Public Disclosure Authorized

WATER GLOBAL PRACTICE

Wastewater: From Waste

to Resource
Public Disclosure Authorized

The Case of Durban, South Africa

Wastewater Reuse for Industrial Purposes PHOTO 1. Durban Water Recycling Plant

Context
Public Disclosure Authorized

South Africa is a water-scarce country. Durban, the

third biggest city in the country and one of the main
commercial centers, depends both on the availabil-
ity of water resources and proper sanitation services
for its sustainable economic and social development.
During the 1990s, Durban was facing a sewage capacity
constraint. The existing infrastructure could not cope
with the growing population and the economic devel-
opment of the city.

The municipality had to invest in new infrastructure

Source: Water Institute of Southern Africa.
to increase wastewater collection in order to avoid
Public Disclosure Authorized

negative impacts on its citizens and the environment. benefits for the region. In addition, the project is the
Durban’s first option was to invest in a new marine first of its type in South Africa and became an exem-
outfall pipeline. However, the costs of the infrastruc- plar of a solution that considers wastewater as an asset
ture were very high, and the city considered alterna- rather than a liability to be disposed of.
tive solutions to prevent large increases in the costs of
wastewater disposal in the area. Solution
Through a public-private partnership (PPP), the Instead of increasing the capacity of the exist-
municipality successfully implemented a wastewater ing marine outfall pipeline in the city’s Southern
recycling project for industrial purposes. This project Wastewater Treatment Works (SWTW) to discharge
is an example of sustainable wastewater management primary treated wastewater to the ocean, Durban
with multiple environmental, economical, and social explored the possibility to further treat it and reuse it

1
 CHALLENGE achieve an acceptable quality for industrial reuse:

• South Africa is a water-scarce country. 85 percent of the treated water would go to Mondi,

• Durban is the third largest city in the country and one of the and the rest to SAPREF.
main commercial centers. Its population is growing fast.
In order to be able to supply recycled water to the
• The city faces limited water resources in the city, with
two industrial users, the municipal water utility
sanitation capacity reaching its limits.
(Ethekwini Water Services [EWS]) needed to upgrade
OBJECTIVE
the existing activated sludge process, build a new
Diversify water supply sources, incorporating alternative sources
of drinking water, and invest in sanitation and wastewater tertiary wastewater treatment plant, refurbish the
infrastructure for the city. high-level storage tank, and install a reclaimed water
reticulation system. One complexity of the project
for industrial purposes. Mondi, a paper industry, and was that Mondi required high-quality water, given
SAPREF, an oil refinery, expressed interest in receiv- that it is used to produce fine paper.
ing the treated wastewater. The goal of the project
was to treat around 48 million liters per day (approx- Given the technical complexity, cost, and risk of the
imately the 10 percent of the city’s wastewater) and project, the municipal utility opted to implement

FIGURE 1. Durban Wastewater Recycling Project and Benefits

Durban

Potable water demand

Durban recycling plant has been freed for
400,000 extra people
Industry Reference case in Africa: first
project of these characteristics The need for investment
Savings: treated in South Africa in new infrastructure for
wastewater is cheaper (R water treatment has been
2, 8/m3) than the potable Risk mitigation: ensured long- postponed
water (R 5, 4/m3) term revenue stream from
industry (contract 20 years)
Risk mitigation: reduced
the risk related to water
Waste
availability and higher
water
security in case of
scarcity events)

Treated wastewater

DURBAN WATER
MONDI RECYCLING PLANT
SAPREF $

Note: Treatment plant image is by Tracey Saxby, Integration and Application Network, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
(ian.umces.edu/imagelibrary/).

2 Wastewater: From Waste to Resource

 Total Investment: R 72 million be in charge of the preliminary and primary waste-

Equity from Durban Water Recycling (DWR) R 14 million water treatment at SWTS, and the effluent from the
stakeholders primary settling tank would be sent to the plant oper-
Development Bank of Southern Africa loan a
R 34 million ated by DWR to be treated and then be sold to the
Rand Merchant Bank loan R 24 million industrial users.
a. Includes a French Export Credit Facility emanating from a proto-
col signed between the French government and the South African
­government. Financial and Contractual Agreements
The total cost of the project (construction for the
new tertiary plant, purchase and upgrade of the
the project under a PPP. After an international biding municipal utility assets used for the project and
phase, Durban Water Recycling (DWR), a consortium needed piping system) was around R 72 million
led by Vivendi Water Systems (Veolia), was chosen to (see table 1). The private sector provided the entire
finance, design, construct, and operate the tertiary funding needed for the project. DWR also under-
wastewater treatment plant at SWTW under a 20-year took the risks of meeting the water quality needs
concession contract. The municipal utility would still by the two industrial users. Therefore, the munic-
ipal utility did not incur any
extra capital cost for the
taxpayers. The guaranteed
demand for treated waste-
FIGURE 2. Stakeholder Diagram for Durban Water Recycling water from the two indus-
trial users made the project
eThekwini water economically attractive and
services
(public entity) allowed DWR to undertake the
investment risks.
20 year
concession
agreement
Project Details
Development
Durban water • 
Build–own–operate–transfer
bank of southern recycling (Pty) ltd Clients: (BOOT) contract, 20-year con-
africa $ 51% OTV France • Mondi (paper
Rand merchant (veolia), 18.5% Umgeni, industry) cession (until 2021)
18.5% Khulani,
• 
bank Water • SAPREF (refinery)
10% Marubeni, supply DWR pays to the municipal
Equity
2% Zetachem agreement utility the annual manage-
for 20 years
ment fee and a fee for the
Construction Construction contract and lease of the land, and a levy
contract O&M contract (20 years)
per cubic meter to reflect the
OTV OTV South
France Africa cross-subsidization income
(veolia) (veolia) from the industrial users

Source: World Bank based on Vivendi Water.

• 
Water purchase agreements
Note: O&M = operations and maintenance. with Mondi and Sapref

Wastewater: From Waste to Resource 3

Benefits

For Durban For the industrial clients (Mondi and Sapref)

• The sale of treated wastewater to the industry has freed enough • Savings: treated wastewater is cheaper (R 2, 8/m3) than the
demand of potable water to supply 400,000 extra people in the potable water used previously (R 5, 4/m3)
city. • Risk mitigation: reduced the risk related to water availability
• As a result, the need for investment in new infrastructure for (agreed price for the next 20 years and higher security in case of
water treatment has been postponed. scarcity events)

• Foreign investment has allowed introduction of the latest For Veolia

technology in water treatment to the South African market. • Reference case in Africa: first project of these characteristics in
For the environment South Africa, receiving several awards

• 10 percent reduction of wastewater discharged into the ocean, Other

mitigating pollution impacts • For the WWTP: The extra revenue stream from treated wastewater
• Indirect augmentation of drinking water resources fees covers almost all operation and maintenance costs.

• Industry in South Africa now sees wastewater as a potential

resource, given the success in Durban.

• Four independent organizations (EWS, DWR,

PROFILE Mondi Paper, and Sapref ) are involved in the
NAME project, and their cooperation and coordi-
Durban Water Recycling plant nation have been crucial for the day-to-day
LOCATION operations and for the overall success of the
Durban, South Africa project.
SIZE
• Innovative institutional arrangements and agreements
47,500 m3/day (capacity)
for the management and execution of the project
MAIN INNOVATIONS

Integrated wastewater management plan

• The involvement of two big industrial clients

(Mondi and Sapref) insured a constant demand of
Multi-quality recycled water
treated wastewater and a revenue stream for the
Innovative contract agreement and finance
WWTP.
TECHNOLOGY

Secondary treatment: conventional activated sludge and • 20-year concession project, the first PPP of its

secondary sedimentation tanks kind in South Africa
Tertiary treatment: lamella settlers, addition of
• Clear bidding rules and definition of responsibilities
polialuminium chloride (PAC), dual media filtration
ozonization, Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) Adsorption, • Identify local opportunities
and chlorine disinfection
• Both Mondi and Sapref are located near the
WWTP (Mondi at 200 meters), which has lowered
the costs of the pipe system to the end users.
Key Factors for Success
• Support and leadership of the local government and • Reuse of existing infrastructure, upgrading it for

local municipal utility the new purpose

• Stakeholder engagement and compromise • Quality and timing of the construction

4 Wastewater: From Waste to Resource

• Multiquality of wastewater tailored for the different impact and having multiple benefits for the com-
uses (fit to purpose) and consistent quality of the munity. The city was able to convert a challenging
treated wastewater situation into an opportunity, leveraging the local
conditions and innovative thinking that resulted into
• The treatment technology has been personalized
a win-win solution for all stakeholders. The project
for the project, ensuring that quality require-
shows that if the right stakeholders are involved and
ments for the industrial processes of Mondi and
committed, it is possible to achieve the principles of
Sapref are met.
circular economy.
• Technical innovation

• The wastewater treatment technologies imple- References

mented for the project are quite standard, but Bhagwan, J. 2012. “Guidelines for Water Reuse: Durban Water Recycling
the innovative combination of the different steps Project.” Water Research Commission, Pretoria, South Africa.

makes the project unique, and ensures that the Durban Water Recycling. 1999. “Vivendi Water: Durban Water Recycling
recycled water meets the quality standard of the Project.” Durban Water Recycling, Durban, South Africa.

industrial clients. Gisclon, A., S. McCarley, and K. McNally. 2002. “The Durban Water
Recycling Project—The Vision Becomes Reality.” Paper presented at the

Lessons Learned Biennial Conference of the Water Institute of Southern Africa (WISA),
Durban, South Africa, May 19–23.
The case of Durban is an example of a successful
Jacobsen, M., M. Webster, and K. Vairavamoorthy. 2012. The Future of
and innovative PPP to improve the sustainability of Water in African Cities: Why Waste Water? Washington, DC: World Bank.
wastewater management, minimizing environmental doi:10.1596/978-0-8213-9721-3.

Wastewater: From Waste to Resource 5

 © 2018 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World B
­ ank. Some rights ­reserved. The find-
ings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank,
its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they ­represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy
of the data included in this ­work. This work is subject to a CC BY ­3.0 IGO license ­(https://creativecommons.org/licenses​
/­by/3.0/igo). The World Bank does not necessarily own each component of the ­content. It is your responsibility to
determine whether permission is needed for reuse and to obtain permission from the copyright o
­ wner. If you have
questions, email ­[email protected].
 SKU W17110