Bluewater Bio Expands into South Africa

Headstream is looking at projects nationally in South Africa and the initial focus will be on restoring performance and upgrading plants in particularly stressed areas and on private sector operated plants serving mining communities. There are three projects under consideration in the North West Province and one in Mpumalanga, in the north eastern part of the country. HYBACS is particularly attractive in these regions because it avoids large civil works and can provide up to 50% energy savings, which is a major issue in South Africa. Headstream is currently negotiating a co-operation agreement with the largest independent operator of wastewater plants in South Africa.

Daniel Ishag, CEO of Bluewater Bio commented: "South Africa is a priority region for Bluewater Bio because many plants in the country are dysfunctional. This is down to poor maintenance, lack of capital expenditure and, most importantly, overloading because of population growth."

"The market opportunity in South Africa is significant; there are 1,619 wastewater plants registered with the Department of Water Affairs. Official estimates suggest approximately 60% of these are dysfunctional to some degree in terms of regulatory compliance of stipulated water quality characteristics - industry sources hint that this is closer to 80%. These are predominantly the smaller municipalities as the larger urban centres still have capable technical staff, but even this infrastructure is deteriorating. There is no doubt that the remainder of the sub Saharan African countries are in a far worse predicament and South Africa will be our central base as we enter this market."

The management team of Headstream, whose offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town will officially open in January 2010, will be headed by Justin Moore. Justin has over 30 years of investment banking experience and has advised major water utilities in South Africa (for example, Umgeni Water and Rand Water). Martie Janse Van Rensburg will join the Headstream Board as its non-executive chairperson.

Bluewater Bio and Headstream expect to expand into other sub Saharan African countries approximately 12-18 months after the South African launch. For more information, visit the company website.