LESOTHO CASE STUDY COMPETES AT THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE IN INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT [IEOM] HELD AT ROME IN ITALY

The researcher, Mr Ntelekoa Mohasi, is a product of The National University of Lesotho (NUL) where he graduated with BSc Chemical Technology and Honours in Water Utilization with University of Pretoria. He also completed his training in management development programme with University of Stellenbosch Business School. Mr Mohasi later enrolled with The University of Johannesburg and nailed his Engineering Management Master’s Degree in flying colours” Passed with Distinction’’.The objectives of this study as according to the publication was to determine factors that affect the reliability of wastewater treatments plants in Lesotho and to recommend the strategies that could be used to improve the reliability of wastewater treatment plants in Lesotho. This study basically talks about the ability of wastewater treatment plants to achieve the required effluent quality standards under variations in loads and temperatures hence titled ‘’Reliability analysis of wastewater treatment plants- Lesotho case study.’’According to Mohasi, wastewater whether treated or not treated will eventually end back to the environment where it first originated hence a global demand to treat wastewater in order to reduce pollution and waterborne diseases. Therefore, one of the wastewater treatment plant was chosen as the case study to gain an in depth understanding of the factors that affect its reliability.The engineering and statistical methods applied for data analysis revealed that improper operations and maintenance, human factors and errors, design and infrastructure inefficiencies, vandalism and theft all contribute to poor reliability of the plant. Even though health and safety risks were determined to be some of the factorsaffecting the reliability of the plant they must be approached with caution due to low internal consistency.Most importantly the study recommends the adoption of best operation and maintenance practices as the key strategy to enhance the reliability of the plants as well as engagement of professionals in upgrading and rehabilitation of the plants. It also recognizes the stake of employees that, everyone in the organisation must be trained on their roles, and be rewarded and recognized for the good performance to increase the staff morale. Adding that the study highly encourages continuous improvement in the company due to its importance in playing a vital role in improving the reliability of the company operations and services.This dissertation attracted a lot of attention at The University of Johannesburg and was therefore submitted for presentation and publication at the 4 th European International Conference in Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IEOM) held at the University of Rome in Italy on the 3 rd of August, 2021. Besidespublication, this study was submitted to this European conference to compete with other studies from seventy (70) different countries in the world and the results are yet to be announced. The conference paper is already available on the ResearchGate page for viewers.