Stormwater harvesting in Durban, South-Africa

Proudly we can update our network on our lock-down-proof-collaboration with Ethekwini Water and Sanitation (http://www.durban.gov.za/City_Services/water_sanitation/Pages/default.aspx) and RHDHV (https://www.royalhaskoningdhv.com/). The week prior to the lock-down in South Africa our pre-feasibility study for the stormwater harvesting and water re-use public-private partnership in eThekwini metropolitan area started, funded by the Dutch governement via the PartnersforWater programme.

With the last official flight by KLM we managed to bring back home our colleagues, who traveled to Durban for the kick-off, before the airspace was closed and the lock-down started. With the flexible mind-set of our partners we managed to continue the collaboration from a distance while working from home in both the Netherlands and South-Africa.

The objective of the project is to investigate the preliminary potential of alternative ways of stormwater harvesting, like Sustainable Urban Drainage (SUD). In this phase we determine the conditions (technical, environmental, financial, organizational and judicial) how to proceed in investing and building the required facilities and infrastructure. The outcome of this pre-feasibility will include a ‘business case’ on stormwater harvesting in eThekwini that should help potential partners and investors to decide to participate in the feasibility.

Sustainable Urban Drainage (SUDs; also known as Sustainable Drainage System, SuDS) is a collection of water management practices that aim to align modern drainage systems with natural water processes. SUDs efforts make urban drainage systems more compatible with components of the natural water cycle such as storm surge overflows, soil percolation, and bio-filtration. SUDs refer to stormwater harvesting techniques specifically suited for urban environments and more focused on infiltrating water than direct capture. 

We have studied the preliminary feasibility and potential for multiple formations for SUD in the eThekwini metropolitan area, and have come to the point in where we can conclude there is potential in the region for SUD. The coming weeks we will work on the contours of a design and link the identified potential to the existing infrastructure.  

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For more information you can contact our colleagues Ruben van der Meulen (mailto:Ruben.vanderMeulen@acaciawater.com) or Maaike Feltmann (mailto:Maaike.Feltmann@acaciawater.com).