Mine Potable Water

The brief

The drinking water for a mine’s staff in Botswana was not of constant or suitable quality, as it was coming from several different sources (a dam and boreholes). Ecotech was asked to design, manufacture and install a potable water purification system that would accommodate various water sources and therefore quality. The initial requirement was a system that could supply 10 000 lph to staff accommodation and staff drinking stations. Due to the deteriorating feed water quality and increased staff numbers, an additional system was requested.

The treatment process

3 stage pre-filtration system consisting of a multimedia sediment removal unit, a granular activated carbon (GAC) chlorine removal unit, and a water softening unit
2 x 5000 litre per hour skid-mounted ultrafiltration (UF) treatment systems
Sanitation dosing system
Clean-in-place system for on-site UF module cleaning
Primary filtration system consisting of a 15 000 lph skid-mounted multimedia unit was added due to decreasing supply water quality
A third 5000 litre per hour UF system was installed to accommodate the increased demand
On-site training for all operational staff, and a full technical manual supplied with each system
Log sheets and scheduled maintenance lists were supplied to the operators to maintain the specified water quality

The benefit to the client

By designing and manufacturing the above equipment, Ecotech was able to assist the client in supplying high quality potable water to its staff and clean water to the staff villages.