The wastewater whizz

Dr Emmanuel Kweinor Tetteh reengineers sustainability, one biogas bubble at a time

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Growing up in Akim-Akwatia, a diamond-mining town in Ghana, Dr Emmanuel Kweinor Tetteh witnessed the environmental and social fallout of poor wastewater management.

"It was destroying communities, poisoning ecosystems, and perpetuating poverty," recalls Tetteh, now a senior researcher at Durban University of Technology and winner of the NSTF-South32 Award for emerging researchers. "It was a pivotal moment that made me realise how engineering solutions, particularly those linking water and energy, can change lives."

Today, he leads transformative projects supported by the Water Research Commission and the South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI). His focus? Developing smart, scalable technologies that tackle water, waste, and energy challenges, all while creating socioeconomic value for vulnerable communities.