ISSUE 5

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

• Water cycles p1
• Tshwane water sources and
treatment plants p2
• Rietvlei water treatment plant p 2, 3 & 4
• Water waste treatment p5&6

Water Cycles
1

A - NATURAL WATER CYCLE B - CONSUMER WATER CYCLE

1 Source extraction
3

2 Water treatment works

3
Storage
4.4 4.3
4.1

4
4.5 Supply
5

4.2

4
Users
Waste water collection

4.2
Waste water
treatment works 4.2
6

7 Returning clean water to

the natural environment

WATER CYCLES
The natural water cycle (A) is the process
of water moving on the earth. When
humans use water for drinking, irrigation,
sanitation and industrial use, they take
the water out of the natural cycle and it
becomes part of the human or man-made
water cycle – the consumer water cycle
(B).
A - NATURAL WATER CYCLE
1.1 Evaporation
2.2 Cloud formation
3.3 Rainfall
B - CONSUMER WATER CYCLE
1
Source extraction
Water used for human consumption comes
from rivers, dams, boreholes and springs.
2
Water treatment works
Once the water has been extracted, it
undergoes several types of treatment
processes in order to make it safe to drink.
5 Waste water collection
3
Storage of clean water
Once it is made safe to drink, the water is
transported via a network of pipes for
storage at reservoirs.
4
Distribution of clean water to consumers
Water is supplied to consumers using a
6 Waste water treatment works
complex system of pipes. Reservoirs, water
flow, water pressure and water quality are treatment, is the process of removing
constantly monitored to ensure that enough contaminants from wastewater and
water reaches all consumer connected to household sewage, both runoff (effluents)
the network. and domestic. It includes various
Consumers/Users: processes to remove physical, chemical
4.1
4.1 Commercial Users and biological contaminants. The
4.2
4.2 Domestic Users objective of sewage treatment is to
4.3 Mining Users
4.3 produce a disposable effluent without
4.4
4.4 Industry Users causing harm to the surrounding
4.5
4.5 Agricultural Users environment, and also to prevent
pollution.
Wastewater is collected using a sewerage 7 Returning clean water to the natural
system. This network consists of a collection environment
of pipes made from cement, concrete or Once treated in a wastewater treatment
PVC which carry the polluted water to be plant, water is released into the natural
sent to a waste water treatment plant. environment. It continuous its natural
treatment process in rivers or in dams,
without adversely affecting the natural
Sewage treatment, or domestic wastewater balance of the environment.

1
 Water Treatment
Tshwane water sources
and treatment plants
Tshwane receives 81,3% of its water
from Rand Water and Magalies
Water. The City of Tshwane supplies
the remaining 18,7% from its own
1
dams, boreholes and springs.
1 2
The City of Tshwane has three water
1
3 treatment plants, namely the Temba
water treatment plant at the
2
Leeukraal Dam, the Roodeplaat
4
water treatment plant at the
6 Roodeplaat Dam, and the Rietvlei
3
5
water treatment plant at the Rietvlei
2 7 Dam.
It also has ten waste-water treatment
1 2 3
plants (Babelegi , Temba , Rietgat ,
8 4 5 6
Klipgat , Sandspruit , Rooiwal ,
9 7
Zeekoegat , Baviaanspoort ,
8

9 10
Daspoort and Sunderland Ridge )
where all the waste water is treated
10 before it is discharged into the river
system. The discharged water must
3 comply with a standard specified in
the licence of each plant and issued
by the Department of Water Affairs.

Rietvlei Facts about the

Water Treatment Plant Treatment Plant
* The Plant was established to meet
Tshwane’s drinking water requirements
* The first 18 Ml/d Plant was built in 1934
Facts about the * The treatment capacity of the Plant was
Rietvlei Dam increased in 1988 to 40 Ml/d
* The Plant saw the first full-scale application of the Dissolved
* It was constructed between 1932 Air Flotation and Filtration (DAFF) process in South Africa
and 1934 in the Sesmyl Spruit * The new Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) filtration system
near Pretoria, which is situated in was completed in 2000 and is the first operational
the Rietvlei Nature Reserve, which application of open bed gravity filters for drinking water
covers 3 200 hectares treatment in South Africa
* Dam wall : 32 metres high
* Capacity : 12 000 000m3
* Surface area : 1,87 km²
Tshwane Daily Water Requirements
* Yacht and canoe club 5% 8%
Rietvlei Water Treatment Plant
National Award Winning Project for Engineering Excellence Springs & Boreholes
87%
Rand Water
DWAF Award: Most Presentable Medium Size Water Works 2009

2
Water Treatment
Water Treatment Steps
1

2
8
3 5
4 6
7 9

12
11 10

STEP 1
Water is abstracted from the Rietvlei Dam by means of an inlet tower.
Three different abstractions points at varying levels in the tower can
be used, depending on the water quality at those points.

STEP 2
Chemicals called flocculants (ferric chloride and aluminium sulphate),
are added to the water to make the particles in the water bind together
and form flocs. The water in the dam is characterised by a very low
turbidity (cloudiness of the water) but has extremely high algal activity,
including blue-green algae, which is known to produce toxins and can
cause taste and odour problems in the drinking water. Lime is also
added at this stage to stabilise the water. Stabilisation (buffering)
ensures non-corrosive conditions in the structures of the unit
processes.

STEP 3
The water is flash mixed and flows slowly and evenly through a series
of baffled channels called flocculation channels, which allow the flocs
to grow.

STEP 4
From the flocculation channels the water enters the Dissolved Air
Flotation/Filtration (DAFF) process, which removes all the particles that
have just been formed in the flocculation channels. This process can
be divided into a flotation and filtration process. Because the water in
the dam is eutrophic (high algal concentrations) it was decided to use
a flotation instead of a sedimentation process. Algae floats rather than
sinks and therefore its natural properties are used to clean the water.
A stream of clean water containing large quantities of air
(supersaturated) is passed through a bank of nozzles at the inlet of the
filter.
The flocculated water is then passed over thesupersaturated water
and thisreleasing the airfrom the liquid phase, causing bubbles to
attachto the flocs and rise - this is the flotation process. This process
is so efficient that the flotation process alone removes about 70% of
the suspended particles in the water. These particlesform a scummy
brown layer on the surface of thefilter area, which is all that can be
seen fromabove. Underneath there is a filter bed madeup of various
sizes of sand. The water passesthrough the sand filter, which
removes the restof the particles left in the water - this is calledthe
filtration process.

3
Water Treatment

STEP 5
Owing to the hydraulics of the older sectionof the Plant, some height
was neededfor the waterto gravitate through the next section of the
Plant. Two 10m Archimedean screw pumps have beeninstalled and
lift the water some 4,5m. From herethe water gravitates through the
remainder of thePlan.

STEP 6
Although the DAFF process is very effective at removing the flocculated
particles from the water, it is unable to remove dissolved organic matter
(this includes colour, odours and tastes caused by the algae present in
the water). Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) filtration is used to remove
the organic matter by adsorption. Since GAC filtration has been
introduced, the colour, odour and taste of the water have improved
noticeably.

STEP 7
Although the water has passed through both the DAFF and the GAC
process and seems to be clean, it still requires disinfection, which is
accomplished by means of chlorination. Chlorine gas is used to kill all
the remaining bacteria and viruses still present in the water. Chlorine is
the most effective disinfectant because it has a residence time of several
hours. (This means that the water is protected from contamination and
growth of bacteria while it moves through the pipelines towardsthe
storage reservoirs and eventually to the consumer).

STEP 8
The water flows into an on-site storage reservoir where water from
fountains in the nature reserve is added. This reservoir serves as a
chlorine contact chamber where the chlorine has time to work and
ensure effective disinfection.

STEP 9
From the reservoir, the water is pumped to two of the largest storage
reservoirs in Pretoria. At the storage reservoirs the water is blended with
water provided by Rand Water and water from other boreholes. The
water is now ready for consumption by the consumer.

STEP 10-12
The DAFF and GAC filters are cleaned by regular backwashing. The For more information
backwash water flows into settling tanks. These settling tanks act as on the Rietvlei Water Treatment Plant,
holding tanks for the dirty water and allow settling of the particles to take please contact :-
place. After a retention time of two hours the settled sludge is pumped
away into the sewerage system and the relatively clean water
Leanne Coetzee
(supernatant) gravitates back into the river downstream of the dam.
leannec@tshwane.gov.za
Tel (012) 358 1800

4
 Waste Water Treatment
Waste water treatment
WHY IS IT NECESSARY TO TREAT (CLEAN) WASTE WATER?

* There are materials and pathogens in waste water that will cause pollution.
* It will take the available oxygen out of the water.
* It will destroy the friendly life forms in the rivers and dams.
* Treated water is put back in the rivers, because SA has limited water resources.

HOW DOES WASTE WATER GET TO THE WASTE WATER TREATMENT WORKS?

Through a network of pipelines under gravitation. Small pipes from the different users such as
industries, houses and businesses. These pipes connect to bigger pipes, which connect to an
outfall sewer that end at the Waste Water Treatment Works.

WHAT NEEDS TO BE TAKEN OUT FIRST?

All the solids:

* Material bigger than 25mm eg. cloth, plastic bags , plastic cups and bottles etc.
* Material smaller than 25mm eg. rice, maize, carrots, etc.
* Settled organic solids.

HOW DO WE TAKE IT OUT?

The water flows through a Screen which catches the big solids, to the Degritters, which catches
the smaller solids, to the Primary Settling Tanks where the solid organic matter (sludge) settles out.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SOLIDS WE TOOK OUT?

* The solids bigger than 25mm are dried and burned in the Incinerator.
The Incinerator uses methane gas which is produced in the Anaerobic Digestors.

* The Solid organic matter (sludge) is removed to the Anaerobic Digestors.

In the Anaerobic Digestor organisms digest some of the organic matter
to methane and carbon dioxide.

* The sludge from the Anaerobic Digestors is pumped into the sludge drying beds
where it is left to dry out. The dried sludge is used by the Parks Department to
make compost for their gardens.

WHAT HAPPEN TO THE WATER PART OF THE WASTE WATER?

* Only the solids have been removed at this stage!

* Waste water is purified by micro-organisms.

From the Primary Settling Tanks the settled sewage (water) flows either to the Biofilter or Activated Sludge Reactor.

In the Biofilter the organisms attached themselves to stones; to live they take oxygen directly out of the
atmosphere. When the water flows over the stones the organisms digest the organic matter from the water.

These Biofilters were build in 1913 and are still being used today, at the Daspoort Waste Water
Treatment Works.

In the Activated Sludge Reactor the water is aerated, to get oxygen into the water, which is necessary
for the organisms to live and digest the organic matter. This method is the more modern method used
on all the works.

The cleaned water from the Activated Sludge Reactor and Biofilters flow to the Secondary
Sedimentation Tanks where the fattened organisms settle out.

They are then pumped back via screw pumps to the Activated Sludge Reactor so they can restart
the process.

5
 Waste Water Treatment
HOW DO WE KILL THE REMAINING MICRO-ORGANISMS?

* The most common method used by most of the Waste Water Treatment
Works is by making use of Chlorine Gas.
* The newer method used at the Daspoort Waste Water Treatment Works
is UV.

With the Ultraviolet (UV) process the effluent (clean water) passes the
UV-lights and harmful bacteria are killed.

INSPECTION OF THE WATER?

Throughout the process samples of the water are taken and monitored in the Laboratory for compliancy to the water act.

IS THE WATER NOW CLEAN?

Yes, only now is this water ready to be received in the public streams. It is now safe for downstream
users and the water can be reclaimed to be treated as potable water.

POTABLE OR DRINKING WATER

The basic requirements for safe water are that the water must be-
* Free from pathogenic organisms.
* Free from compounds having an adverse effect on human health.
* Clear with acceptable turbidity and colour levels.
* Reasonably palatable and odourless.
* Colourless and does not stain clothes during washing.

DEFINITIONS OF WATER QUALITY PARAMETERS:

* Colour & turbidity: Water that is turbid is cloudy or hazy, because it has sediment or foreign particles floating
in it. The colour of water is influenced by the presence or absence of dissolved chemicals in the water.
* Taste & Smell: Drinking water must not have any strange taste or smell.
* Hardness: Hardness in water is caused by calcium and magnesium compounds, and occurs naturally.
* pH: The pH level of water is a measure of how acidic or basic the water is.
If the pH levels are high, the water may taste bitter.
* Fluoride & chlorides: Fluoride is an essential nutrient that we need in our diet. Fluoride taken in through
food and water during the tooth-forming years protects against dental cavities. Fluoride is found in
drinking water.
However, if drinking water with high fluoride concentrations is consumed over a long period of time, it
may be harmful.
* Manganese: Manganese is a metal that is often found in solids and is associated with water. It is
responsible for the dark tea-like colour of some water sources.
* Totally dissolved solids: Totally dissolved solids are inorganic substances dissolved in water. These
usually include chloride, sulphate, calcium, magnesium and bicarbonates.

HOW MANY WASTE WATER TREATMENT WORKS ARE THERE IN THE TSHWANE AREA?
Ten in total named:
• Klipgat4,
1 7 10
• Babelegi , • Zeekoegat , • Sunderland Ridge
2 5 8
• Temba , • Sandspruit , • Baviaanspoort ,
• Rooiwal6,
3 9
• Rietgat , • Daspoort

REPORT –
no water supply; water pipes burst; leaking meters; and blocked street sewers
to 012 358 2111/9999 or 080 1111 556 (toll-free)
Industrial effluent enquiries: 012 358 9067/9078/9999
Pollution spill response service: 012 358 9067/9078/9999

If you want to receive the Water and Sanitation

e-newsletter on a regular basis,
6 e-mail your request to glaudip@tshwane.gov.za