Cape Town: The Water and Sanitation Directorate of the City of Cape Town hosted the first two public meetings about the planned desalination plant at Paarden Eiland on Feb 12, 2025. Members of the public have to submit comments until Monday, Mar 03, 2025.
Purpose of these interactive sessions is to engage the residents and to solicit their views on the feasibility of the City of Cape Town providing the desalination drinking water through an external mechanism at the proposed Paarden Eiland site.
Reportedly, this forms a part of the broader public participation process under way, as required by Section 78(3)(b) of the Municipal Services Act (MSA). The community input is vital in shaping this critical water augmentation initiative which is implemented, as part of the New Water Programme of the City of Cape Town, which is outlined in Water Strategy (2019) of the Cape Town.
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Water and Sanitation – Councillor Zahid Badroodien said that they appreciate the valuable input received thus far through the various platforms. He emphasised that the voice of the community is essential in shaping the future of Cape Town’s water security.
According to Badroodien, the residents are encouraged to submit their comments, concerns and recommendations to make their voices heard. He added that all inputs received through the City of Cape Town’s formal channels will be taken into consideration as part of the legislated public participation process.
Moreover, the City of Cape Town is committed to raise awareness about the New Water Programme and to ongoing public engagement to build confidence about the safety and benefits of the new water projects.
Permanent Desalination
Desalination is a scientific process, in which salts are removed from sea water, then processed further to make it suitable and safe for human consumption and drinking. This proposed plant forms part of the City of Cape Town’s various water augmentation projects in the New Water Programme (NWP) and Water Strategy.
It aims to diversify drinking water supply resources and build a resilient future supply, in the face of climate change, unpredictable rainfall and a growing population.
Notably, it is anticipated that the planned permanent desalination plant will produce between 50 and 70 million litres of water per day. All in whole, the Water Strategy aims to increase the water supply of the City of Cape Town by an additional 300 million litres from diversified sources.