Flamingo - Business Industry - Beating the battle for water
On the barren coastline of Namibia the battle for water is as real today as it was a hundred years ago, and it’s escalating. The coastal holiday town of Swakopmund is bursting at its seams and the recent boom in the uranium industry has seen an unprecedented growth in the population of the town.
Swakopmund is becoming a small city, and the city needs water. In a region where the mean annual rainfall hardly ever exceeds 50 millimetres and the inhabitants of this picturesque town rely primarily on the Omdel aquifer as its main source of potable water, warnings have been sounding for some time. The situation has become critical. The Omdel aquifer has reached its maximum sustainable yield. The volume of water being pumped out to satisfy the needs of Swakopmund and the broader Erongo Region has reached a stage where it now exceeds the replenishment capacity of the aquifer. Unless there is a substantial reduction in the volume that is extracted, there is a very real risk of permanent and irreversible damage to the area. And yet the people of this region and its industry rely on water for their existence, and the demand is growing.
It is with this in mind that a mining giant has embarked on an ambitious project that could, in the near future, bring some relief to the area. The AREVA group has been operating uranium mines across the world for more than half a century and is ranked first in the global nuclear power industry. The company is also expanding its renewable energy operations worldwide to include biomass, wind power and fuel cells.
AREVA’s social responsibility is unquestionable. The company has made local integration and human rights its top priority and has forged genuine and solid partnerships with the countries in which it works. AREVA is represented in Namibia through its subsidiary, AREVA Resources Namibia. With offices in Windhoek and Swakopmund, AREVA Resources Namibia is currently developing the Trekkopje mi-ning project, one of the group’s flagship projects and one of the most advanced assets under construction. The Trekkopje Uranium Mine will be supported by a desalination plant, negating the need for the mine to fulfil its water requirements by extracting water from the soil. The seawater desalination plant, which is still under construction, is situated north of Wlotzkasbaken, 30 kilometres from Swakopmund.
Seawater desalination refers to the processes applied when salt and minerals are removed from seawater, which is then converted into fresh water suitable for human consumption and irrigation purposes. The construction of the desalination plant at Wlotzkasbaken comes as a direct response to the severe water shortage in the Erongo Region where the AREVA Trekkopje Uranium Mine operates. The projected quantities of water required to operate the mine effectively, as well as the existing water shortage in the area, were reason enough for AREVA to address the challenge in a manner that would be in line with its sustainable development strategy, which encompasses direct social and environmental investment.
Prior to the design phase of the desalination plant in 2006, AREVA embarked on an intensive series of environmental assessments, public consultations and specialist studies spanning eight months. This phase culminated in a comprehensive report, presented to an array of stakeholders in Namibia, as well as AREVA’s headquarters in France. Based on these findings, measures were put in place to ensure that the design and construction of the plant does not impact negatively on the sensitive ecosystem, or the community in the region.
One of AREVA’s main concerns was that the 48--kilometre pipeline from the plant to the mine was identified in the reports as a potential barrier restricting the free movement of wildlife in the area. As a result, the pipeline was rerouted during the design phase and, in certain sections, buried to avoid hindering the wildlife and also to protect the lichen fields in the area. The location of the plant is another example of AREVA’s commitment to conservation in the area. The environmental assessment study indicated that the original site, south of Wlotzkasbaken, was a breeding ground for the protected Damara tern.
Some impact on the environment was foreseen during the current construction phase. However, it is estimated to be negligible, with mitigation placed at all phases of construction to ensure that it remains so. By-products such as sulphuric acid will not have any significant impact on aquatic life, and it is predicted that birds and fish will be affected minimally, due to their vast distribution.
The construction of the desalination plant is aimed not only at providing fresh water for the Trekkopje Uranium Mine, but also at benefiting the residents of Swakopmund and contributing to the economy of the Erongo Region. This is just one of the many ways in which AREVA plans to proactively build sincere and mutually beneficial relationships with stakeholders in Namibia, these acts being a reflection of the group’s corporate values and industrial strategy. How does desalination work? The plant consists of two intake pipelines approximately 1.1 kilometres from the shoreline, and one disposal pipeline for brine, with a diffuser about 600 metres from the shore. The intake pumps – designed in accordance with strict environmental measures that minimise impact – draw seawater from the ocean directly to the plant. The seawater then passes through ultra-filtration membranes, which remove coarse debris from the water. By reverse osmosis, the water is then pumped through a high-pressure filter that separates it into two streams, a pure water stream, and a by-product of a more concentrated saltwater (brine) stream, which is dispersed back into the ocean. The discharge back into the ocean has about double the salt concentration compared to the initial intake, but 27 diffusers along the discharge pipeline ensure maximum mixing to reduce the impact on the environment. The dispersion of the brine is designed to comply with stringent South African Marine Quality Guidelines, based on the standards of the international EPA.
The facts Estimated population of Swakopmund: 35 000 Estimated daily water requirement in the Erongo Region: 35 000 m3 Estimated annual fresh water produced by the AREVA desalination plant: 20 Mm3 Estimated daily requirement for the Trekkopje Uranium Mine: 14 Mm3 Estimated excess to the Swakopmund community and surrounding mines: 6 Mm3 Percentage of water recovery achieved: 46% Estimated daily discharge into the ocean: 55 000 m3 Estimated hourly seawater intake to the plant: 4 200 m3 Water quality: Potable
