Russia’s state-owned nuclear energy corporation, ROSATOM, says it is set to provide an intermediate solution to parts of South Africa that lacked access to clean water.
SEE ALSO: 19 Potential Coronavirus Vaccines Currently In Clinical Trials, Says WHO
Ryan Collyer, the Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Rosatom Central and Southern Africa, made this known in a statement on Monday in Lagos.
Collyer said: “South Africa is considered to be a water scarce country with an average rainfall of 450mm per year.
“This is almost half the global average of 870mm per year, making it the world’s 30th driest country.”
He said, while it was estimated that close to 90 per cent of South African households could access piped water, most of these households did not have water running directly into their homes.
The chief executive officer said the global COVID-19 pandemic further highlighted the country’s clean water shortage as people required better access to clean water for sanitary purposes.
“Rosatom Central and Southern Africa saw the immediate need for short term water treatment solutions in the region.
“And we, therefore, decided to fast track the introduction of our mobile water treatment units into South Africa.
“The aim is to distribute these units across the continent to give people assess to clean water to improve living standards.
“This is with the hope that it will help curb the spread of the Coronavirus as well as prevent the spread of water borne diseases such as cholera, which sadly still claims lives of thousands in Africa each year.
“The company aims to bring its mobile water treatment solutions, which are designed and produced by Rosatom subsidiary JSC Science and Innovations into South Africa.
“It is an intermediate solution for urban and rural areas that currently, don’t have access to clean water or are experiencing water disruptions due to failed infrastructure,” he said.
Collyer said the company offers various technologies for the treatment of water and had a vast amount of experience in water treatment and desalination.
“The UMKWA mobile water treatment solution is a fully containeried system that is mounted to the back of a standard one ton pickup truck.
“The units, which are produced in Russia, can be deployed to South African customers in a very short period of time to help solve the current issues.
“They can be used along rivers, dams or even the ocean. Clean water can then be distributed at the site of treatment or can be transported by tanker and distributed to nearby residents.
“The units can also add much needed support to ailing municipal water treatment facilities. We also offer larger containerised solutions which may replace existing outdated facilities,” he said.