CAPE TOWN, South Africa – To provide water in response to the ongoing drought, South Africa will partner with Iran to develop a series of desalination facilities.
With the El Nino weather system leading to one of the worst droughts since 1904, South Africa is looking for alternative water supplies.
According to a report by Reuters, water minister Nomvula Mokonyane said: “Now with the partnership that we entered into through the binational commission between South Africa and Iran we want to go full steam.”
The government is expected to focus on all coastal municipalities in three provinces, including Western Cape and KwaZulu Natal, with Mokonyane quoted as saying “we have been over-dependent on surface water”.
Towards the end of last year South African utility Rand Water urged customers to cut back on water usage as a result of the lack of rainfall (read WWi story).
To date, the largest seawater desalination plant in South Africa is the Mossel Bay project from Veolia, which supplies 10,000 m3/day to the Mossel Bay Municipality and 5,000 m3/day of process water to PetroSA.
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