Water Wheel July/August 2020: Industrial Water

Abstract

Water scarcity, increased pollution, unprecedented population growth and climate change are all driving the need to reuse water to secure the future of the country. It is clear that South Africa’s already strained water resources will become even more stressed in the near future. The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) (2017) predicts that by 2030 water demand will reach 17.7 billion m3, far more than what is available to allocate. Responsible and efficient water management is fast becoming a pressing reality for domestic users, agriculture and industry alike. The challenge is therefore to do the most with the little water we currently have. The water use per sector according to the latest National Water and Sanitation Master Plan (DWS, 2018) is depicted in Figure 1. The main water users in South Africa are agriculture (61%) followed by domestic water use (27%) and Industry (7%). Figure 2 represents a breakdown of the main industrial water users in South Africa (Cloete et al, 2010). Figure 1: Water use per sector in South Africa (DWS, 2018).

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