13 Mar 2022

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has donated lab equipment worth P200 000 to Water Utilities Corporation (WUC) for use at Mmamashia Laboratory.

The equipment will assist WUC in its mandate of supplying potable water and managing wastewater and sanitation services.

Speaking at the handover ceremony, UNDP representative Mr Balasz Horvath said they had established that WUC was implementing the Trade Effluent Agreement (TEA) to ensure that the wastewater discharged into the environment and the WUC sewer system was at an allowable level of pollution.

Mr Horvath stated that the agreement was meant to reinforce the commitment of industries to undertake pre-treating of wastewater according to the standard of BOS93:2012, citing that the responsibility to monitor and enforce this agreement was with the corporation.

Furthermore, he said a pilot study to determine levels of pollutants in wastewater, had identified gaps in the monitoring and enforcement of the trade effluent agreement which necessitated UNDP to further support the corporation with equipment that would enable the testing of fats, oils, and grease (FOG) from wastewater samples.

He added that FOG was a parameter that had been difficult to test although it was very critical in the enforcement and monitoring of the Trade Effluent Agreement.

“I am confident that this addition to the Mmamashia lab will make work easier and testing much better going forward,” he said.

WUC chief executive officer Mr Gaselemogwe Senai said there had been evident outputs ever since UNDP and WUC started working together in 2018.

He added that workshops were conducted to sensitise employees and external stakeholders about the Trade Effluent Agreement; the development of a Green Certification framework for Energy and Water as well as formulation of an Integrated Waste Management Bill.

He added that the collaboration also resulted in the agreement awareness campaign aimed at sensitising the public, industries, and government departments on its  requirements and the proper use of sewage networks.

He said the laboratory equipment aimed at building capacity in terms of testing the parameters was pertinent in the enforcement of the agreement.

“Our goal is to continue to grow our lab in every aspect of water quality,” he said, adding that the extensive laboratory sampling and testing services were accredited by SADCAS.

He said they had other Satellite laboratories in Kasane, Masunga, Shashe, Francistown, Selebi Phikwe, Palapye, Mahalapye, and Lobatse with testing limited to some analysis.

“Our Lab at Glen Valley Wastewater Treatment Plant conducts wastewater samples analysis. We have a variety of water parameters that we test and we invite the public to make full use of these facilities,” he added.

Mr Senai stated that all WUC laboratories were operated according to a Quality Management System under ISO/IEC 17025:2017.  ENDS