Water. Desalination + reuse
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C O M M E N T PATRICIA DE LILLE W e are experiencing the most stub- b o r n , i n t e n s e , a n d p r o t r a c t e d drought in recent history. Until May, our approach was to restrict demand and to introduce limited new supply augmentation schemes. We have now decided to plan as if drought will continue inde nitely. A water resilience portfolio response has been developed and supported by profes- sional consultants, some of whom have expe- rience in responding to droughts in Australia and California. Programmes have been established for the emergency and tactical phases, which run until 30 June 2018, and for the stra- tegic phase that runs from July 2018 onward. These initiatives build on the existing drought response of pressure reduc- tion, usage restrictions, and enforcement. We issued a request for informa- tion (RfI) to the market on 19 June, ask- ing for proposals on temporary small, medium, and large size desalination plants to supply potable water. More than 100 submissions were received by the closing date on 10 July. The pro- posed solutions included desalination at vari- ous scales, inclusive of containers, barges, and ships, water reuse technology at various scales, aquifer and borehole options, engineering and infrastructure options, and water demand man- agement options, among others. Based on these proposals our water resil- ience task team has developed a plan to aug- ment the system by 500,000 m3/d (see table, page 24). We envisage that capital expenditure on the immediate and first tranche over the financial years 2017-18 and 2018-19 will be in the region of ZAR 2 billion ($150 million), and the operating expenses will be upwards of ZAR 1.3 billion ($100 million). Costing of the second tranche and the extreme tranche is ongoing. The first tender was issued on 16 August, and for the next several weeks the full num- ber of tenders will be issued. Commissioning dates vary according to a staged process, and the complexities of installation and site prepa- ration. Installations are contingent on relevant licensing approvals. The complexity of running multiple pro- cesses at the same time is a significant chal- lenge: bid specification committees have been appointed; development of bid specifications is in pro- gress; and bids are registered on the demand register. In addi- tion, engineering consultants have been appointed to assist the process. Each batch of tenders will be processed as quickly as possible, through emergency procurement mechanisms. Rapid procurement is further supported by the premier's declaration of the region as a disaster area. The procurement and commissioning of multiple new augmentation schemes in rapid time is one the largest and most complex expenditure programmes in the history of the City of Cape Town. Our existing water and project management sta› are pushing at maxi- mum capacity to deliver the water resilience portfolio response, while at the same time managing the existing water system. Due to the multiple new installations that are envisaged, approximately 80 new sta› , including contrac- tors and permanent sta› , will be hired in the coming weeks to assist with delivering the full extent of the envisaged projects. Patricia De Lille is executive mayor of the City of Cape Town "The most complex programme in Cape Town's history" "More than 100 submissions were sent in by closing the date" Water. desalination + reuse September 2017 In Site 23 PATRICIA DE LILLE