Professor Neil Armitage

PrEng, PhD
Urban Water Management

​Email: neil.armitage@uct.ac.za​

Neil Armitage holds BSc(Eng), MSc(Eng) and PhD degrees from the Universities of Natal, Cape Town and Stellenbosch respectively. He is a professional engineer, registered with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA), with more than 33 years’ experience – both as a consultant and an academic – in a wide range of water-related engineering.

He has been employed by UCT since 1995, initially as Senior Lecturer, then from 2005 as an Associate Professor, and finally from 2015 as a Professor in the Civil Engineering Department. He served as Deputy Dean (Undergraduate Affairs) in the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment 2011-12 and as Head of the Department of Civil Engineering 2012-17. He co-founded the ‘Future Water’ research institute in 2015 which he currently serves as Deputy Director. He has authored or co-authored some 100 publications and supervised 19 masters’ students and three PhD students to graduation. Inter alia, he was responsible for the development of the South African Guidelines on Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) and Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD). In 2013 he received the Water Research Commission of South Africa’s Award for Human Capital Development in the Water and Science Sectors.

Research interests

• Urban Water Management (UWM)
• Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS)
• Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD)
• Sanitation in informal settlements

Undergraduate course lectures

• Engineering Hydrology (CIV3044F)
• Urban Water Services (CIV3047S)

 

Postgraduate course lectures

• Integrated Urban Water Management (CIV5107Z)

Membership

• FSAICE, FIMESA, FWISA, IWA Fellow, Mem. IAHR

Milestones and awards

• Water Research Commission Award for Human Capital Development in the Water and Science Sector

Publications summary

(i) Journal papers: 27 published
(ii) Chapters in books: 4 published
(iii) Conference papers: 52 published
(iv) Conference posters: 2
(v) Invited papers (not peer reviewed): 4
(vi) Major research reports: 12
(vii) Videos on research material: 3

Publications highlights

• Various reports and papers on the measurement and removal of urban litter from stormwater systems
• Various reports and papers on the management of greywater and sewerage in informal settlements
• South African Guidelines for Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS)
• South African Guidelines for Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD)

 

• Armitage, Neil, Albert Rooseboom, Christo Nel & Peter Townshend: The removal of urban litter from stormwater conduits and streams. Water Research Commission Technical Transfer Report No. TT 95/98, ISBN 1 86845 367 7, Republic of South Africa, July 1998.
• Marais, Mark & Neil Armitage: The measurement and reduction of urban litter entering stormwater drainage systems. Water Research Commission Technical Transfer Report No TT211/03, ISBN No. 1-77005-041-8, Republic of South Africa, June 2003.
• Armitage, Neil: “The reduction of urban litter in the stormwater drains of South Africa”. Urban Water Journal Vol. 4, No. 3, pp 151-172, ISSN 1573-062X, Taylor & Francis Ltd, September 2007.
• Carden, K., N. Armitage, K. Winter, O. Sichone, & U. Rivett (2008): “The management of greywater in the non-sewered areas of South Africa”, Urban Water Journal. Vol. 5, No. 4, pp. 329-343, ISSN 1573-062X, Taylor & Francis Ltd, December 2008.
• Taing, L., S. Pan, J. Hilligan, A. Spiegel & N. P. Armitage: “Challenges facing sanitation-provision partnerships for informal settlements: a South African case study”. Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development, 03.2, pp. 230-239, ISSN 2043-9083, 2013.
• Carden, K. & N.P. Armitage: “Assessing urban water sustainability in South Africa – not just performance measurement”. Water SA, Vol. 39 No. 3 WISA 2012 Special Edition 2013, pp. 345-350, ISSN 0378-4738 (Print) / ISSN 1816-7950 (On-line).
• Fisher-Jeffes, L. & N.P. Armitage: “Charging for stormwater in South Africa”. Water SA, Vol. 39 No. 3 WISA 2012 Special Edition 2013, pp. 429-435, ISSN 0378-4738 (Print) / ISSN 1816-7950 (On-line).
• Armitage, Neil, Michael Vice, Lloyd Fisher-Jeffes, Kevin Winter, Andrew Spiegel & Jessica Dunstan. The South African Guidelines for Sustainable Drainage Systems. Water Research Commission Technical Transfer Report No. TT558/13, ISBN 978-1-4312-0413-7, May 2013.
• Taing, Lina, Neil Armitage, Nangolo Ashipala & Andrew Spiegel. TIPS for sewering informal settlements: Technology, Institutions, People and Services. Water Research Commission Technical Transfer Report No. TT 557/13. ISBN 978-1-4312-0412-0, May 2013.
• Neil Armitage, Lloyd Fisher-Jeffes, Kirsty Carden, Kevin Winter, Vinothan Naidoo, Andrew Spiegel, Ben Mauck & Daniel Coulson. Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) for South Africa: Framework and guidelines. Water Research Commission Technical Transfer Report No. TT 588/14. ISBN 978-1-4312-0530-1, April 2014.
• Fisher-Jeffes, L., K. Carden, & N.P. Armitage: “The future of urban water management in South Africa – achieving water sensitivity”. Water Science & Technology: Water Supply, pp.1-10. Doi:10.2166/ws.2014.060. 2014.
• Pan, S.M., N.P. Armitage, M. B. Van Ryneveld: “Sustainable and equitable sanitation in low-income areas of Cape Town: A common vision?” Water SA, WISA2014 Special Edition 2015, Vol. 4 No. 2 pp. 222-231. ISSN 1816-7950 (On-line).
• Fisher-Jeffes, L., G. Gertse, N.P. Armitage: “Mitigating the impact of swimming pools on the urban water cycle.” Water SA, WISA2014 Special Edition 2015, Vol 40, No. 2, pp 238-246. ISSN 1816-7950 (On-line)
• Fisher-Jeffes, L., Carden, K., Armitage, N.P., Winter, K. (2017). Stormwater harvesting: Improving water security in South Africa’s urban areas. S Afr J Sci. Vol. 113(1/2), Art. #2016-0153, 4 pages. http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2017/20160153.
• Rohrer, Alastair R. & Neil P. Armitage: Improving the viability of Stormwater Harvesting through Rudimentary Real Time Control. Water 2017, 9, 371, 15 pp.; doi:10.3390/w906-371. www.mdpi.com/journal/water
• Fisher-Jeffes, L., Armitage, N. & Carden, K. (2017). The viability of domestic rainwater harvesting in the residential areas of the Liesbeek River Catchment, Cape Town. Water SA Vol 43(1), pp. 81-90. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/wsa.v43i1.11
• Fisher-Jeffes, L.,N., N. P. Armitage, K. Carden, K. Winter & J. Okedi. ‘Addressing Water Scarcity in South Africa through the Use of LID’. International Low Impact Development Conference 2016, Portland, Maine, USA, pp 20-28, © ASCE, http://ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/9780784480540.004
• Fisher-Jeffes, Lloyd, Kirsty Carden and Neil Armitage (2017). A water sensitive urban design framework for South Africa. Journal of Town and Regional Planning, No 71, 1-10, ISSN 1012-280, e-ISSN 2415-0495. http://dx.doi.org/10.18820/2415-0495