A 1,700 m³/d seawater desalination plant, upgradeable to 5,000 m³/d, is to be built in Lamberts Bay in South Africa for the Cederberg Municipality by Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies South Africa.
Under a R 17 million (US$ 1.7 million) Veolia has to optimise standard plant designs to maintain a high design‑and‑build quality. To ensure significant energy savings and reduced CO2 emissions, the plant will be fitted with a state‑of‑the‑art energy recovery‑system as part of the plant’s initial capital investment.
Pretreatment will be by dual‑media pressure filters, and the details of the operation and maintenance contract are currently being finalised with the municipality, says Veolia.
The plant will help alleviate growing pressure on the region’s water system and improve availability of high-quality water for the region’s nearly 40,000 residents.
“A steady increase in water consumption by the town and surrounding farmers has resulted in an overall drop in groundwater levels,” says Cobus Olivier, engineering manager at Veolia in Paarl. “This new plant is part of the Cederberg Municipality’s drive to correct this problem and improve water sustainability.”
The Lamberts Bay contract follows six seawater desalination plants installed by Veolia along the Cape coastline since 2009 at Canon Rocks, Bushman’s River Mouth, Knysna, Plettenberg Bay, Mossel Bay and Saldanha.