09 Jul 2020

Current surface water levels are expected to sustain the country until the next rain season.

Giving an update on water supply at a third meeting of the fourth Ntlo Ya Dikgosi recently, Water Utilities Corporation (WUC) chief operating officer, Mr Mathew Sebina said rainfall tof February and March this year left all nine dams collectively at 65 per cent.

Mr Sebina said, on groundwater availability, the corporation operated about 900 boreholes countrywide, adding that 75 per cent of them had surpassed their 10-year design life.

“Borehole rehabilitation continues to improve water supply with 70 per cent of targeted boreholes achieved. In the instance where rehabilitation is not feasible, bowsing was done for villages with water shortages,” he said.

He also explained that the North South Carrier (NSC) operated satisfactorily with over 80 per cent availability and was robust enough to handle high flows and equivalent pressures to Mmamashia Treatment Works.

Again, he said phased shutdowns were previously made to replace the old Glass Reinforced Plastic pipes with steel pipes in the 23km stretch between Rasesa and Mmamashia.

On debt management, Mr Sebina said the corporation was able to reduce its debt from P869 million to P829 million as from June 18.

He explained that the various online platform campaigns that the corporation had adopted resulted in increased online payments hence improved debt levels.

He highlighted that during an extreme social distancing period, WUC managed to acquire adequate treatment chemicals, fuel and ensured proper wastewater management while allowing key projects to carry on.

He also said a 10 per cent increase was registered on water abstracted from WUC sources for use by households, adding however the increase did not translate to bills as water stored in tanks was not metered.

He further said partnership with other entities such as Debswana, Central Transport Organisation and Ministry of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services helped drive their mandate.

On various water hot-ppots and mitigation strategies that the corporation had adopted in some villages such as in Borolong/Mmathethe, a long term contingency plan was in place with the World Bank Fund to connect villages to the Good Hope scheme.

In Kanye, Mr Sebina explained that the corporation had increased tanks to augment supply with a long term plan to connect fully to the NSC. Meanwhile, Mr Sebina encouraged consumers to monitor water use to avoid losses and adopt efficient systems for their operations. Ends