CAPE TOWN - OLD Mutual’s Pinelands office has gone off the City of Cape Town’s water grid.
Old Mutual launched its new Water Filtration Plant at its Mutualpark office in Pinelands, the first corporate-based waste-to-drinking-water filtration facility in South Africa, which means that the 166 000m² office, accommodating more than 9 000 employees and contractors is now officially operating off the grid.
Employees consume about 450 000 litres of water a day at Mutualpark and the new plant can produce between 650 000 and 800 000 litres of water a day, which will save the city 10 000 to 15 000 kilolitres of water a month, making the office self-sufficient and independent of the regional water grid.
Old Mutual’s chief operating officer, Iain Williamson, said before the installation of the plant the firm had implemented water savings initiatives and managed to reduce consumption at Mutualpark by about 30 percent.
Williamson said Old Mutual continued to positively impact the socio-economic and environmental development of the continent and its people.
“By driving mutually beneficial projects, Old Mutual creates shared value. A project like this which is both cost-effective and responsibly geared to ensuring a sustainable future is a win-win for all,” said Williamson.
Khiyam Fredericks, Old Mutual’s national technical manager, said the environmental intervention would provide significant relief to the overall water demand in the City of Cape Town as the plant was earmarked to be Mutualpark’s main source of water.
“Our Water Filtration Plant, which has undergone rigorous testing was certified SANS 241 compliant by the national and local governments making the filtered water drinkable and is earmarked to be Mutualpark’s main source of water.
It has the capacity to produce between 650 000 and 800 000 litres a day,” said Fredericks.
He said Mutualpark’s average consumption was about 450 000 litres a day.
“We have been piloting the plant since July 2018 and the results have been impressive. Not only is it contributing towards essential water conservation in the drought-stricken Western Cape, it has also encouraged a wonderful uptake in community involvement and participation in some of our water-saving initiatives,” said Fredericks.
Old Mutual’s chief executive, Peter Moyo, said the firm’s responsible business strategy and philosophy was based on its corporate purpose.
“Our responsibility to inspire a shared-value proposition for its customers to help them achieve their lifetime financial goals while at the same time creating a mutually beneficial and sustainable future for all,” said Moyo.