Coca-Cola Peninsula Beverages (CCPB) said on Thursday that it was finalizing the details to provide millions of litres of relief water to the Western Cape province and to the City of Cape Town in a bid to help the City mitigate the impact of Day Zero.
This initiative, a partnership between CCPB, the Coca-Cola Foundation and participating suppliers, will see “prepared water” provided in a 2-litre recyclable polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles.
Priscilla Urquhart, public affairs and communications manager at CCPB, said the initiative is dependent on CCPB being able to utilize alternate water sources in order to supplement the use of municipal water.
Urquhart said that the bottles would 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.
“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,” Urquhart said.
“In addition CCPB, has committed R1 million to fund an entrepreneurship initiative in conjunction with the City of Cape Town and Western Cape Government to fund new ideas that will stimulate the ‘water-wise economy’.”
On the existing bottled water products it sells, CCPB has already implemented a discount structure with its retail customers on the BonAqua 1.5 litre still water in order to provide this product to consumers at affordable prices.
Urquhart said CCPB 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.
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.
CCPB, as one of the main partners of the Cape Town Cycle Tour, will be using these tankers to assist in delivering the 2-million litres of water required by the City to ensure the March event is water neutral.
The water is being sourced from areas outside of the Western Cape that are unaffected by any water shortages, and will be delivered into the City’s local water grid. (via African News Agency)
