Solar powered bottled water plant for a game reserve, utilizing reusable glass bottles instead of plastic bottles

The brief

Ecotech was asked to design, manufacture and install a containerised water purification and water bottling system for the Okavango Delta, Botswana. The brief was to custom design the necessary equipment to purify and sanitize the water from the Delta to the point of bottling in reusable glass bottles. In addition, the system had to generate and operate off its own solar power / battery system. The client wanted to reuse glass bottles to alleviate the pressure on a fragile ecosystem where plastic bottles were becoming an environmental problem.

The treatment and power generation process (housed in 2 x 6-meter containers):

Pre-treatment of the raw water feeding the entire tented camp was upgraded using a more eco-friendly method of treatment, thereby avoiding the use of any harsh chemicals. Tannins are the major problem with the Delta’s water, so ozone is used at quite a high concentration to initially treat the raw water. This helps to oxidize any organic contaminants and sanitize any bacteria. The next stage is a sand/media filter followed by a granular activated carbon filter. The final stage is an ion-exchange system that specifically helps remove tannins. The only by-product of the system is a small amount of salt in the flush water, which is used to regenerate the tannin removal resin. This treated water is fed directly to the camp’s accommodation units
This treated water is also fed into the water bottling system, which is housed in a 6-meter sea container. After passing through a 5-micron pre-filter, the water is fed through a fully automated Ultrafiltration plant. The product water is stored in a small tank and ozonated for sanitation before being used to rinse and fill the guests’ glass bottles
The Ultrafiltration plant is PLC controlled, allowing for automatic rinsing and flushing of the UF modules, thereby making it very operator friendly
There is a carbonation system to produce sparkling water. The system also produces still water, giving the client both options to present to their guests
An ozone generator maintains sanitation in the product water storage tanks as well as in the filling lines
Stainless steel bottle filling tables are designed to the client’s specifications
A specialised bottle dishwasher is installed to sanitize bottles for reuse. This is fed directly from a solar powered water heating system which easily reaches 65-70 degrees C by midday, thereby using very little power to heat the water
Containers are both airconditioned and the storage unit for filled bottles stacked in crates has a Coolbot controller installed, allowing the temperature to be adjusted down to 5 or 6degrees if required
The entire system operates off its own solar power – solar panels on the container roofs produce enough power for daytime bottling operations, and a large battery bank stores power to keep the air conditioners operating at night
On-site training, equipment manuals, log sheets and scheduled maintenance lists for the operators to maintain high water quality are provided

The benefit to the client

By designing and manufacturing the above equipment, Ecotech was able to assist the client in providing their high-end accommodation establishment guests with water bottled on site. The client was able to reduce its carbon footprint in the Okavango Delta and reduce the number of plastic bottles being brought into the Delta and then having to be taken out again once used