While many are lamenting the impact of Covid, erratic power supply and a “failed state” on their businesses this year, we have found six reasons to celebrate 2021. This year our teams from various divisions at Watercare Innovations pulled out all the stops to help us make a positive difference to water treatment – the #watercareway.

Improving reverse osmosis (RO) plant capacity 3X

Our capable engineering team successfully doubled the capacity of a containerised RO plant that we maintain and operate on behalf of our client.

Improvement in the RO plant capacity was achieved with relatively minor modifications that included upgrading the feed pump and increasing the pre-filtration capacity. Further tweaks, including a modification to the membrane housing and an adjustment to the membrane configuration, will further increase the capacity from the current 3.5m3/day to 10m3/day.

Our site representatives consistently seek opportunities for continuous improvement to the water systems that we monitor and manage.

Improving conventional settler flow by 200%

A big win for our OEM team was the opportunity to design, build and commission a settler upgrade at a gold project in the Free State.

The mine has increased production to the point where the water reticulation system that includes the settlers can no longer support the volume of water that is required to be settled. The settlers will be upgraded by retrofitting our high-rate settler technology.

The existing diameter of 9.5m and rise rate of 8.8m/hr will increase to 16.25m/hr once the modification has been commissioned and optimised. This will improve the flow through the settler by 200%.

Celebrating 8 years of potable water production

We proudly celebrated eight years of operating and maintaining the longest commissioned water plant in our portfolio. The plant is based on a gold project in Gauteng and treats 3.2ML/day to 3.5 ML/day of mine impacted water to produce 1.8ML/day to 2.2 ML/day of SANS241:2015 potable water for distribution to the mining community.

The process is designed for the removal of iron and manganese, two specific elements contaminating the source water. Continuous operational improvements have resulted in water production through the plant increasing 17% in 2021. The on-site operating and maintenance crew ensure cost-effective, consistent and reliable water supply to the mine.

Quality and safety is entrenched in our core values

Despite the challenges caused by the pandemic, we managed to accomplish our objective of achieving our ISO45001 and 9001 certifications in March 2021.

The most heartfelt feeling has been that it’s not just about having the certificates on the wall and in our files. It’s about working to international standards and industry best practices in achieving quality and safety excellence in our products and services.

We nurture a culture where safe working practices are a corporate value. We have reached a milestone where everyone in our company has become a SHEQ ambassador.

We all share the same notion:

“If it’s not safe, we will not do it. We will first make it safe and then deliver safe and quality products to our clients. We do this for our own safety, that of the end-users and communities who benefit from our services.”

‘Samson and Goliath’

Watercare Mining, “Samson”, took over the management of one of Africa’s largest chillers, “Goliath”, in 2017.

At the time, “Goliath” had cancer (corrosion), and the recirculating water was brown. The three key changes made by “Samson” that significantly reduced “Goliath’s” downtime and maintenance were the:

1. Installation of a sand filter with automatic backwash head
2. Commissioning of an automated, timer-based corrosion-control, chemical dosing system
3. Monitoring and maintenance of the corrosion inhibitor residuals at consistent and sustainable levels

“Goliath” has been cured of cancer. The water quality passing through the chiller has been commended by the client and external inspectors. A proud year for our KwaZulu-Natal team.

Proud Moments for HR

• Diligence and huge effort resulted in Watercare Mining achieving a proud Level 4 BEE contributor status
• We successfully applied the new requirements of the new Protection of Personal Information Act and can assure you of our respect for and absolute protection of your personal information
• We’re proud to have successfully managed the workplace risks associated with the Covid pandemic and compliance to the company’s Covid policy
• In 2021 we tapped further into the benefits of the Skills Development Levy by submitting, for the first time, our application for the Discretionary Grant
• In 2021 we once again employed all 10 of our YES candidates, as we did in 2019 and 2020
• We are proud to have a further six disabled learners join our team
• We hosted our Annual Blood Drive supporting SANBS

This year we have made a difference . . . #thewatercareway!