14th IWA International Conference on Water Reclamation and Reuse

Community Organizer: , Water Research Commission, IWA Specialist Group on Water Reuse

Overcoming barriers for  reuse of water.

We never envisaged that the time would come so soon when we had to seriously consider water reuse as an important component of our future water security.  Indirect water reuse has been  the global strategy for many decades and has served us well in managing the security of our water supplies.  However, the emerging consequences of climate related impacts and the frequency of these, together with the high rate of urbanisation in many of the large cities in the world is forcing the boundaries of recognising water reuse as not an option but part of the broader water security mix, for achieving current and future water security in many places in the world.

For us, Cape Town and several other town and cities has given us a wake up call, that just depending on surface water resources and water from further and further away is not the solution.  This jolt of realisation, as well as the great examples of many cities in the world who have transitioned this pathway of reuse, offer us hope a that charging the path of water reuse and reclamation is now going to be part of our future history.

Globally, we are fortunate that with foresight the science, innovation and developments in the domain of water reuse did not slow, but continued to preserver and progress with the intention in mind that this will become the norm in the world.  Windhoek is our shining example and benchmark of what is possible and real.  Had the world transitioned with Windhoek, the experiences and dialogue would be different – since we all still struggle to change behaviour to accept reuse water as part of the formal water supply and building consumer confidence is part of continuously improving the technology offerings and advancement.

We feel privileged as South Africa and the African region to host the IWA Water Reuse and Reclamation Conference.  The timing cannot be more than perfect as we recover and respond to the Cape Town effect, and during a period where bold decisions are being made to Fastrack the direct use of treated effluents both for industry, agriculture and domestic purposes. The City of Cape Town has taken the big leap forward towards planning for on of the largest reuse facilities in the world, while we take learning from the Global Community and Practice, share our own successes such as Emalahleni, Beaufort West, Mossel Bay and several others who have been leading the application.

We welcome you to the warm African sunshine and the wonderful City of Cape Town, to an event which will be memorable.  It is now the time to remove the barriers and harness the opportunities.  Our future depends on reuse of water.

Jay Bhagwan
Conference Chair

Programme Committee

Name Affiliation Country
Akica Bahri
National Agricultural Institute of Tunisia Tunisia
Kwang-Ho Choo
Kyungpook National University North Korea
Jörg Drewes
Past Chair IWA Water Reuse Specialist Group Germany
Naoyuki Funamizu
Muroran Institute of Technology Japan
Hong-Ying Hu
Tsinghua University China
Jiangyong Hu
National University of Singapore Singapore
Nonhlanhla Kalebaila
Water Research Commission South Africa
Stuart Khan
University of New South Wales Australia
Josef Lahnsteiner
Chair IWA Water Reuse Specialist Group Austria
Stevo Lavrnic
Universita di Bologna Italy
Olivier Lefebvre
National University of Singapore Singapore
Johan Lübbe
Development Bank of Southern Africa South Africa
Melissa Meeker
The Water Tower United States Of America
Jeff Mosher
Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority United States Of America
Michael Muston
University of Wollongong Australia
Esper Ncube
Rand Water South Africa
Pierre van Rensburg
City of Windhoek Namibia
Maria Joao Rosa
Urban Water Unit National Laboratory for Civil Engineering Portugal
Megan Schalkwyk
Umgeni Water South Africa
Samendra Sherchan
Morgan State University United States Of America
Sarah JC Slabbert
Communications Consultant, BHI32 South Africa
Shannon Spurlock
Pacific Institute United States Of America
Thomas Track
Dechema E. V. Germany
Rongchang Wang
Associate Professor, Tongji University China