Witsand Water Production Unit: The first solar desalination plant in Africa – an integration with OSMOSUN® technology.
Co-financed by the French and Western Cape Governments, this project was fully implemented in 8 weeks and achieved its full production objective within 1 week. Environmental safety is assured through our comprehensive environmental management plan to carefully measure the impact of the project on the environment and making the data publicly available on the municipal website (www.hessequa.gov.za). Municipal staff has been trained on the desalination plant’s general daily operations. Together with Mascara Renewable Water, we monitor the plant remotely to ensure immediate intervention whenever required.
- 14 000 Liters per hour of drinking water produced from sea water.
- 120 000 Liters produced daily through 100% solar energy.
- Up to 300 000 liters powered by hybrid energy sources (Solar and Eskom).
- Environment friendly, durable and competitive.
This project initiates up-scaling of this innovative, sustainable technology in Africa by addressing two main challenges: Water scarcity and energy supply.
“When we started our collaboration 2 years ago, we would have never thought possible to successfully install and commission an OSMOSUN® plant producing 150kL every day within such a short timeframe, therefore opening up great opportunities for equipment installations and water sales projects in the region.” …… Marc Vergnet, CEO of Mascara Renewable Water
“The municipality is using innovative ideas in combating the effects of climate change, by taking the front-runner approach in establishing public–private partnerships and joint ventures,” …… Grant Riddles, Hessequa executive mayor