Countering Africa’s Water Shortage Through Solar Desalination

The Western Cape Province of South Africa has been afflicted with severe drought for three consecutive years starting in 2015, brought about by El Niño and very low rainfall (1). Consequently, this drought resulted in water shortage in different areas of the province such as the Hessequa Municipality.

To alleviate the water shortage, the municipality of Hessequa together with the French Treasury, funded the construction of a reverse osmosis plant energized by solar power—prospected to be the first of its kind in South Africa (2). The solar desalination plant, which will collect water from the Breede River Estuary, is expected to produce 100,000 liters of water per day (3).

Starting its operation in December 2018, the Witsand Desalination Plant has since then produced more than 10 million liters of drinking water, providing consistent water supply to some 3,000 residents of  Hessequa (4, 5). Apart from addressing water shortage, the solar desalination plant can contribute to reducing carbon footprint as it derives power from solar energy. As prospected, the desalination plant is the first of its kind to be adopted in South Africa.

The plant uses the OSMOSUN technology, a reverse osmosis process coupled with photovoltaic solar energy as a power source, operating without batteries. This technology was established by French company Mascara Renewable Water and operated by South African company Turnkey Water Solutions. Worldwide, this technology was initially adopted in 2016 at Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates followed by plants set up in Bora Bora, an island in French Polynesia, and in Gaza, Mozambique (6).

References:

[1] Masante, D., McCormick, N., Vogt, J., Carmona-Moreno, C., Cordano, E., and Ameztoy, I. (2018). Drought and Water Crisis in Southern Africa. Retrieved from JRC Science Hub website: https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/bitstream/JRC111596/drought_water_crisis_in_southern_africa2018_doi_isbn.pdf

[2, 3] Cape Environmental Assessment Practitioners (PTY) Ltd. (2018, August). Witsand Solar Desalination Plant. Hessequa Local Municipality. Retrieved from https://www.hessequa.gov.za/witsand-solar-desalination-plant/

[4] Africa’s first solar desalination plant a success. (2019, May). Filtration Separation. Retrieved from https://www.filtsep.com/desalination/news/africas-first-solar-desalination-plant-a-success/

[5] Gosling, M. (2018, July 18). Revolutionary solar-power desalination plant coud provide cheaper option, but it needs space. News24. Retrieved from https://www.news24.com/Green/News/revolutionary-solar-power-desalination-plant-could-provide-cheaper-option-but-it-needs-space-20180718

[6] Ferreira, E. (2018, July). France co-funds R8.6m desalination plant in Western Cape. Independent Online. Retrieved from https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/western-cape/france-co-funds-r86m-desalination-plant-in-western-cape-16055049