News / National
US$110 000 to explore waste recycling in Bulawayo
26 Jun 2023 at 01:46hrs | Views
BULAWAYO City Council (BCC)'s water and sanitation programme got a major boost after it secured about US$110 000 from a Dutch entity, Vitens Evides International (VIE), to conduct a one-year feasibility and public-private partnership study for waste recycling.
BCC last year signed a major deal with VEI for additional funding for its key water projects.
VEI started working with BCC in 2017 under a Nuffic-sponsored training project and in 2018, a Water Operator's Partnership (WOP) under the umbrella of WaterWorX (WWX) started.
The WWX WOP is expected to contribute positively to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 in Bulawayo by focusing on improving operational and financial performance as well as increasing access to and reliability of water supply to all consumers.
The latest funding from VIE is within the framework of the WaterWorX programme.
BCC has combined water and wastewater financing gaps in the immediate and medium-term estimated at US$142 million with wastewater requiring US$78 million and water requiring US$64 million.
Council introduced a daily water-shedding schedule due to the effects of climate change which have resulted in a decline in water levels in the city's supply dams.
On Friday, BCC met various stakeholders to get their buy-in ahead of the feasibility study.
BCC director of engineering services Engineer Sikhumbuzo Ncube said the project will close the gap between freshwater supplied and demand in the city.
Bulawayo requires at least 167 megalitres (ML) of water per day and the local authority has a capacity of supplying 147 ML.
"The partnership that we have with VIE under this programme may sound not much compared to the funding we have secured to come up with a pre-feasibility study on waste water recycling. Let us take it as a starting point to create confidence to those that can partner with the city, the private companies, banks and other key stakeholders like NGOs," said Eng Ncube.
He said the study will provide the key outcomes that can be used to secure more funding from other organisations.
"It is a key precursor, creating confidence and it is also a way of involving private capital with local authorities. There are so many ways of injecting capital into infrastructure, and in this case being waste water," said Eng Ncube.
"We are being innovative and creating confidence so that the private sector understands that we did not thumb-suck anything. We are going to the ground to do a detailed analysis with the five pillars of social, financial, technical, environmental and political analysis guiding us."
Eng Ncube said despite the potential of the city harnessing water from Lake Gwayi-Shangani, it is crucial to complement Government effort through the use of reclaimed water.
He said although residents are opposing council's proposal for recycled water in their taps, the water can be used for agricultural and industrial purposes, which would help conserve treated water.
"Recycled water will not be as expensive as treated water and it will have a different tariff which will be very attractive to industry players. The city has always had the network to accommodate reclaimed water going to the stadia and schools, something which members of the public may not be aware of," said Eng Ncube.
He said the study also seeks to understand the status and condition of the existing wastewater treatment works and reclamation infrastructure production potential.
He said they also want to investigate the potential uptake of reclaimed wastewater by industrial customers and to assess and document the various public-private partnership financing models, and their pros and cons.
"The study will also give a detailed quantitative study report on the status and condition of the existing wastewater treatment works and reclaimed water infrastructure production potential. The descriptive study also shows a report of all the industries in Bulawayo, water use purposes, water use quantity trends, water quality requirements, and willingness to use reclaimed water," said Eng Ncube.
"It will also include the assessment report of the potential of wastewater recycling for industrial purposes, social analysis, and financial analysis, political and institutional analysis. This also involves environmental feasibility analysis and technical analysis reports on wastewater reclamation and recycling."
WaterWorX project manager Mr Robson Manatsa said some Dutch experts will be part of the programme to assist the local stakeholders in carrying out the study.
"We have a relationship with the City of Bulawayo since 2019 as we worked together under WaterWorX phase one, and we are going to be with them until 2026 under phase two of the programme. Our idea is to help exchange knowledge and expose BCC to how Dutch water operators work," he said.
"We were doing the inception meeting of a pre-feasibility study that the city is going to be undertaking. They submitted a proposal and requested for assistance for the study focusing on their waste water systems and how best they can get the best value out of them."
Mr Manatsa said they availed 100 000 Euro (about US$109 000) for that study.
"Our Dutch experts are going to be sharing experiences and knowledge gathered from the Netherlands on similar projects. The study will help BCC to unlock funding because the study will tell the story that financiers will look at and know the viability and feasibility of the project and the returns that are expected," he said.
BCC last year signed a major deal with VEI for additional funding for its key water projects.
VEI started working with BCC in 2017 under a Nuffic-sponsored training project and in 2018, a Water Operator's Partnership (WOP) under the umbrella of WaterWorX (WWX) started.
The WWX WOP is expected to contribute positively to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 in Bulawayo by focusing on improving operational and financial performance as well as increasing access to and reliability of water supply to all consumers.
The latest funding from VIE is within the framework of the WaterWorX programme.
BCC has combined water and wastewater financing gaps in the immediate and medium-term estimated at US$142 million with wastewater requiring US$78 million and water requiring US$64 million.
Council introduced a daily water-shedding schedule due to the effects of climate change which have resulted in a decline in water levels in the city's supply dams.
On Friday, BCC met various stakeholders to get their buy-in ahead of the feasibility study.
BCC director of engineering services Engineer Sikhumbuzo Ncube said the project will close the gap between freshwater supplied and demand in the city.
Bulawayo requires at least 167 megalitres (ML) of water per day and the local authority has a capacity of supplying 147 ML.
"The partnership that we have with VIE under this programme may sound not much compared to the funding we have secured to come up with a pre-feasibility study on waste water recycling. Let us take it as a starting point to create confidence to those that can partner with the city, the private companies, banks and other key stakeholders like NGOs," said Eng Ncube.
He said the study will provide the key outcomes that can be used to secure more funding from other organisations.
"It is a key precursor, creating confidence and it is also a way of involving private capital with local authorities. There are so many ways of injecting capital into infrastructure, and in this case being waste water," said Eng Ncube.
"We are being innovative and creating confidence so that the private sector understands that we did not thumb-suck anything. We are going to the ground to do a detailed analysis with the five pillars of social, financial, technical, environmental and political analysis guiding us."
Eng Ncube said despite the potential of the city harnessing water from Lake Gwayi-Shangani, it is crucial to complement Government effort through the use of reclaimed water.
He said although residents are opposing council's proposal for recycled water in their taps, the water can be used for agricultural and industrial purposes, which would help conserve treated water.
"Recycled water will not be as expensive as treated water and it will have a different tariff which will be very attractive to industry players. The city has always had the network to accommodate reclaimed water going to the stadia and schools, something which members of the public may not be aware of," said Eng Ncube.
He said the study also seeks to understand the status and condition of the existing wastewater treatment works and reclamation infrastructure production potential.
He said they also want to investigate the potential uptake of reclaimed wastewater by industrial customers and to assess and document the various public-private partnership financing models, and their pros and cons.
"The study will also give a detailed quantitative study report on the status and condition of the existing wastewater treatment works and reclaimed water infrastructure production potential. The descriptive study also shows a report of all the industries in Bulawayo, water use purposes, water use quantity trends, water quality requirements, and willingness to use reclaimed water," said Eng Ncube.
"It will also include the assessment report of the potential of wastewater recycling for industrial purposes, social analysis, and financial analysis, political and institutional analysis. This also involves environmental feasibility analysis and technical analysis reports on wastewater reclamation and recycling."
WaterWorX project manager Mr Robson Manatsa said some Dutch experts will be part of the programme to assist the local stakeholders in carrying out the study.
"We have a relationship with the City of Bulawayo since 2019 as we worked together under WaterWorX phase one, and we are going to be with them until 2026 under phase two of the programme. Our idea is to help exchange knowledge and expose BCC to how Dutch water operators work," he said.
"We were doing the inception meeting of a pre-feasibility study that the city is going to be undertaking. They submitted a proposal and requested for assistance for the study focusing on their waste water systems and how best they can get the best value out of them."
Mr Manatsa said they availed 100 000 Euro (about US$109 000) for that study.
"Our Dutch experts are going to be sharing experiences and knowledge gathered from the Netherlands on similar projects. The study will help BCC to unlock funding because the study will tell the story that financiers will look at and know the viability and feasibility of the project and the returns that are expected," he said.
Source - The Chronicle
