eThekwini municipality awarded world water prize

eThekwini Water and Sanitation, part of Durban Municipality in South Africa, has been recognised for its pragmatic yet innovative approaches in providing water and sanitation services, by winning this year’s Stockholm Industry Water Award.

In the past 14 years, 1.3 million additional people in greater Durban have been connected to piped water and 700,000 people have been provided with access to toilets. In respecting the country’s constitutional right to water while maintaining financial sustainability, access to basic water supply and sanitation is provided at no cost to poor families, while higher levels of service and consumption are charged at full cost.

“We provide a basic level of water for free [9 kilolitres a month per family],” explained Neil Macleod, Head of eThekwini Water and Sanitation. “Anything above that level is charged at full cost recovery, meaning we generate revenue to run the operation but poor people have access to an acceptable level of service.”

South Africa’s constitution from 1996 enshrined the human right to water. Local government was tasked with putting it into practice. Soon after, Durban, one of the country’s main urban centres, expanded its administrative boundaries to include 3.5 million people, some of them living in poorly serviced rural areas with huge water and sanitation challenges.

The municipality has not shied away from taking innovative approaches. These have included modified shipping containers that house showers, wash troughs and toilets for communities and exploring the idea of purifying wastewater into drinking water.

“The reality is that everyone believes that the flushing toilet is the best solution to sanitation but we are a water scarce country and so we can’t afford to use purified water to flush toilets,” added Macleod. “The future to us is to find a new toilet that uses little or no water.”

eThekwini is actively working with partners like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank and local universities to find technical and social solutions. One example is a mini hydro-power project: instead of using pressure reducing valves in pipes running down steep hillsides, the company is installing mini turbines using the excess pressure to generate electricity for the city’s low tension grid. The municipality is also pioneering solutions to convert urban wastewater challenges to agricultural opportunities as well as harvesting rainwater.

One partner commenting in the Stockholm Industry Water Award release, said: “Most municipalities refrain from exploring ideas out of the box, focusing on business as usual. Leaders at eThekwini have already been betting on new and risky approaches to test innovation that will ultimately have a long-term benefit for the population.”

The Stockholm International Water Institute has presented the award each year, since 2000, alongside partners including the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the International Water Association.