The ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Andre Haspels, and the head of eThekwini Water and Sanitation, Neil Macleod,have launched a Centre of Expertise.

The Centre of Expertiseis hosted by eThekwini Water and Sanitation (EWS), the water utility in the greater Durban area, and will introduce innovations and best practices to the SouthernAfrican water and sanitation sector. It is an initiative by EWS and Dutch parties Vitens-Evides International, World Waternet, Wateropleidingen and Your Man on Site.

Through the centre, a series of pilot projects will be executed to showcase the implementation of new technologies and facilitate knowledge transfer. For the individual pilot projects, contributions and support from various partners will be combined. The Centre of Expertise, which aims to unlock innovative solutions for the benefit of the Southern African water sector, is partly funded by the Dutch government through the Transition Facility.

Targets for the centre include improving the performance of Southern Africa’s peer utilities and assist in implementing innovations, best practices and technologies.

EWS and the Dutch partners are aiming to establish a long-lasting cooperation. The partnership program will run for a four year term,which will act as a general framework for the individual activities, projects and pilots. The initial focus is on non-revenue water, asset management, sanitation and the reduction of energy consumption. Four pilot projects have already started for 2012, and more exciting developments are waiting to be explored.