Anglo American was the first company to transform waste water from its coal mines into something 80 000 people drink. Now it is seen as a model.
Purifying contaminated water from three sites in South Africa has proved so successful that Anglo’s plant in Witbank is doubling in size and being replicated elsewhere in the country by BHP Billiton and Glencore Xstrata.
Mines often treat waste water to some extent. But until the Emalahleni water reclamation plant, none of the water was of drinking quality.