The Effect of Load Shedding on Municipal Water Supply: How Solar-Powered Water Treatment Systems Can Help

The Effect Of Load Shedding On Municipal Water Supply: How Solar-Powered Water Treatment Systems Can Help

The effects of ongoing load shedding in South Africa have far-reaching impacts on cities, placing more strain on residents, businesses, and municipalities.

Water utility authorities have alerted the public that they can expect low water pressure or no water when there is load shedding of two or four hours or more at a time. Municipalities use electricity to pump water from the reservoir to the towers, which becomes problematic during load shedding.

As a result, power cuts leave South African communities in the dark and without water.

The Ongoing Water Dilemma

Municipalities need assistance to provide sufficient water flow due to unreliable energy supply from Eskom, especially in higher-lying or mountainous areas that rely heavily on water treatment systems and pumps to get water to them. The strain on systems is also causing mechanical failures, which can be expensive to fix and causes additional downtime.

The Effect Of Load Shedding On Municipal Water Supply: How Solar-Powered Water Treatment Systems Can Help

Furthermore, some municipalities’ infrastructures are distributed over significant distances. In these instances, where water is abstracted from dams, everything from the treatment plant to the delivery pumps and the consumers it’s going to are often on different load-shedding schedules. This adds more logistical stress to municipalities’ ability to provide communities with enough water during long bouts of load shedding.

Tapping Power from the Sun

Although some reservoirs have backup water storage available during power outages, the constant load shedding means it does not get the continuous flow of water to maintain it. And as a result, it creates complexity as the reservoirs are not kept full while the treatment plant can operate, or the final product gets distributed while the treatment plant is off.

South Africans are encouraged to use less water during blackouts, even though there is a genuine growing concern around the possibility that the country may reach Stage 8 blackouts by winter this year. This means it has become imperative to have a long-term solution when load shedding escalates more.

However, there is a light at the end of this very dark tunnel. Solar-powered water treatment systems can dramatically minimise the effect load shedding has on municipalities’ ability to keep the power (and taps) running.

Solar-Powered Water Treatment Systems Save the Day

Just like we need water to make electricity, we also rely on electricity to distribute water. Ensuring municipalities have backup power solutions will eliminate logistical nightmares and ensure adequate water flow regardless of long and frequent power interruptions.

Solar power is becoming increasingly popular in South Africa as more communities seek alternative and more reliable power sources. Municipalities are the same, with many relying heavily on electricity for power and sanitation operations now seeking ways to go off the grid.

The Effect Of Load Shedding On Municipal Water Supply: How Solar-Powered Water Treatment Systems Can Help

At NuWater, we don’t look at problems in isolation. Instead, we try to find the best way to optimise your systems. Our range of solar power equipment alleviates the pressure on municipalities to power water systems. Whether it needs to be entirely off the grid or a more hybrid system that kicks in whenever there’s load shedding, we can tailor the solution to best suit your needs.

Contact us today to get your solar-powered water treatment systems up and running.

About NuWater Water Treatment

NuWater is a smart water treatment solutions company. We have evolved from a dynamic new start-up to becoming industry leaders who are at the forefront of intelligent water treatment solutions. We provide real solutions, solutions that are sustainable, mobile, adaptable, resourceful and efficient. Solutions that are changing lives, communities, businesses, ecosystems, and environments for the better.

NuWater is your business partner when it comes to water treatment and liquid waste management. Our appetite for innovation and our constant drive to search for new, cutting edge, novel technologies ensures that we can meet the needs of our customers. We are a technology-led engineering company that designs, builds, finances, operates and maintains water treatment plants. Plants that treat contaminated water for the provision of high-quality drinking and industrial process water from almost any water source.