04 Mar 2019

Groundwater has constantly proven to be a dependable source of drinking water for communities around the world.

This was said by Khoemacau Copper Mine executive director, Mr Boikobo Paya at a groundwater seminar organised by Groundwater Association of Botswana (GAB) in partnership with Roscoe Moss Company in Gaborone recently.

Mr Paya said groundwater combined with surface water supplies helped to fulfil the needs of government agencies to reliably supply water to growing populations.

He said while there was a clear focus on pipeline projects, it should not be forgotten that groundwater could be an effective and efficient way to obtain water, especially that it was present beneath the earth’s surface in soil pore spaces and in fractures of rock formations.

Units of fractured rocks and unconsolidated deposits (aquifers) yield usable quantities of water and groundwater is often cheaper, more convenient and less vulnerable to pollution than surface water,” he said.

Another speaker, vice president of Roscoe Moss, Mr Timothy Lynch said as part of the underlying goal to support the government efforts in ensuring alternative water options in Botswana, the seminar hoped to draw attention to all alternative and sustainable ways to construct, develop and maintain Botswana’s groundwater resources.

Mr Lynch said groundwater was commonly used in the United States for public water supplies and it provided a significant source of usable water in the US with California annually withdrawing the largest amount of ground water of all the states.

He said this was an indication that underground reservoirs contained far more water than the capacity of surface reservoirs and lakes in the world.

Mr Lynch said his company, which was formed in 1924, was experienced and had a professional team to provide recommendations for well casings and screen that is site-specific to make certain the borehole was efficient, reliable and long lasting.

For his part, the managing director of ASA Enterprises, Mr Ajita Ahuja said his company partnered with Roscoe Moss to conduct a seminar, which aims to provide ground water management solutions that sought to ensure that they construct and maintain a sustainable ground water management system for Botswana.

‘’As a proud Motswana, while they continue to seek divine intervention for pula all the time, we should always seek to contribute and address water shortages wherever they are in Botswana and this technical seminar seeks to assist with that wherever possible,” said Mr Ahuja. ENDS