In an effort to help the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape Province mitigate the impact of Day Zero, Coca-Cola Peninsula Beverages (CCPB) is finalising the details of a plan to provide millions of litres of relief water.

The “prepared water” will be provided in a 2-litre recyclable PET bottle, according to Priscilla Urquhart, Public Affairs and Communications Manager at CCPB.

The bottles will be clearly marked “not for resale” and would also be produced to supply to emergency sites as determined by the Provincial Task Team on Water and the Disaster Risk Management team.

Supplementing supply

Urquhart notes that the initiative is dependent on the company being able to utilise alternate water sources in order to supplement the use of municipal water.

“CCPB will be working closely with the relevant authorities to ensure full approvals of all aspects of this water relief undertaking,” she explains.

“We are deeply concerned by the water crisis facing the city and have implemented many changes and efficiencies across our operations to ensure it is being water efficient,” says Urquhart.

Reducing reliance on municipal water

The company has invested in a number of initiatives in order to reduce the reliance on municipal water which include the potential use of professionally installed boreholes which are currently being tested in terms of sustainability and impact on the environment.

CCPB is working with the relevant authorities to facilitate the speedy issuing of the necessary licences to ensure that municipal water supplies are protected.

The company has installed a 1.5 million litre bulk water tank at the plant in order to ensure a buffer in supply once the boreholes are approved and operational. It has also acquired three 33 000 litre food-grade water tankers to transport water from sources outside the water stressed areas.