City celebrates Cape Town’s water-saving stars

01 November 2023

Recently 17 businesses and organisations were recognised for their remarkable efforts in implementing good water management practices at their premises. The City’s Water and Sanitation Directorate rewarded the recipients for excellent compliance with the City’s Water by-laws, during a special Water Star-Rating Award Ceremony held at the Old Mutual Head Office in Pinelands last week.

The City's Water and Sanitation Directorate awards star-rating certification to commercial and industrial businesses, residential estates, educational campuses and healthcare facilities, based on the degree of their compliance with the City's water related by-laws, as well as their advocacy for water conservation and prevention of water pollution.

Recipients of one star are certified as compliant, having demonstrated adherence to all of the relevant legislation, which in itself is worthy of recognition. Participating organisations can, however, achieve up to five stars, for applying best practices in water use, water supply, water conservation and water discharge.

This is one of multiple community initiatives to help deliver on the commitments made in the City's Water Strategy. It promotes the drive for cleaner inland waterways and Cape Town becoming a water sensitive city.

'Water Star Rating Certification was introduced by the City in 2016, when we saw value in promoting a different aspect of regulation, which goes beyond enforcement. Self-regulation, coupled with appreciation of the efforts made to comply with water by-laws as part of their organisational culture, has proven to motivate many industries to make sustainable changes in a positive way,' said Councillor Zahid Badroodien, Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation.

The 17 recipients this year represent a diverse range of industries and sectors, who voluntarily participated in the comprehensive assessments. Among them, Finlar Fine Foods, Netcare Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital and the University of Stellenbosch (Tygerberg Campus) were the three top performing organisations that achieved five-star rating.

Some of the noteworthy solutions that these organisations put into place included:

Finlar Fine Foods

• Installation of a commercial, Reverse Osmosis (RO) filter plant in 2019
• Re-evaluating cleaning methods to reduce water consumption
• Reporting on an annual saving of over R400 000 due to implementing water saving solutions
  

Netcare Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital

• Using a greywater harvesting system at the hospital, which channels wastewater from the renal dialysis filtration plant as well as the autoclaves used to steam sterilise medical equipment, to the ablution facilities
• Installation of a desalination plant which supplies 100% of the hospital's water, which results in a saving of 60 000kl of water annually

• Installed water efficient fittings across the campus
• Removed taps from bath tubs and discontinued car washes
• Switched irrigation systems from potable water to alternative water
• Introduced alternative water sources such as a greywater-centralised system and borehole water
• Ran a 'War on Leaks Programme', which focuses on educational awareness to change behaviour, as well as installed electronic meters to detect leaks.
  

Organisations that achieved between two- and four-star certification were:

Kronendal Retirement Village; Double Tree by Hilton Cape Town; AECI Food and Beverage; the Vineyard; Kay's Caravan Park; PEPKOR; University of Western Cape; Pick 'n Pay (Zevenview); Plascon Kansai; Long Beach Mall; Grandwest Casino and Entertainment World; University of Stellenbosch (Bellville Park); Cape Town International Convention Centre and Sanlam Life Insurance Limited.

'We want to congratulate the participants whose endeavours have become so successful that their stories can now inspire others. We also invite more organisations to take up the call to review how water is utilised within their operations and find ways to make adjustments aligned with legislature and work together with the City to be water wise,' said Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation, Councillor Zahid Badroodien.

Interested organisations that would like to apply for a voluntary assessment can do so on Cityweb or email waterpollution.control@capetown.gov.za.

To view a live stream of the Water Star Rating Award Ceremony click here. 

Published by:
Media Office, City of Cape Town