16 Dec 2019

Water Utilities Corporation (WUC) has developed and implemented a water quality monitoring programme that ensures compliance to the Botswana Drinking Water Standard, the minister of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services Mr Kefentse Mzwinila has said.

He told Parliament that the compliance was according to the Botswana Standard (BOS) to ensure that safe water was always supplied to consumers.

Mr Mzwinila, confirmed that the salinity levels of water supplied from Maitengwe wellfield was not high and was within suitable human consumption level as prescribed by BOS 32:2015 standard.

“According to the hydrochemistry test which was done in July 2019 at the Maitengwe wellfield, all groundwater salinity levels were in compliance with the Botswana Drinking Water Standard (BOS 32:2015) which is a salinity level of fewer than 1000 milligrams per litre,” he said.

He said the groundwater salinity levels were in the range of 12.5 to 150 milligrams per litre.

Minister Mzwinila further explained that WUC maintained an accredited testing laboratory at Mmamashia where water samples were tested to ensure credulity of results. He said the ministry was also aware of the low pressures and pipeline burst which resulted in shortages of water in most of the villages in Nkange Constituency.

“The Constituency experiences high water losses due to high-frequency pipe breakages from the hardness nature of the water which clogs the pipes.  Maitengwe wellfield groundwater hardness range from 100 and 300 milligrams per litre of calcium Carbonates (CaCO3),” he said.

He said the main water sources for the North East district, inclusive of villages in the Nkange were the Ntimbale Dam and the Maitengwe wellfield.

Mr Mzwinila stated that the ministry had plans to connect the Nkange Constituency villages to Ntimbale Dam Scheme, within the framework of the Botswana Emergency Water Security and Efficiency Project (BEWSEP), which I funded through the World Bank loan.

He said the North East Tutume Water projects aimed to improve the efficiency of Ntimbale Dam from the current supply capacity of 14 of 7.2 megalitres per day (50 per cent) to the full capacity of 14 megalitres per day.

The project also aims to improve the water supply scheme to allow the Ntimbale Dam water to reach the villages in Nkange Constituency.

The minister said procurement of the contractor that would undertake the works would be completed by January 2020 while the contractor was expected to commence works in February 2020 until July 20121.

Nkange MP Dr Never Tshabang had asked the minister if he was aware that water supply from Maitenngwe well fields had reached very high salinity levels which were not suitable for human consumption.

The Nkange legislator has also wanted to know when the latest on the water was done by credible testing services.

MP Tshabang further asked the minister if he was aware of low pressures and pipeline bursts resulting in shortages of water in the Nkange constituency as well as to state the plans if any to connect the villages in the constituency to the Ntimbale Dam. Ends