Wrp
Water in Pretoria

WRP provides specialist consulting services to many of the major Water Utilities, Metropolitan Municipalities, District and Local Municipalities and Department of Water Affairs in South Africa.

Water Resource Planning and Conservation (WRP) Engineering is a specialist engineering consultancy of international standing in the field of Water Resources Planning and Management, as well as Water Conservation and Environmental Management. WRP provides professional services to ensure the sustainability of projects and maintain the integrity of the environment. Through the diverse talents of its staff, dedicated leadership and international alliances, WRP focuses on the development of innovative and cost effective solutions to promote efficient management of water related services. WRP is partly owned by the Miya Group of Luxembourg and is a world renowned company in water conservation projects. WRP is responsible for the design and building of the three largest water pressure management installations in the world, winning the company many awards and accolades, including the prestigious Africa Energy Award for Best Demand Side Management Project Despite the stress of sourcing the initial funds to build the project, the project achieved water savings of over R150-million over its five year operational period and helped to reduce the frequent spillages of sewage into the local rivers. WRP offers a range of specialist services that are essential for the efficient operation of the water industry, including Water Resource Planning and Operation, Water Conservation and its associated training as well as Transfer of Technology. While South Africa’s non-revenue water levels compare well internationally as a water scarce country we need to do all we can to prevent the unnecessary loss of water. This is one of the main recommendations of a recent study into the state of non-revenue water in South Africa commissioned by the Water Research Commission (WRC). In order to improve the current situation, the water sector must have a clear indication of the current status of non-revenue water in South African municipalities, more specifically what the actual water losses are and how they are split between physical leakage (real losses) and commercial losses (apparent losses). It is for this reason that the WRC, in collaboration with the Department of Water Affairs (DWA), launched the latest investigation into the state of non-revenue water in South Africa, which has now been published. In the most comprehensive and detailed study of its kind, to date, data were gathered from 132 municipalities throughout South Africa representing over 75% of the total volume of municipal water supply. This is the first time the country has a single, representative estimate of non-revenue water as opposed to various estimates in previous years. According to project leader and MD of WRP Consulting Engineers, Ronnie Mckenzie, speaking on behalf of the key team members, which included Willem Wegelin and Zama Siqalaba who gathered most of the information, many of the country’s municipalities are realising the value of undertaking a proper and reliable water balance. They were therefore happy to cooperate with the project team as it also helped them to formalise their water balance, a requirement of DWA. The study also indicates that South Africa still has a relatively high per capita water use (around 273 litres per person per day) which is an indication that the average citizen still does not realise the scarcity of this resource. Mckenzie does stress that expressing the losses in terms of percentages, while normal practice at the political level, can be very misleading and care should be exercised when comparing percentage losses between different municipalities or from one year to the next. However, several additional key problem areas were also identified. One of the greatest inhibitors to the introduction of successful water demand management in many municipalities is the proper auditing and documentation of the various interventions. Another important aspect of nonrevenue water reduction is effective billing and metering. Furthermore, the importance of proper planning, budgeting and maintenance of water infrastructure cannot be over-emphasised and is essential in reducing water losses and averting a potential water crisis. Moreover, in areas that typically experience high levels of unemployment, the water demand management measures can create useful and long-term employment. Mckenzie also recommends that targets be defined in terms of volumes rather than percentages, as the latter can be misleading. While some municipalities have made great strides in conserving water much still has to be done in other areas to ensure water is not wasted unnecessarily.