Rosatom Presents “Smart Water” Solutions for South Africa

Speaking at the technical hub at African Utility Week in Cape Town, Andrei Grinevich, Head of International Affairs of “Rusatom Smart Utilities” highlighted the company’s innovative “Smart Water” offer.

The panel discussion “Assessing the potential of groundbreaking water technological solutions” focused on various problems related to the availability of water resources in the South Africa, and several experts from international companies shared their solutions for water treatment as well as water supply for municipal and industrial needs.

Rusatom Smart Utilities presented its integrated solution which ensures access to purified water using both traditional thermal and/or nuclear power plants. Grinevich presented comprehensive solutions for desalination, water treatment and water purification which suit the needs of arid regions across the world.

“Rosatom has a great deal of experience in the design, construction and operation of water treatment plants integrated with both nuclear and thermal power plants, including the world’s first desalination plant which was integrated with a nuclear power plant in Aktau, Kazakhstan. The plant boasts a capacity of 120 000 m³ per day,” highlighted Grinevich.

Along with traditional methods of desalination, Grinevich introduced the participants to new and innovative technology such as Zero Liquid Discharge technology, which utilizes similar principles as traditional seawater desalination but for industrial use. The main principle of Zero Liquid Discharge or ZLD is to give Oil and Gas refineries the opportunity to be eco-friendly. The technology is based on multi-stage evaporation, where waste water is evaporated leaving behind an easy to handle solid residue.

Grinevich highlighted the fact that Rosatom Smart Utilities are able to develop, modernize and maintain water supply and water purification systems, as well as water treatment facilities for municipal, energy, petrochemical, food and other production and municipal sectors.

He concluded by noting that regions with arid climates may be interested in seawater desalination plants for industrial and municipal needs which can integrated with various energy sources such as traditional thermal power plants as well as innovative solar power plants and wind farms. “Preference for desalination plants integrated with a power source have spawned a hybrid technology that combines multiple-effect distillation technology (evaporation) and reverse osmosis (membrane) desalination methods. It is the combination of technologies, knowledge and integration with the energy source that enable us to provide our customers with efficient, economical and safe solutions without compromising on high performance and reliability”.