Botswana mines cleaning up wastewater with Veolia Water

Veolia’s modular water treatment plants address small-scale water problems in shorter time frames, which has resulted in increased popularity amongst mine camps throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

"A copper mining project in north-western Botswana has already received its new 90m³ per day trickling filter treatment plant, which we delivered in December," says Wayne Taljaard, GM at Veolia's Engineered Systems & Services. "The entire solution was designed to be upgraded to 180m³ per day, and we have already begun manufacturing the second containerised plant at our factory in Isando for delivery in March 2013."

Together, the plants will treat domestic sewage generated by nearly 900 people to within legislated discharge standards, before being released into surface water streams.

A second copper mining company, a longstanding Veolia customer, has commissioned a 75m³ per day trickling filter wastewater treatment plant to upgrade sewage generated by roughly 350 residents at its mine camp in north-eastern Botswana.

"This trickling filter plant, along with all ancillary equipment, will be completely containerised and delivered in March 2013. The customer opted to construct a separate septic tank, which means both modular and civil construction principles will be used to build this plant - what we call a hybrid installation," says Taljaard.

Typically, Veolia will include the septic tank within a standard 12-metre container, which allows the entire plant to be transported via road to remote locations. Containers are corrosion protected and completely water tight, and with minimal moving parts that need maintenance, they are ideally-suited for operation in remote African settlements. "Once installed, they are remote monitored and only need an operator to do a daily inspection, making them incredibly cost-effective to run," says Taljaard.

Water industry growth in Botswana

VWS Envig Botswana is growing significantly in the semi-arid country's water market, recently being awarded a contract to design, supply and commission a 6,000m³ per day potable water plant in Maun, northern Botswana. The plant, located near the banks of the Thamalakane River, is scheduled to be commissioned in September 2013, and will be operated and maintained by Veolia for a subsequent six-month period.

Previous Veolia installations in the country include a large-scale reverse osmosis plant for a diamond mine near Francistown, as well as a large-scale demineralisation plant at a high-capacity power plant.