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The municipality is strongly reliant on external schemes established on PPP project modelling for water augmentation. The ever-growing demand adds stress and the inability to finance high capital-intensive projects, causing the municipality to opt for alternative non- conventional bulk water provision. The city has therefore considered strategic partnerships with three private partners (mining companies and a private water company) for water augmentation due to the inability to raise capital investment. In all three options the municipality opted for the design, build, own and operate (DBOO) type of PPP relationship, as paying for the rendered service as opposed to a high capital investment is affordable.
research methods
Aim
This study aimed to analyse the socio-economic benefits of municipal water provision. The study was based on a
case study, measuring the value of water provided from an economic perspective. The specific objectives of the study were to measure the following:
• Water efficiency of external water supply;
• Decoupling and decomposition of economic benefits from water supply; and
• Analyse the overall socio-economic benefits of PPP water provision.
The study was based on Emalahleni Local Municipality’s (ELM) partnership with private companies that augment water provision through bulk potable water supply.
System boundary
This study was based in Emalahleni (formerly known as Witbank). Emalahleni means the place of coal, because of its rich coal reserves. The city is in the Central-West part of Mpumalanga province, South Africa, as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Map of South Africa indicating provinces and the position of Witbank (Emalahleni) (Google Maps 2016)
Case study
The study used information from the municipality and Statistics South Africa (Stats SA). The information collected comprised the monthly International Water Authority (IWA) water balance and municipal IDPs. The Stats SA information comprised economic performance data.
The IWA water balance information comprises comprehensive data accounting for total water usage in the distribution system.
It includes general system input data, water balance calculations, system key performance indicators, and finance billing information (refer to Table 2).
Proceedings of the conference on Public innovation, develoPment and sustainability | 47