Actually that's a misleading headline. Hot water in this case is a good thing.

Imagine being charged R 370 000.00 to take a shower. That's roughly (according to my calculations) what it costs Anglo Platinum every year to provide hot showers for 1500 workers at one of its platinum shafts, in this case Brakfontein shaft at their Lebowa mine. (421.54 mWh at 88c/kWh - vat incl)

By installing a massive (apparently one of SA's largest) centralised solar water heating system this is what Anglo Plat's stands to save. The 270 flat plate solar water heating panels cover three separate buildings and provide enough capacity to heat 42 000 litres of water. That is a lot of hot water!

The solar system pre-feeds a 28 000 litre conventional system and also has electrical backup. The system is designed to provide hot water needs for a full day with the backup system as a fall back to heat the water required between shifts in case of bad weather.

Aside from the significant cost savings, 447 tons of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions are saved per annum. The average carbon footprint per South African is about 8 tons per annum and a flight uses around 1 to 7 tons of carbon per person (depending on the distance travelled). So that is a pretty large amount of carbon being saved, just for 1 shower facility.

Now imagine the GHG impact of everyone showering around the country...

Hopefully the guys at Anglo Plat's have also thought about low flow showerheads as that would be a further saving of water and electricity?

Solar Heat Exchangers were the company responsible for the installation. If you know of any other large or unusual solar water heating projects please let us know.