On the 25th of February, Overstrand Municipality were honored to host His Excellency David Martinon, French Ambassador to South Africa, and Sophie Bell, Consul General of France in Cape Town, alongside Mayor Alderman Archie Klaas together with Thierry Witkowicz, CEO of Veolia in South Africa, and his team, in a significant visit that underscores the growing partnership between France and South Africa.
The distinguished delegation toured the Preekstoel water treatment plant, in Overstrand, near Hermanus, which has been operated since 2018 by Veolia, a global leader in environmental services. The facility plays a key role in delivering reliable water services to the Overstrand Municipality, home to nearly 150,000 residents along South Africa’s Western Cape coastline.
The visit provided an opportunity to showcase the successful collaboration between international expertise and local governance in delivering essential services to the community.
The Preekstoel Water Treatment Works (WTW) features the first full-scale biological filtration plant in South Africa, designed to treat 10,000,000 liters per day, eq. four olympic swimming pools. In addition, Veolia operates the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), which manages 12,000,000 liters per day, nearly five Olympic swimming pools, of treated effluent. This treated water is reused within the Overstrand community for non-potable applications, including domestic irrigation, school and community gardens, and municipal green spaces such as public parks and landscaped areas. This approach supports the municipality’s broader water demand management and reuse strategy, which promotes the recycling of treated wastewater for irrigation and other non-drinking purposes in order to conserve scarce freshwater resources.
For over 10 years, and despite the increase in extreme weather events, the municipality has never faced any water crisis, thanks to proactive anticipation and strategic planning. Through continuous monitoring, predictive maintenance, and forward-thinking risk management strategies, potential issues are identified and addressed before they can impact service delivery. This anticipatory approach, combined with robust infrastructure management and rapid response capabilities, ensures uninterrupted water supply and maintains the highest standards of water quality for the community. After years of collaboration, Overstrand Hermanus was awarded the prestigious Blue Drop Award, a testament to the excellence of water quality management achieved through this partnership.
The Overstrand Municipality and Veolia have forged an exemplary partnership that stands as a model of successful collaboration between local municipalities and international expertise. This partnership demonstrates how effective cooperation between public sector leadership and private sector innovation can deliver outstanding results for residents, combining local knowledge with world-class technical capabilities to provide reliable, high-quality water services.