Desalination plant quenches Richards Bay residents’ thirst
The plant has been pumping clean water to more than 100,000 residents of Meerensee suburb and surrounding areas
SA’s first large-scale desalination plant has been pumping clean water to more than 100,000 residents of Meerensee, a suburb near the Richards Bay harbour, and surrounding areas.The uMhlathuze municipality, under which this desalination plant is located, says the water is of good quality and is channelled into its supply system. The plant is likely to be of interest to water-scarce Cape Town. In July, the city was expected to issue a tender for desalination plant to produce 10-million litres a day.By 2030 the Western Cape provincial government wants to have installed a desalination plant that can produce up to 450-million cubic metres a day.Richards Bay’s R300m plant is part of public-private partnership between North Coast Water Utility (NCWU), the Department of Water and Sanitation and the uMhlathuze Municipality.The plant was commissioned in September 2016 and opened in October 2016. Two months ago it began pumping salt-free, clean water that is safe for drinking.Sacha Narot, the...
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