Department 'encourages' business not to use clean water for production

The Department of Environmental Affairs and Water, and Rand Water will be encouraging businesses to consider using water fit for industrial use instead of clean drinking water to run their productions.

While speaking at Rand Water celebrations for 100 years of existence, Minister Edna Molewa said acid mine drainage (AMD) was a problem that her department and Rand Water needed to actively solve, and use this challenge as an opportunity to expand the country’s potable water base.

Acid mine drainage refers to the water that drains over the surface of acid-bearing rock which has been exposed through mining, becoming toxic as it rises to the surface of disused mines and makes contact with air.

Molewa said that her department sought legal advice, and were told it would be difficult to hold the mines liable for the AMD water, but going forward, policies have been put in place to ensure Now that we have laws and policies with mines

“We have been able to stabiles the central basin, the east basin so as we continue to put infrastructure at the disused mines, and Rand water will be cleaning the water in some of the disused mines”

The CEO for Rand Water, Percy Sechemane that bigger companies were currently using  clean drinkable water which is very expensive to produce, so Rand Water needed to stress the benefits of separating water for industrial use, from water good enough for drinking, and save potable water to meet the rising demand for it.

 “We are going to be talking to number of companies such as SASOL and some mining companies and propose to them that instead them using good quality water that is good for drinking, they must look at recycling their water, and use it for production and industries” he said.

Sechemane said that South Africa was the 30th driest country in the world so it was important that Rand Water got involved in getting mining companies to reuse AMD water to ease scarcity of water in the country.