- Staff writer
ABECO TANKS AND THE FIGHT AGAINST COVID
Abeco Tanks, in collaboration with Zutari and Hidro-Tech, installed two immense water tanks on the site of Aspen Pharmacare’s manufacturing plant in Qqeberha (Port Elizabeth). One tank has been specifically designed for treated water, holding 317 000 litres, and the other for filtered water, holding 108 000 litres.
Aspen Pharmacare was granted the rights to make up 300 million doses of the J & J vaccine in 2022, with plans to increase that to more than 700 million by January 2023. Mannie Ramos Jnr, COO at Abeco Tanks, says that the process of manufacturing the vaccine is complex and almost every step of the 60 day time line relies on water in some way. Sterile water, for instance, is what scientists use to dilute vaccines and many of the essential stabilisers such as gelatine, also need water. Bio-pharmaceutical manufacturing plants therefore need water purification systems that are reliable, particularly in Africa.
Together with Zutari as the consultant and Hidro-Tech as the contractor, Abeco installed two internally coated, pressed steel tanks – one for the treated water and the other for the filtered water. All the tanks’ sealants and rubber components are non-toxic and non-tainting to ensure the purity of the water.
Once the water has been collected, it goes through one of two processes – filtered water is processed through reverse osmosis to remove impurities and treated water is chemically altered to attain the correct balance and pH. The tanks store, filter and treat the water before using it as the end product in the manufacturing plant.
