SANAE IV WASTEWATER TREATMENT WORKS

 

The fourth base of the South African National Antarctic Expedition (SANAE IV) was constructed in 1997 in the Queen Maud Land region on top of a rocky outcrop called Vesleskarvet. The base is 80km from the continent’s edge, from where the ice shelf extends a further 80km to the ocean. The base is pivotal in the research of geospace physics, the ocean, climate and biodiversity. The National Department of Public Works, as the custodian of state infrastructure, has appointed Nolitha for the repair and refurbishment of the base over a period of three years, including three summer visits. Virtual Consulting Engineers was in turn appointed to install and commission the new vacuum pipe system for wastewater collection and a membrane bioreactor wastewater treatment plant with sludge dewatering.