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs); nanoparticles; industrial chemicals (new and recently recognised); and biological metabolites and toxins, as well as emerging pathogens.

The presence of these substances in aquatic environmental systems such as wastewater, surface water, groundwater and drinking water presents a new water quality challenge and adds more pressure to the world’s water resources, with unknown long-term effects on human health and ecosystems. Thus, addressing water quality challenges due to the presence of emerging substances of concern in water requires a shift from the traditional and fragmented sectoral approach to water quality management to a more integrated and co-ordinated approach as part of one urban water cycle, ensuring that all water users are aware of their responsibility for the protection of water resources and are accountable for the impacts.

One subset of these substances, namely endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) have been known to interfere with hormone actions, thereby increasing the risk of adverse health outcomes, including cancer, reproductive impairment, cognitive deficits and obesity. Current consensus is that EDCs pose a significant long-term environmental risk to the wellbeing of both humans and wildlife.

These potentially harmful pollutants were the topic of discussion during one of the sessions at the 5th Water Research Commission (WRC) Symposium that took place virtually from 20 to 22 September. To date, thousands of chemicals have been identified as potential EDCs. In 2005, a WRC-led co-ordinated programme on EDC research was launched. Since then, EDCs and other emerging substances of concern have been studied in a number of WRC projects commissioned as part of the Water Quality and Health Programme. 

The main aim of the Symposium session was to share research accomplishments under this programme and to track progress towards informing policy- and decision-making on minimising human and environmental exposure to EDCs. Current WRC-funded initiatives include the development of a knowledge hub on emerging substances of concern, tracking the occurrences, sources and levels of these substances and strengthening capacity for risk assessment (including the use of effect-based methods as a proxy) and management.

The sources of EDCs include personal and household care products, industrial, agricultural and pharmaceutical wastes, among others. Routine water quality monitoring for tracking the entry of EDCs into the aquatic environment, managing the risks thereof, including adoption of appropriate water treatment technologies and imposing and enforcement of related water quality regulations, has proven to be challenging for most countries worldwide, including South Africa. This is because of the large numbers of contaminants that have been detected to date. 

To put this into perspective, more than 100-million chemical substances are currently registered in the Chemical Abstracts Service (a division of the American Chemical Society) and about 4 000 new substances are registered every day. This number is expected to continue to increase exponentially, presenting a significant cost and analytical challenges for the monitoring and regulation of these substances in water resources.

Water resources are an important component of sustainable development, thus most problems related to water quantity and quality require co-ordinated national and regional solutions. In this regard, it is important that there is multilateral co-operation for the attainment of environmental management principles and developmental goals, as a means for solving complex water quality challenges due to the presence of EDCs.

Moreover, such solutions should also incorporate a wide range of social, ecological and economic factors in order to account for the roles and responsibilities of human activities on water quality management. Apart from having the right policies in place, active water quality surveillance is a fundamental tool in the management of freshwater resources. 

In the developed world, forensic approaches are increasingly being applied as part of an early warning strategy for water quality changes, as means for chemical pollution control and to enforce compliance to environmental quality regulations. In South Africa, an integrated water quality management model has been adopted, but there is need to strengthen the implementation of this model, in order to give impetus to the national water quality monitoring programmes established under the National Water Act (Act 36 of 1998), as well as to balance the need for water to achieve developmental needs and for maintaining a healthy environment.

Tracking the emergence of new pollutants into the environment requires the use of rapid and highly sensitive analytical technologies, stakeholders heard at the Symposium. Thus, improvements in laboratory analytical methods are necessary for the timeous and accurate identification of these substances, also aiding risk management. Additionally, there is a need to improve and harmonise methods for sampling and analysis for a number of emerging substances of concern, in order to be able to compare and extract meaningful information from analyses. 

For example, methods for microplastics analysis are still at its infancy, requiring further research and harmonisation. As environmental risk cannot be meaningfully assessed for the vast majority of emerging substances of concern, there has been an increased research interest towards the use of effect-based methods (EBMs) complemented by chemical screening and/or impact modelling for water quality risk assessment and establishment of health-based targets for water quality for different uses. 

The main goal of water quality risk assessment is protecting humans and ecological communities in the aquatic environment. Thus, adoption of EBMs as part of a risk-based approach may serve as an alternative method for assessing the cumulative risks from combined exposures to several stressors, including mixtures of emerging substances of concern.

Policymakers are advised to take a precautionary approach when dealing with the issue of potential EDCs. Scientific research is ongoing and will continue for many years into the future. We need stricter legislative control over these substances, and we need to start looking for safer alternatives to avert risks of serious or irreversible harm to humans and the environment.