SewTreat has completed the installation of a waste water treatment plant at the One&Only Cape Town that will result in a 40kl saving in municipal water per day. This translates to a phenomenal R114 000 per month reduction in water costs for the well-known V&A Waterfront hotel.
Along with numerous water-saving measures already implemented at the One&Only Resort in Cape Town, the installation of Above Ground HDPE Waste Water Treatment Plants has been completed by SewTreat. The initial Phase 1 plant will remove 40kl of sewage per day from the hotel’s plumbing system and purify it to product water standards. The purified water will then be used in the hotel’s cooling towers. This will save the hotel 40kl per day in potable municipal-treated water previously utilised to run the cooling towers.
Although Day Zero has once again been moved forward after the recent rainfall in the area, the long term financial implications of the drought for the tourism industry in Cape Town are undeniable. “Even if dam levels rise following the winter rainfall, the long term impact of the drought is that a high cost for water will remain in place for at least the next five years. This has potentially devastating consequences for hospitality businesses in the Cape,” states SewTreat spokesperson, Theunis Coetzer. “Looking at the current costs of municipal water and sewage treatment in Cape Town versus the savings that SewTreat’s plant will achieve for the One&Only, it is clear that recycling waste water is an affordable and viable way for hotels in this region to save both water and money.”
“The current cost of potable water from the Cape Town Metro is R57 per 1000 litres and the cost of sewage disposal is R38 per litres. In One&Only’s case, because the first plant recycles 40kl of sewage waste per day, the hotel no longer has a need to pay for 40kl of water or for the sewage discharge. This can be calculated as a total saving of R3800 per day or R114 000 per month. Annually they save R1, 368 million from Phase 1 alone,” Coetzer explains.
Phase 2 involves the installation of a second plant that will be used to treat sewage to potable standards for re-use in swimming pools, general cleaning, washing machines and the flushing of toilets. “Phase two will see an additional 80kl saving for the hotel per day. Taking into account the total saving offered by both plants, this translates to an incredible annual saving of R4, 104 million. This means that the One&Only will see a full return on investment for the project in just eight months,” Coetzer explains.
After both phases are complete and operational, One&Only Cape Town will have cut potable water usage from 220kl per day, to just 40kl per day being drawn from municipal lines. This is just 15% of the original quantity of water that they previously had to draw from Cape Town Metro. According to Coetzer, this remaining 15% will cover the hotel’s water needs for potable water to be used for drinking water, food preparation and showers. All other water requirements such as cooling tower water, pool filling, irrigation, car washes, general cleaning and laundry will be met through recycling.
In addition to the water and cost saving advantages, the One&Only also benefited from the quick and easy installation of this type of plant. SewTreat’s HDPE Above Ground treatment plants are easy to install due to the minimal civil works required while maintenance and operation of the system are effortless due to its being an above ground system. The timeframe for complete installation of both phases from SewTreat’s initial consultation with the hotel’s management to being installed and completely operational was just 8 weeks.
“The One&Only had previously considered desalination, but it proved to be three times more expensive than the SewTreat plant in terms of total installation costs, on-going maintenance and operation and power usage. In addition to this it would have taken four times longer to install – by which time Day Zero could have been just around the corner,” says Coetzer.
Coetzer says that the additional benefits for the One&Only include power usage and monthly operational costs of the plants. “The total power consumption of SewTreat’s plants is a mere 6kw, which is comparable to the power consumption of three swimming pool pumps. Then, the monthly consumable cost of the SewTreat system is just R2 500 per month.”
As part of the installation, SewTreat included an air scrubbing system to ensure that there are absolutely no odour emissions from the plant – a must for a prestigious hotel such as the One&Only according to Coetzer. He goes on to say that they are thrilled to be partnering with the hotel in the future. “SewTreat will also be involved in the design and implementation of ‘Liveview’ platforms that the hotel wants to install so that the water savings can be tracked in real time. To further prove our commitment to helping them realise their water saving goals we have offered the One&Only a 100% money back guarantee should the plant not perform as per design efficiency.”
