14 Nov 2021

Government is in the process of launching a comprehensive urban wastewater reclamation and reuse project.

Debating the State-of-the-Nation Address last Thursday, Specially Elected MP and Minister of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services, Mr Kefentse Mzwinila said the objective of recycling wastewater for domestic usage was to alleviate potentially catastrophic water supply and wastewater disposal challenges.

He said the rapid population growth in Gaborone and the booming construction industry and recent drought conditions had increased the demand for water and the need to find ways to remedy the situation.

He said climate change, rapid urbanisation and industrialisation discharged huge amounts of wastewater and that its reuse had the potential to conserve valuable fresh water sources.

The wastewater reclamation project, he said, would also expand dependable water supply infrastructure and further argument any potential water crisis, particularly in the greater Gaborone region.

Minister Mzwinila noted that the Glen Valley wastewater treatment plant, which was earmarked to pilot the project, was expected to produce 40 million liters of water daily when in full operation.

“The re-use water will be discharged into the Gaborone reservoir for blending with source water in the reservoir, which will then be treated by Water Utilities Corporation in the existing Gaborone potable water treatment plant,” he said, adding that ‘in the event of prolonged droughts and extreme low water levels in the dam, the reservoir will be by-passed and the re-use water will be conveyed directly to the Gaborone potable water treatment plant’.

The nation’s water resources, he said, were characterised by wide spatial variability, extreme scarcity and a high dependency on internationally shared and trans-boundary waters.

He highlighted that improving water security remained government’s top priority as cited in the SONA.

With regard to land issues, Mr Mzwinila admitted that land applicants waiting lists were long.

He said the situation was exuberated by the shortage of readily available land for both freehold and tribal land extension.

He decried that land owners were reluctant to hand back their ploughing fields to land boards, citing low compensation rates.

Minister Mzwinila further said plans were underway to implement a motion that requested government to extend communal areas into Wildlife Management Areas.

He added that consultations with communities were at an advanced stage on how best to re-zone and maximise land usage as well as to further demarcate the land for future allocations.

He further proclaimed plans to carry out an in-depth land management reform exercise.

He added that the exercise would also incorporate farm land auditing to ensure viable commercialisation of farm land and address issues of land banking. ENDS