UCT Sustainability and the SDGs 2022 - Magazine - Page 18
SDG 6
CLEAN
WATER AND
SANITATION
The strategy rests on 昀椀ve key commitments:
•
to understand and measure water use through improved
data and digital metering;
•
to safeguard operations during droughts or disruptions;
•
to foster a water-wise community through awareness
and behaviour change;
•
to achieve water neutrality through rainwater harvesting,
greywater reuse and ef昀椀cient infrastructure; and
•
to embed water sensitivity in planning, design and research.
Supported by an initial R80 million investment from UCT and
Water scarcity and inequitable access are among
the national Department of Higher Education and Training
South Africa’s most urgent environmental and social
(DHET), the 30-year plan includes infrastructure upgrades,
challenges. UCT recognises its responsibility to model
smart systems and educational initiatives that link water
sustainable water stewardship both operationally on
stewardship to UCT’s broader sustainability goals.
campus and through research and innovation.
2024 saw steady progress toward the goals set out in this
strategy. Signi昀椀cant work has gone into designing an on-site
sewage water recycling facility on lower campus, next to one
Institutional initiatives
of UCT’s student residences, Kopano. The facility will include
a learning centre managed by UCT’s Future Water Institute,
set within a green precinct consisting of a landscaped area
Towards a water-wise university
designed for student wellbeing, cultural activities and quiet
UCT’s Water Management Strategy sets out a long-term
spaces to unwind. This will be the 昀椀rst facility of its kind at any
vision to become a net-zero, water-sensitive campus by 2050.
South African university – and a leading global example of
Recognising water as a 昀椀nite and shared resource, the strategy
how sustainable water management can be integrated with
integrates conservation, resilience and education to ensure
education and everyday campus life. The “green precinct” is
sustainable management of water across all campuses.
scheduled for completion by the end of 2025.
36 - Sustainability and the SDGs 2024
Sustainability and the SDGs 2024 – 37
