Water. desalination + reuse

CONFERENCE PREVIEW Recognition for Windhoek's expertise in water reuse TOWARDS THE END of October 2013, about 450 water professionals and academics will converge on Namibia's capital city Windhoek for the 9th International Water Association (IWA) Conference on Water Reuse. Windhoek was chosen to host this pivotal international gathering because it is a pioneer in introducing direct potable water reuse in the world. This will be the first time IWA delegates will have the opportunity to celebrate the technological innovations in terms of water reuse on the African continent. Piet du Pisani, who is the IWA Reuse Conference chairperson and a Namibian water expert, says Windhoek won the bid to host the conference because of its longstanding experience with water reuse. Situated in the middle of the driest country in sub-Saharan Africa, Windhoek has a long tradition of innovative water management. With limited natural resources, an annual rainfall of 370 mm and an evaporation rate of 3,400 mm per year, the city since its first settlement has had to find viable alternative sources of supply. It is therefore unsurprising that Windhoek's reclamation plant, commissioned in 1968, was the first in the world. The New Goreangab Water Reclamation Plant that was built alongside it in 2002, is still the only plant reclaiming sewage effluent and directly turning it into potable water. The City of Windhoek is also special in the way it banks water for the future through the innovative recharging of its aquifer. This aquifer was stressed through years of over-abstraction during periods of drought, but is currently ready to be replenished after an intensive drilling programme that saw the addition of a number of recharge boreholes. Currently, Windhoek is busy constructing a third reclamation plant that will treat industrial effluent to use it for the irrigation of gardens and sports fields. This plant was necessary because of Windhoek's growing population and increasing water stress, and an outdated treatment facility at Ujams. IWA CONFERENCE The IWA conference will run from 27–31 October 2013 and bring water experts from as far as USA, Europe, South America, Japan, China, Singapore. Australia, Mexico and South Africa to Windhoek. These experts will, amongst others, discuss issues such as water for irrigation, potable re-use, desalination, climate change and groundwater recharge. Apart from discussions, participants The New Goreangab Water Reclamation Plant was built in 2002 alongside the orginal reclamation plant, commissioned in 1968, which was the first in the world. | 56 | Desalination & Water Reuse | August-September 2013

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