Building a Smarter Water Future from South Africa to the World
With a foundation of science, a flair for innovation, and a drive to reshape the way businesses think about water, Talbot is not only solving South Africa’s water challenges; it’s looking to export its expertise to the world. CEO Carl Haycock explains how resilience, technology, and experience have made Talbot a leader in water optimisation.
Across South Africa, a quiet crisis is bubbling over. Municipal water systems are strained. Infrastructure is ageing. Climate uncertainty is delivering prolonged droughts, and the gap between demand and supply continues to widen. For business and industry, the situation is clear: water scarcity is not just a long-term sustainability issue; it’s a direct threat to operational continuity and financial performance.
The Stockholm International Water Institute ranks water crises among the top global risks, and in South Africa, the reality of restricted supply is becoming more tangible by the day. For businesses dependent on stable, secure, high-quality water — whether for processing, manufacturing, or hygiene — there is no choice but to act. And increasingly, they are turning to private sector experts to help them build resilience and efficiency into their operations.
In KwaZulu-Natal-based Talbot, they are finding a partner that not only understands the complexity of water risk but also brings proven, adaptable, and often revolutionary solutions to the table. Since its foundation, Talbot has been focused on helping its corporate clients use water more wisely, reduce dependency on municipal supply, recycle and recover water, and find new ways to think about cost, quality, and environmental performance.
END-TO-END EXPERTISE
From designing and running state-of-the-art water recovery plants to delivering sophisticated software for data-driven water management, Talbot has matured into a multidimensional operator. CEO Carl Haycock tells Enterprise Africa that this is all part of a deliberate strategy to lead from the front — and take South African water expertise to global markets.
“We are 230 employees. We generated hundreds of million in revenue last year. We have four offices, two laboratories, and activity on approximately 25 client sites across South Africa,” he outlines. “We have probably doubled our revenue since we spoke in 2022. We have developed some new products, and TalbotAnalytics is fairly established as a SaaS which supports blue-chip clients across our region.”
While most of the company’s focus remains in South Africa, international interest is growing. “We have a couple of projects in Nigeria and Tanzania, but we are focussed on South Africa. Our projects depend on client needs and we will follow them wherever they go as long as the risk is acceptable from a business and people perspective,” says Haycock.
Backed by a team of scientists, engineers, software developers, and data specialists, Talbot has built out seven distinct service lines to support this rapidly expanding client base. Its consulting division helps companies develop robust water security strategies. Its technical teams handle everything from optimisation to full plant design and construction. Its O&M division operates client water assets on a fixed monthly fee, while its newest division — the production unit — delivers Water as a Service (WaaS), selling recovered or treated water back to clients on a per-kilolitre basis.
“We have also developed a product sales and maintenance team that support our customers with equipment and parts sales that might be required, over and above what they have bought from us already or any related products such as chemicals,” says Haycock, adding that the company’s laboratory is one of the top three commercial environmental testing laboratories in sub-Saharan Africa.
This full-stack approach — from analytics and advisory through to implementation and optimisation — is what sets Talbot apart. And it’s producing real-world impact, particularly in sectors where water risk has been a growing pain point for years.
At Sovereign Foods, one of South Africa’s largest poultry producers, Talbot recently designed, built, and commissioned a world-class water recovery plant. Driven by the client’s desire to improve sustainability, lower costs, and reduce pressure on municipal supply, Talbot delivered a complete solution that treats effluent and recovers more than 70% of the water for reuse — a move that significantly cuts the plant’s water footprint and strengthens business continuity. The recovered water is treated to potable standards and reintroduced into processing, demonstrating how circular thinking in water can translate into competitive advantage.
In the mining sector, where efficiency and compliance are critical, TalbotAnalytics has enabled real-time data-driven decision-making at sites that previously relied on manual sampling and monthly reporting. By providing visibility of water use, quality, and flow at every stage of the operation, clients are able to proactively manage compliance risks and optimise costs.
“TalbotAnalytics and advisory and optimisation work is key in the industry,” says Haycock. “I firmly believe that South Africa has a lot of water-related and scientific IP that can be exported, and that should be respected in the international arena more than it typically is.”
Talbot’s offering is also evolving financially. In response to the funding gap for mid-sized industrial water projects — often too small for large institutional investors — the company is launching a dedicated investment vehicle. “We are about to launch The Water Fund. It is specifically focused on private sector customers. In South Africa, there is a gap where funding is difficult – anywhere up to R200 million,” Haycock explains. “A lot of industrial water projects are in this space, and funding is difficult because big-tier funders want a minimum of $10 million because of the investment that goes into a funding structure.”
Offering plant finance allows Talbot to lock in long-term relationships while lowering the barrier to entry for clients in need of advanced water solutions. It’s a move that reflects the company’s flexible, customer-first mindset -something Haycock says has become even more important in a post-Covid, high-inflation world.
“In the project environment, things have gone very contractual,” he says. “Pre-Covid, engagement was interpersonal and relationship driven. The contract itself was used less but now we see contracts being used by clients to the letter a lot more. That is associated with Covid having broken down interpersonal relationships to an extent.”
Global factors like war in Ukraine have added further complexity. “We saw 200–300% price escalation in Europe since the start of that – how do you manage that? Contracts have to be in place. Steel prices increased, equipment prices increased, shipping delays became common – that is another thing we have had to manage through,” says Haycock.
For Talbot, the response has been to strengthen its supply chain, diversify sources, and invest in technologies and vendors with proven performance in challenging environments. “We have to be cost-effective, but we also have to see proof of product in a certain environment. A solution must be proven in the environment that it was designed for. We provide WaaS for our customers and that means we take a risk on that equipment, and that is why it is essential that our equipment does not fail in two years’ time with us having to reinvest.”
EXPORTING EXPERTISE
Looking ahead, Talbot is actively growing its international presence. With SaaS tools, advisory capability, and proven engineering solutions ready to go, the company is engaging with partners and prospects abroad.
“Some of our products are very exportable,” says Haycock. “TalbotAnalytics industrial water optimisation tool could be applied anywhere, on any plant, in the world. Because of the water security and optimisation work that we have been doing in SA, we understand water risk and water security very well and that benefits our strategic consultancy. We are constantly reviewing industrial operations to understand water risk and understand opportunities for risk mitigation and optimisation of water usage. We can then develop a plan to address that while converting the plans to financial metrics. This allows the CFO of any organisation to make an informed decision. This is also something we can definitely export into global markets, and we are already working with partners in Europe and North America to do this.”
While many of Talbot’s competitors are international players with massive resources, Haycock is confident that the company’s experience in South Africa gives it a competitive edge. Here, where infrastructure is inconsistent and water risk is real, Talbot has developed the resilience, adaptability, and customer-centric mindset that global clients are now looking for.
“What is required in Europe, in a wastewater treatment environment, is not the same as what is needed here,” he says. “In South Africa, the water space is a very different environment. Things are far from automated and far from a one-person operation.”
In other words, Talbot is battle-tested; and it’s that hard-won experience that could put South Africa on the map as a global centre of excellence in water security and management.
“There is a lot of need in the water space,” Haycock adds. “While Talbot is not well-exposed to the public sector, there will be major opportunity in that space in coming years otherwise we will have the same crisis we had in the electricity space. We are already seeing big challenges because of water loss and that has to be addressed early by municipalities across the country.”
With a proven model, a diverse offering, and global ambitions, Talbot is emerging as a true leader in the business of water; not just in South Africa, but on the world stage.