As concern increases over the possibility of further water outages in South Africa, JSE-listed Redefine Properties is developing further storage capacity and enhancing existing backup capacity, in addition to improving water efficiency and reducing consumption, as part of its water resilience strategy.

This emerges as water shortages in some parts of South Africa increase in frequency, with water supplies cut off for up to ten days or more, often blamed on municipalities' underdeveloped infrastructure and lack of infrastructure maintenance impacting supply networks.

“While our focus has largely been on reducing water consumption, we are now in the process of developing further storage capacity to provide up to a five-day buffer in certain of our buildings in case of a major water outage,” said Redefine sustainability project manager Victor Mathey.

Further major outages are expected owing to scheduled maintenance and ongoing infrastructure issues, he said, referring to the upcoming scheduled six-month maintenance of Lesotho Highlands water tunnel.

While the Vaal River system and the Sterkfontein dam are expected to have enough water in storage to last for the six-month period, there continues to be significant undersupply, particularly in Gauteng, owing to the nine-year delay in the Lesotho Highlands Water Project Phase 2. Until the project is completed in 2029, the province will face periodic water outages, as demand surpasses supply.

“We are planning to get ahead by rolling out projects to establish onsite water backup at buildings to increase their water security should such outages occur.”

Redefine has already ensured a significant capacity of standby water, with its installed storage capacity of 6 660 kilolitres; however, it needs 38 000 kilolitres to achieve a five-day buffer at its current water consumption levels.

“Therefore, our intention is to install new water tanks to guarantee sufficient capacity for up to five days. By reducing consumption and creating water security at our buildings, we are actively investing in the sustainability of Redefine’s assets,” Mathey commented, noting that it ensures its buildings remain functional during outages.

With more backup capacity, demand on the municipal water system is reduced when its capacity is under pressure, allowing the limited supply to instead benefit nearby communities.

After implementing a series of water reduction initiatives, Redefine has seen a 165 mL reduction in consumption across its South African portfolio over the last two financial years, far exceeding the initial reduction targets of 74 mL year-on-year.

“This demonstrates that related interventions, notably the rollout of water efficient toilets, such as Propelair, and smart metering installations, are beginning to bear fruit.”

The installation of more than 2 000 Propelair toilets has been highly successful in reducing overall water consumption throughout the property group’s office and retail portfolios.

Propelair toilets use over 80% less water than conventional water flush toilets, said Redefine head of development and industrial asset management Johann Nell, citing an example of a 50% decrease in consumption at the Golden Walk Shopping Centre, directly attributed to Propelair installations.

Redefine is also leveraging a digital water monitoring system at many sites, with this infrastructure being rolled out at others currently.

“Digital monitoring enhances proactive property management by immediately notifying us should there be a change in a building's water consumption profile. Whereas historically, readings were taken at a wider frequency of time, making it difficult to identify and tend to issues such as a leak immediately."

One example of the significant reduction and saving that the monitoring system has enabled is at Ushukela Industrial Park, where water consumption decreased from 1 062 kilolitres in January to 399 kilolitres in February after a leak was discovered and investigated right away.

Nell said Redefine remains focused on introducing further interventions mostly at an operational level, including monitoring and proactively managing consumption, especially at big buildings where there are often leaks, running toilets, dripping taps and leaky irrigation systems.

“These interventions, together with the expansion of our backup storage capabilities, will further improve water efficiencies within our properties and ensure the resilience and operational continuity of our assets in the case of major water outages,” Nell concluded.