Ford commissions R21 million waste water treatment plant

Leading local water and wastewater expert, Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies South Africa (VWS South Africa), a subsidiary of Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies, was contracted to design, supply and install the new WWTP.

The WWTP will also see the first locally installed ContiFilt, a technology of continuously regenerated sand filtration, as opposed to the classic sand filtration with periodic backwash sequence and related downtime.

"The introduction of the all-new Ranger has been a transformational task for Ford Motor Company of southern Africa. We've had to look at every aspect of the manufacturing process in order to ensure we've implemented world-class processes at every step," explained Peter Lawson, vice-president of operations of Ford Motor Company of southern Africa.

No longer able to handle capacity and municipal requirements

The existing decade-old WWTP that previously pre-treated water before it ended up at the Tshwane Sewage Works is no longer able to handle the new capacity and municipal requirements.

With water recycling and reuse a key focus for FMCSA, an environmental impact assessment was conducted that recommended further treatment of the effluent to comply with municipal bylaws.

"We looked into the possibility of upgrading the existing water plant; however it was decided that it would be more cost-effective to decommission the old plant and construct a new plant, boasting the latest technology," continued Lawson.

The process will have used process water routed to the old WWTP via an underground effluent pipe network. A new tie in will be made on the effluent network to the new WWTP as the new plant is adjacent to the old plant. There is also an existing water purification plant adjacent to both the old and the new plant, where treated water is further purified in order to be used within Ford's manufacturing processes.

An immediate increase is expected

Due to the input quality from the old WWTP plant, only seven percent could be successfully purified and reused in selected processes. With the higher quality water expected from the new WWTP, previously sensitive operations can now be considered for recycled water and an immediate increase is expected without upgrades to the purification plant. This means more than doubling the amount of recyclable water to up to 15 percent.

While this system allows for the purification of water for industrial and process usage only, future projects, such as those that have been implemented at other Ford facilities around the globe, could allow for the use of recycled water for day-to-day human usage. This would have the use of recycled water increase by as much as 40 percent. However, due to the complexities of ensuring that all health and safety aspects are taken into account, this would only be considered at a later date.

"The introduction of the all-new Ranger has been an exciting and challenging task for us. While it is imperative for us to build a world-class product, we also have a responsibility to the environment and the community that lives in that environment to ensure that we do so without impacting on our surroundings," concluded Lawson.