Plea to businesses and industry within the Eden district to adapt operations and behaviour
On Thursday, 09 November 2017, a Water Dialogue was held between the Kannaland Municipality, the Western Cape Government: Department of Economic Development and Tourism and local businesses and business associations within Kannaland in order to enable and facilitate a collective response to the serious drought and water security risks within the Western Cape.
This dynamic and vital dialogue session included information sharing and discussions on the current status of water shortages within the province, the economic risks of the water shortages, response actions by government and business taken to reduce these risks, the development of water services and technologies, business support available and how partnerships can be formed to respond collectively to the water crisis.
Business and industry are recognised as the drivers of the economy and development within the Eden district. Eden District Municipality and the Western Cape Government would therefore like to call on all businesses and industry to meter their water use, so as to identify and fix leaks and identify and reduce wasteful water usage; adjust processes and behaviour to only use water when required and in the most efficient way; apply water conservation measures such as installing water sensitive fixtures; install alternative, more water sensitive operations and methods; replace water intensive equipment with more efficient technologies, install alternative water resource technologies such as rainwater harvesting, greywater re-use, blackwater recycling, groundwater usage; recycle water used within operations; and make employees and customers aware of the seriousness of the current situation so that they do everything possible to reduce their water use at work as well as at home. Businesses are also encouraged to understand the level of risk that their Western Cape based supply chains face due to the drought and, where possible, support their supply chains to reduce their water use and plan for their own supplies.
Please visit the website of the City of Cape Town, which provides valuable information and resources that can be printed and displayed within your place of operations, http://www.capetown.gov.za. The non-profit organisation, GreenCape, can also be approached for assistance with water saving measures at no cost to businesses. Email: water@green-cape.co.za or visit: http://www.greencape.co.za/content/focusarea/business-support.
The Western Cape Government: Economic Development and Tourism can also be contacted for further information and advice. The contact persons are Mr Lourencio Pick, email:Lourencio.Pick2@westerncape.gov.za or Ms Helen Davies, email: Helen.Davies@westerncape.gov.za
The current drought can only be broken with three to four years of good rains and its impact will affect us all, for years to come. Businesses need to diversify technologies, methodologies and behaviour in order to adapt to a new “normal”. We need to take hands in preparing for the coming water security impacts within our district. All economic sectors need to take the responsibility of ensuring risk mitigation and water sustainability within their businesses.