Solar-powered desalination turns seawater into drinking water

Witsand, a South African fishing village, is home to Africa's first solar-powered desalination plant.

The plant uses reverse osmosis and solar energy to produce up to 100 kilolitres of drinking water per day.

Hessequa Municipality, the Western Cape provincial government, and the French Treasury built the plant to address Witsand's water crisis.

The plant was requested in 2017 after drought and salinity issues worsened the village's water supply.