Hyundai to purify its waste water to save costs, environment

HYUNDAI SA has introduced a water purification and recycling project to curtail water consumption at its Bryanston dealership in Johannesburg, which it says will reduce municipal water usage by more than 80%.

Earlier this year the Engineering Council of SA said the maximum consumption level SA’s water resources could sustain would be reached in about five years, and that industry accounted for only 10% of water consumed but caused sizable damage to the environment, including rivers.

Last week, conservation organisation World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) released a report — Managing Water Risk — in which it warned that business in SA would face great operational challenges if it did not implement water conservation solutions.

Hyundai said the project was a large investment in the reduction of water pollution and waste. Should the initiative prove successful, it would introduce it at 45 dealerships countrywide.

"It’s a two-pronged approach," said Kosta Avgoustinos, dealer principal in Bryanston. "The one component is to capture rainwater, which we use to supplement our water system. And the second prong is to filter and recycle all our (car) wash bay water by purifying it, removing the soap and mixing it back in with the rain water."

Bryanston was notorious for water cuts, Mr Avgoustinos said, and the water infrastructure in the area was being upgraded, which was one of the reasons for the development of the project. He said the average municipal water bill was R5000 a month.

"The primary reason was environmental (awareness), but we also wanted to improve our operations in terms of having a constant water supply."

Mao Amis of the WWF said competition for water would increase in the future and that a water shortage would hurt business’s bottom line.

"The risk that companies face in the future is that government might decide to survey water challenges," Dr Amis said.

The custom-developed system cost Hyundai R200000, with running costs at more than R5 000 a month, but Mr Avgoustinos said in the long term it would save money.