Future forward at Sibiti

By Tanya Olckers with technical input from Duncan Keil of UPP Group and Stephen Walker, engineer and director of Ground 2 Tap.

Sibiti Estate is a private residential estate situated in Fourways, Johannesburg. It’s tucked among trees and grassy properties, a gem hidden behind a bustling shopping hub. It serves as a home for 179 residents, all of whom want an affordable, clean water supply.

Ground 2 Tap’s innovative system. All images by © Plumbing Africa

This seemed like a big task for UPP Group, the water solutions consultants which was asked to make this a reality for the residents at the estate, and one that didn’t come without challenges.

The estate has three boreholes. However, only two will be in use, each producing a yield of 3 600 litres per hour. For this to happen, all the paving had to be lifted and then put back. For a large complex such as Sibiti, a WULA license had to be obtained in order to use the borehole water for all the homes. The borehole water is blended with about 50% municipal water.

This automatically drops the water bill for the complex by half. UPP continues to maintain the system with a monthly service level agreement (SLA).

A specially built hybrid filtration and purification system, from Ground 2 Tap, performs a complicated process of not just ensuring that municipal water makes it through the pipes to the 179 homes on Sibiti  but that any stored water and borehole water is filtered and purified, ensuring safe and clean water for each residence.

This bespoke pump, filtration and purification station serves as the heart of Sibiti’s clean water system. Together with municipal and borehole water, the system aims to keep water in the taps.

Ground 2 Tap was approached by the estate chairman, Grant Greef, to evaluate their existing borehole and explore options for reducing reliance on municipal water. The brief was to transition the estate toward off-grid water supply, establish a reliable backup during frequent municipal outages, and improve the overall water quality for the residents.

Ground 2 Tap took responsibility for the entire project lifecycle, including borehole drilling, electrical connections, tank installation, plumbing, and water filtration. While their core expertise lies in water filtration, they provided an end-to-end solution by managing subcontractors for the other components.

Water purification was a priority.

The biggest challenge was sourcing reliable suppliers for each outsourced element and ensuring seamless coordination between all parties. Maintaining the project’s timeline and budget while managing these interdependencies required detailed planning and proactive communication.

After four months of meetings, proposal submissions, yield test and finally getting approval, the team was able to get the project under way including borehole drilling, civils, electrical work, plumbing and water filtration – a process which took six weeks. The filtration system itself took just one week to install and commission on site. Plumbing from the estate’s main water meter (100 meters from the filtration plant) to the filtration system, including an automatic changeover valve.

Additional Features and Benefits:

• Financial Savings: The sustainable borehole solution has saved Sibiti Estate over R260,000 in the past year by reducing municipal water usage.
• Automatic Changeover: The system includes an automatic changeover function. In case of a failure in the water treatment plant or boreholes, the system seamlessly switches to direct municipal supply, ensuring uninterrupted water service.
• Filtering Municipal Water: Even the incoming municipal water is filtered through the system. This ensures that the water quality supplied to the estate remains high, regardless of the municipal water’s condition.
• Remote Monitoring: The system is fully monitored remotely, providing real-time performance data. Both Ground 2 Tap and the client are immediately alerted to any alarms or issues, allowing for proactive maintenance.
• Quarterly Maintenance: Regular maintenance happens quarterly to include:
  • Calibration of chlorine and pH electrodes.
  • Chemical top-ups.
  • Filter cartridge replacements.
  • Comprehensive system checks to ensure optimal functionality.

Pipes had to be elevated.

System Capacity:

The system operates at a peak flow rate of 8 litres per second, supplying up to 80 000 litres per day through a 110mm PVC main supply line.

“It’s the future of water,” says Duncan Keil of UPP. “This is something we may very well see for almost every residential complex in South Africa.”

The plant has a changeover station, booster pumps and SLA monitoring system as well as a dosing plant to ensure that the water is as clean as possible.

Getting that water supply around the estate was also a challenge as the UPP team had to raise piping above ground in order to dodge a storm water drain, and to set up this intricate piping system not just in a way that was aesthetically pleasing, but that would function to an optimal level.

This meant that piping had to be placed along wall surfaces, often at sharp angles as it followed the curve of the walls.

Sibiti relies on four 20 000 litre water storage tanks to hold its back up water storage tanks. Because of the massive size of these tanks, they had to be craned into place, which posed an additional challenge as the space they had to go into was quite a tight fit. These are housed alongside a dedicated pump house where the real hard work of the system takes place. Because the estate relies on both municipal and borehole water, filtration and purification are fundamental aspects of the system.