YOUNG PROFESSIONALS

SEMINARWATER & SANITATION

CHALLENGESDATE:22 NOVEMBER 2013VENUE: CSIRPRESENTER: IZAK DE VILLIERSDESIGNATION: PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER (MENTOR)UNIT: WATER MANAGEMENT

INTRODUCTION• DPW have numerous water and wastewater facilities throughout the

RSA. There are just over 400(revised list – 2013) of them.

• The reason for this, is that a vast number of DPW’s properties and structures are not within reach of municipalities that can provide such services for these facilities.

• Most of the country’s border posts, military bases, and rural prisons, magistrate’s courts and police stations are in very remote areas of the country. All of these facilities require water and sanitation services, which have to be provided by DPW

CHALLENGES• Although all the water and sanitation facilities are generally small,

compared to municipal facilities, they never-the-less still require personnel with certain degrees of skill, to operate and maintain them. This is a huge challenge within the DPW, because of the following factors:– Scarcity of Skilled Personnel:- – Remoteness of these facilities:- – Operating & Maintenance Manuals:- – Operation & Maintenance of existing facilities:-– Compliance with regulatory framework:-– Laboratory Facilities:- – Institutional structure:-

DISCUSSION1. SCARCITY OF SKILLED PERSONNEL•In the water management field this is a general phenomenon in SA.

•The sector is in desperate need of technical skills both at a national (policy and regulation) and Regional level which is currently in dire situation (implementation)

•Many of the skilled personnel required, to lead water services have left the institution.

•Institutional memory has been lost – this has serious implications

DISCUSSION2. REMOTENESS•Remote facilities includes Ports of Entry, Military Bases, Police Stations, Magistrates courts etc.

•The most remote facilities are in the Eastern Cape and Northern Cape regions.

Example 1: Road to Ramatselitso Border post.It takes 1 hour to drive 15 km.

Example 2: Road to Zamuxolo Police Station.Accessible only with 4x4 vehicle when wet.

DISCUSSION3. OPERATING AND MAINTENANCE MANUALS

•Main reason for poor performance is the non existence, or incomplete and in-appropriate O & M Manuals for water and sanitation facilities. •This was identified and In Jan 2012, DPW introduced a detailed specification manual according to which O & M Manuals shall be provided for all the various facilities of DPW in the future.

It is expected that this measure will vastly improve the operation of these facilities in future .

DISCUSSION4. OPERATION & MAINTENANCE OF FACILITIES

•It is a major challenge to properly operate and maintain all facilities in remote locations. •Sophisticated plants requires highly skilled personnel •The cumbersome supply chain processes to be followed to obtain all the correct tools, parts and products to maintain these facilities is aggravating the situation.

Water package plant – access to clarifier impossible

Sophisticated Activated Sludge Plant with capacity 10 times more than required

DISCUSSION5. COMPLIANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY

•The Department of Water Affairs (DWA) is the sector regulator in terms of SA law•Many initiatives to improve management and increase accountability have foundered•The Blue Drop/Green Drop initiative of DWA has been an exception and needs to be supported – rapid disclosure of the results is essential to drive change•Environmental Compliance – for new or extended facilities (EIA’s) this can delay projects for up to 2 years

DISCUSSION6. LABORATORY FACILITIES

•DPW has three laboratories; one at head office (Pretoria) and one each at Durban (R O) and Cape Town (R O). These laboratories are not South African National Accreditation System (SANAS) accredited and as a result these are not accepted as credible by DWA•Due to remoteness of these facilities, samples preservation and transportation poses a major challenge•Partnership with privately owned laboratories and utilisation of DPW mini Laboratories in the Regions must be explored.

DISCUSSION7. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS

•The Departmental arrangement in the water management reflects poor policy of fragmented approach. Both the management of water resources and water supply and sanitation services is often hindered by this division. •water and sanitation management have widely separated Technical, Project ,Human Resource and Financial operations that do not talk to each other•Supply chain Management Processes which are not streamlined accordingly to address special needs in the Operation &Maintenance of facilities•Non-existent Water Management Structures in Regions

PROPOSED SOLUTIONS• Dedicated mentorship programme for the

Department and bursaries

• Ensure compliance to DPW guidelines for Operation and Maintenance of facilities

• Ensure compliance by adopting personnel structures in line with relevant legislation and operational requirements

• Decentralise laboratory operations to address compliance and credibility

YOUNG PROFESSIONALS, ARTISANS AND THE SETA

• Few experienced professionals remain to mentor the young entrants to the sector

• Many of those in leadership positions have risen rapidly through the ranks and interventions are needed to address the resulting skills gap

• Focus on the development of artisans and operators is also required• Apprenticeships must replace learnerships if we are to develop

competent artisans• Without these critical skills we will not be able to deliver or operate

and maintain services satisfactorily in the future

CONCLUSION

NDPW’s Water Management Unit desperately needs young professionals who are prepared to

face challenges!