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Company rolls out second-generation water filtration system

15th March 2019

By: Jessica Oosthuizen

Creamer Media Reporter

     

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Specialist water repurpose and filtration company CrossAfrica Water Solutions is rolling out the second-generation SAFI Africa Point-of-Entry Microfiltration System, which filters water at the source of entry into an establishment.

The prototype of the system was launched three years ago and the second-generation SAFI system is a culmination of design improvements made to lower the cost of production and increase the functionality and robustness of the system, says CrossAfrica CEO Manny Cross.

The system is equipped with polyethylene hollow-fibre membrane, microfiltration filters. The membrane removes bacteria and suspended solid particles of up to 0.1 μm while retaining the healthy minerals and thus allowing only clean water through. The highly sophisticated membrane is a product of Mitsubishi Chemical Cleansui, but the SAFI system is designed and manufactured in-house by CrossAfrica.

“The properties of the water are not changed at all, only unwanted contaminants and particles are removed,” Cross highlights.

SAFI 2 and SAFI 4 – which refers to the number of membranes in a particular system – can filter up to 3 600 ℓ/h and 7 200 ℓ/h respectively. A single membrane can filter as much as one-million litres in total, CrossAfrica COO Trevor Chamberlain points out.

Importantly, the system disrupts on the principle that it facilitates an automatic membrane backwash cycle. This naturally increases capacity, reduces maintenance requirements and significantly improves operating costs.

Moreover, the system is a fully adaptable and modular system, providing flexibility when clients require additional filtration processes to meet more specific needs. For example, the system can also be fitted with any prefiltration process, such as activated carbon, ultraviolet light or water softeners.

The SAFI system can be used for domestic, commercial and industrial applications. The hotel industry is a large market for CrossAfrica, but the company also supplies schools, production facilities and mines, and is also now starting to move into the commercial office market and hospitals.

Chamberlain notes that the company is in discussions with several potential clients to distribute the system into Africa and Cross says expanding the company’s distribution network is an important part of its business strategy.

Further, the company can also offer the SAFI Water Security System, where a water storage tank is added, at a nominal additional cost, and which can be crucial amid regular municipal water cuts causing business disruptions, Cross mentions.

“The SAFI system cleans the water in the tank and if there’s a water cut, the flow can be switched so that the water is supplied from the tank,” he explains. He believes that all local households and businesses will eventually need water security systems.

A SAFI Water Security System is installed at the CrossAfrica premises, in Johannesburg, and services the entire building.

CrossAfrica has also received the backing and support of top South African water expert Professor Anthony Turton.

“It is clear that local water infrastructure failure is proceeding at an accelerated rate. On top of this, power cuts lead to pump failures, for example, and water outages are becoming a day-to-day occurrence,” he notes.

This has created a need for a high quality, high performance product that is affordable and can be linked to a backup water tank so people can take control of their water quality, he advances.

The SAFI system addresses these needs, Turton highlights.

Meanwhile, CrossAfrica last month started trialling the Bauer processor – a product of water treatment company Bauer Energy Design – which uses nanobubble technology, together with the SAFI system. Nanobubbles are nanoscopic gaseous cavities in aqueous solutions that can change the normal characteristics of water.

The processor generates long-lasting nanobubbles to consistently prevent the formation of biofilm and facilitate the removal of microscopic contaminants. Biofilm presents a potential health hazard and drastically reduces energy efficiency in water cooling systems.

“Should the Bauer processor trials prove to be successful, a new age in water treatment through the lowering of the zeta potential and the creation of nanobubbles will take place, which will result in the membranes of the SAFI system staying cleaner, which will increase the capacity thereof and reduce the cost of ownership even further,” Cross highlights.

Zeta potential is the difference existing between the surface of a solid particle immersed in a conducting liquid and the bulk of the liquid.

CrossAfrica aims to make people aware of the existence of technology that can and will continue to meet the needs of South Africa and Africa, he concludes.

Edited by Zandile Mavuso
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor: Features

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