The realities of water services in Africa, and into the future, include lack of skills, aging water and wastewater infrastructure, rising water costs and increased public health concerns. Provincial and local investment in water and wastewater infrastructure has long been lagging the capacities needed to meet the rapidly increasing demand and making water systems resilient to stressors, such as drought, floods and pandemics.
The challenge facing the water sector is like the one facing the energy utility sector. Smart cities are the future developments that will enable the management of the incremental needs of communities, while promoting environmental sustainability. A historic opportunity now exists to modernise Africa’s water infrastructure through Smart Water Infrastructure investment. With the emergence of new information and communication technologies (ICTs), like the Internet of Things (IoT) and big data smart cities development in Africa is closer to this realisation than we believe. Using an accurate, real-time overview of South Africa’s infrastructure, enables a consolidated view of the reality that will assist organisations make smarter, informed decisions.
By sharing data between the virtual and physical environments, municipalities, water service providers, and businesses can make the most of their infrastructure, and future-proof it to extend its life cycle.
The challenge in Africa is how best public policy can advance the next generation of critical infrastructure investment, while cutting down on costs related to providing such services. Africa needs the resiliency to respond to changing local and regional climate conditions, by reducing water losses and mainstreaming the reuse of wastewater, which can be achieved by introducing advanced technologies that improve the efficiency of physical operations and monitoring.
We have, with our strategic partnerships, deployed highly robust technologies all over Africa – that deliver real‐time data to allow interactive decision-making for acute situations, through the implementation of effective and efficient responses to protect our water resources.
Drop us an email today, to explore the future of water investment on the African continent.
