Denis Opudo
Cape Town City with more than four million households is currently undergoing water crisis. The main sources of surface and underground which supply about fifty percent domestic water have totally dried up. The two main causes are rainfall scarcity and inequity in water distribution in the city. For instance, the famous long rains during winter seasons have disappeared for almost three years now. Besides rainfall challenges, poor black inhabitants lack the infrastructure to supply clean water for drinking. The head of the Energy Department at the Afeka-Tel Aviv College of Engineering, Moshe Tshuva and Joshua Altman discovered water solution. The co-founders of Tethys Solar Desalinization (TSD) Joshua Altman provided a remedy for water issues in the Cape Town.
According to Tshuva, the TSD initiative has got the perfect solution of water menace. He added that the system can be placed vacant area to help in pumping clean water into the town reservoirs. Mr. Moshe Tshuva, a rocket scientist had participated in research and development of green energy and solar plants.
Dr. Clive Lipchin, Israeli researcher noted that Israel technology could save the water issues in Cape Town. He emphasized the importance of using modern technology to solve African problems during a water symposium in Johannesburg in February.
Mr. Joshua Altman explained that the company has recently established “weather box,”. The new discovery will help in reduction and multiplication of atmospheric processes (condensation and evaporation) to clean and filter water. The system uses water from various sources such as the sea, blackish groundwater, and others. The mechanism operates by use of solar energy which hastens evaporation process leaving sediments at the bottom of a reservoir. The clean water is collected into clean containers after cooling back vapor into liquid form.
He added that the initiative can supply about 50m3 daily with an averaged coverage of 10,000m3on a daily basis. This water system is capable of serving hotels and autonomous village for industrial and agricultural use. The major advantages of TSD’s purification process comprise of environmentally friendly, no pipelines required and utilize solar energy. The company desalination technique employs boiling and osmosis process to separate water from salt. The byproduct of the two processes is brine. Mr. Altman pointed out that supplying water to a large population requires heavy capital investment and support from the government. Privatization of water sector is required to improve water supply without depending on government infrastructures only. The move has gained support from many countries worldwide.
According to the World Economic Forum, about two-thirds of the global population will face water shortage by 2025. Israeli technology will thus play a key role in Cape Town given the climatic change in the region. The company so far has managed to secure $500,000 funding and is beyond prototype development era. The company is planning to carry out pilot projects in California, Israel, and Jordan. The company currently lobbying more investors to raises $1.5 million for the proposed series A funding round.
