ISO 14001 Certification

ISO 14001 2015 is the international standard that specifies requirements for an effective environmental management system (EMS). Lepelle Northern Water is certified of ISO14001: 2015 for 24 Schemes. An Environmental Management System helps LNW to identify, manage, control and monitor environmental issues in a holistic manner. The livelihood of all South Africans is dependent upon the environment within which they live, and they have a right to live in a healthy and safe environment. Lepelle Northern Water s operations impact on the environment both positively and negatively. One of the biggest benefits of implementing an EMS is the recognition that comes with being among those businesses that care enough to reduce their environmental footprint. This bring better relationships with customers, the public, and the community at large for your company, but it also brings other benefits.

Along with the good public image, ISO 14001: 2015 certification assist   LNW to save money through the implementation of an environmental management system. This is achieved through reducing incidents that can result in liability costs, being able to obtain insurance at a more reasonable cost, and conserving input materials and energy through reduction efforts. Projects conducted by Lepelle Northern Water  through the initiatives of ISO 14001: 2015  which are  Waste Management,  biomonitoring , Removal of alien   plants ,energy initiatives,  water saving and paper  saving.

Waste Management

LNW implement hazardous and sludge  management for the benefit of the Environment to reduce the negative impacts and comply  with  National  Environmental  Management: Waste Act   59 of 2008 legislations. Biological and  chemical hazardous waste  is segregated and collected by competent service provider who disposes it in an environmentally friendly manner while sludge  management is also collected by  service provider and collect the quarterly sampling  to assess it and conduct the classification on the sludge  and then dispose  according the  results from the laboratory.

Alien Plants

Alien Plants are invasive because they spread and displace our natural trees and plants. Invasive alien plant species (IAP) are species which spread outside their natural distribution threaten biological diversity. Alien plants are known to be a threat to water security as they consume hundreds of litres of water per day. Lepelle Northern Water has created programme to manage alien species on the selected   schemes that is affected by alien schemes. The aim of the programme is to bring alien species such as wattle under control in such way that it contributes to the conservation of the natural resources.

Biomonitoring

Biomonitoring is the project used to assess the status of the rivers where water is abstracted for all LNW schemes. The competent service provider is appointed to collect the sample for dry and wet season to determine the status of the river which LNW abstract water from.