As the City continues to advocate for households and businesses to reduce water use as dam levels remain low, South Bakels, a Cape Town food ingredients manufacturer, has successfully made changes to their everyday operations saving water, while continuing to grow their production line.

South Bakels received a four-star rating at the City’s latest Water Star Rating Awards, which recognises businesses that implement measures to improve water efficiency and reduce unnecessary water use.
 
The business reduced its water consumption despite increased production volumes at its Montague Gardens facility, through a combination of water-efficient equipment, improved cleaning practices, leak detection, monitoring and staff involvement.

Caption 1: Submetering helps South Bakels identify excessive water use across different processes and address inefficiencies quickly. From left: Lolwethu Mgewu (Professional Officer, City of Cape Town), Natasha Khan (HSE Manager, South Bakels) and Natasha Mbuyisa (National Operations Manager, South Bakels).

Small changes, measurable impact

South Bakels introduced a range of measures to improve water efficiency across its operations, including:

• Installing low-flow pre-rinse spray valves at dishwashing stations to reduce water use without compromising cleaning performance.
• Promptly identifying and repairing leaking taps and other water leaks to prevent unnecessary losses.
• Introducing batch washing, rather than washing partial loads throughout the day.
• Using dry cleaning methods first, including scraping, wiping and brushing ingredient residues from equipment before rinsing. This reduces water use while also limiting organic waste entering the drainage system.
• Reusing cooling or rinse water where food-safety requirements allow, such as using final rinse water from one task as a pre-rinse for another.
• Ensuring that steam traps operate effectively to avoid over-purging and unnecessary steam venting, which can result in water wastage.
• Monitoring water use through submetering and utility data to identify areas where efficiencies can be improved.

Caption 2: Low-flow pre-rinse spray valves have replaced conventional hose pipes at South Bakels, reducing water use during cleaning.

Looking towards further water savings, South Bakels is exploring whether treated effluent from its newly installed 100 m3 capacity wastewater treatment process, could potentially be diverted for use in toilet cisterns for flushing, subject to the necessary approvals, requirements and safeguards.
 
‘Water security is a shared responsibility, but the City must lead from the front. We are investing in new water sources, reducing losses and improving how we manage our water system, while asking households and businesses to make efficient water use part of everyday life. South Bakels shows what this looks like in practice: production can grow while water use comes down. With dam levels lower than we would like, every litre saved today helps stretch our existing resources further and strengthens Cape Town’s resilience for the summers ahead,’ said Alderman Zahid Badroodien, Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation.

Caption 3: South Bakels is exploring opportunities to reuse treated effluent from its newly installed on-site wastewater treatment process. From left: Abongile Solomon, Natasha Khan (HSE Manager), Pfunzo Rizwane, Brandon Joubert and Natasha Mbuyisa (National Operations Manager).

‘Water is one of the most overlooked costs in food production, yet even small changes like recycling rinse water, fixing leaks promptly, or switching to high-efficiency cleaning equipment can significantly reduce both consumption and utility bills. Businesses that build water stewardship into their daily operations don't just protect a shared, finite resource; they often uncover some of the fastest and most cost-effective savings available to them,’ said Natasha Khan, HSE Manager at South Bakels.