08 Apr How water storage helps with healthcare and food security
How water storage helps with healthcare and food security
Essential services throughout Africa are under immense strain due to an ongoing water crisis, and a failing water infrastructure.
As the scarcity of water increases on the continent, essential services like hospitals, clinics, the food industry and agricultural sector all need to start instituting a water continuity plan.
In 1983 Abeco Tanks was started by Mannie Ramos Snr who had the foresight to see the crisis ahead. It was Mannie’s passion to provide a solution for this immense problem.
That passion has passed down to his son Mannie Ramos Jnr and today he is the COO of Abeco Tanks assisting communities, businesses and governments with a convenient and cost effective water supply solution.
Abeco designs, manufactures and installs high quality underground, ground level, elevated, customized and circular bolted, sectional water storage tanks.
They have been supplying water tanks to more than 35 countries in the Middle East, Central America and Africa for nearly 40 years.
With their 269,000 square foot manufacturing plant in Johannesburg and hundreds of loyal staff they have become the definitive leader in the industry of water tank solutions.
Mannie Ramos Jnr has managed to set Abeco Tanks apart from competitors by branding their tanks as ‘water banks’ because they act exactly like a savings account storing water for times of crisis.
Having their own manufacturing plant they are able to manufacture tanks in all shapes and sizes to suit the purchaser’s needs. The steel parts are all hot-dip galvanized and according to Ramos it is the thickness of the zinc coating that protects the tank from corrosion. This ensures the tanks have a long life-span making them an excellent investment.
Recently Abeco Tanks manufactured the largest rectangular, sectional bolted steel water tank with the ability to hold 5.8 million litres of water. The tank was installed for one of the largest poultry producers in South Africa ensuring that the company can continue operating in the event of a water supply interruption.
The fact that the tanks are made up of individual panels means that they are easy to transport to any remote area anywhere in the country for livestock drinking water or for agriculture. Expensive complicated machinery is not required to put the tanks together. They are assembled with an internal bracing of angle iron welded to the base plates. All rubber components and sealants are non-tainting and non-toxic to make sure the water is kept pure inside the tank.
Hospitals and Clinics rely on a number of resources to operate but water is fundamentally the most important resource. Aside from all its other important functions the primary function is to act as a coolant for the medical compressors that control air to the ICU patients. This essential function makes a water continuity solution as important as a generator.
Even though the impact of the frequent water disruptions to the Clinics and hospitals has been assessed by Johannesburg water management, Rand Water and the SA Human Rights Commission it is still vitally important that all essential service facilities establish their own water continuity plan.
They need to establish their independence from the municipal water supply through alternative solutions like wastewater recycling, rainwater harvesting and water storage tanks.
Mannie Ramos Jnr insists that a risk analysis of possible water supply interruptions should be conducted to establish the extent of the water storage solution needed.
Abeco has been instrumental in installing water tanks for a few large hospitals in South Africa namely the Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto where they installed a 114 Kilolitre tank for the new Covid ward, the Dr. George Makuru Academic hospital where 2 tanks were installed with the capacity of 290 Kilolitres for water chilling services, cleaning and fire suppression and the Helen Joseph where 3 tanks were installed with a sprinkler tank in-case of fire.
Abeco water tanks recently saved millions of African lives by installing water tanks at a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in the Eastern Cape where they have been experiencing drought and a subsequent water shortage. Reliable water purification systems are needed at Biopharmaceutical manufacturing plants. In this particular plant the Covid vaccine is being manufactured and almost every step of the complicated process requires water.
Abeco partnered with Hidro-Tech and Zutari and helped to design and install two large internally coated pressed steel tanks on the manufacturing plant site. These tanks store, filter and treat the water before it is used in the manufacturing plant.
Abeco Tanks has been and still is at the forefront of helping the food, agriculture and healthcare sectors plan for a possible water shortage. With their high-quality product, invaluable experience, excellent customer service and reputation for reliability they are definitely the best choice for providing a water continuity solution.
