Feasibility study sought for Durban desalination

Umgeni Water, a major bulk water supplier in South Africa, has issued a tender for a detailed feasibility study of a seawater desalination plant for Durban, according to a report in Business Day on 4 November 2011.

Quoting corporate stakeholder manager Shami Harichunder, the report said that projections were that the city would run short of water in the future and that desalination was being considered among other augmentation measures.

Projected sites for either one or two plants with capacity of 150,000 m³/d a day were near the Lovu River on the South Coast and near the Mdloti River on the North Coast. In Umgeni’s 2010-11 financial year, it supplied about 428,000 m³/d of bulk water.