KSB: The collaborative contribution of neighbouring businesses who establish industrial effluent treatment plants in coastal areas can contribute towards the reduction of harmful pollutants entering our oceans.

Businesses in the manufacturing, industrial and mining sectors, which contribute the most to industrial effluent being pumped into our oceans, would benefit from a co-operative effort with the government as well as other stakeholders to start working towards a workable solution.

Addressing the challenge of industrial effluent entering our oceans, German pump and valve manufacturer, KSB Pumps and Valves, suggest forming partnerships will ensure better quality management of industrial effluent being discharged by various industries specifically those operating near the coastal environment.

Stricter control

“There are a number of rules and regulations that businesses operating in the South Africa’s coastal regions have to adhere to in terms of discharging industrial effluent produced during manufacturing, processing and production. These businesses also have to keep in mind that despite being permitted to discharge in our oceans, being environmentally sensitive is a key part of this exercise,” says KSB senior project engineer Hugo du Plessis.

“The regulations stipulate amongst other things that businesses have to be mindful of the surf zone and estuaries which from part of ecologically sensitive areas in which discharge of effluent of an unacceptable quality can have negative impacts which may ultimately cause degradation with adverse effects economically, socially and ecologically.

He says it should also be noted that coastal areas are popular holiday and tourist destinations which need to have water that should be of a high quality to obtain and maintain Blue Flag Status for our beaches which impacts directly not only on the ecological aspect but also economically.

Industrail effluent 2
High pressure clear water multistage pumps Hyamat V from KSB Pumps and Valves PTY Ltd.

Providing a holistic solution

Hugo continues to explain that KSB has already initiated endeavours on a global scale with German and European banks and investors that specifically target countries who would like to improve their water and wastewater infrastructure.

“As KSB, we would love to get involved in projects like this as we also want to improve the condition of our oceans and rivers and it will be a huge benefit not just for the environment but also for the under-users as they could re-use the treated industrial effluent in their plants and thus also save on water usage,” says Hugo.

The idea is to target those areas where industrial effluent is freely dumped into the ocean – under legislation – and facilitate measures where these international banks and investors become involved to lend funds to the end-users to build industrial effluent plants. In these projects there will be engineering consultants appointed and KSB will be extensively involved in the design of the related pump and valve applications.

Working together

We have met with the potential funders on numerous occasions and they have indicated an interest to collaborate on projects that will initiate businesses and municipalities to start implementing changes in the process of their discharge of industrial effluent, says Hugo. “In the near future, the international team working on this project would meet with the end-users in South Africa namely, businesses and municipalities and start the process of possible funding for new projects or upgrades to existing infrastructure,” concludes Hugo.

For more info, contact Annett Kriel on 011 876 5600 or email [email protected], Web: www.ksbpumps.co.za

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