New water treatment plants for Rundu, Oshakati

THE minister of agriculture, water and land reform, Calle Schlettwein, announced on Friday that Oshakati will soon get a new 50 000 cubic metre water purification plant as part of a water-development programme in the country.

This will be in addition to the existing plant that has a capacity to treat 40 000 cubic metres of water supplies through the 150-kilometre Calueque-Oshakati canal from Calueque Dam in southern Angola.

“This is because the Oshakati treatment plant can no longer satisfy demand due to population growth and other factors, hence the need to refurbish and enlarge it,” said the minister at the launch of the new treatment plant at Oshakati.

He said the Oshakati Water Treatment Works supplies potable water to urban centres and rural areas of the Oshana, Ohangwena and Oshikoto regions.

“The plant thus supplies an estimated 70% of the treated drinking water to this area that serves at least 40% of the country’s population,” Schlettwein said.

The project will be financed through funds from the African Development Bank (AfDB) for the Namibia Water Sector Support programme.

“A portion of these funds is to be expended on the provision of engineering consultancy services for the Oshakati Purification plant extension where NamWater is the executing agency and Shah Technical Consultants Private Ltd and Water Resources Consultants (Pty) Ltd are the consultants for the project,” the minister said.

On Thursday, the minister launched a purification plant at Rundu, and said it is important to recognise the Okavango River as the lifeline for the people in the two Kavango regions and beyond.

“The most recent Okavango River Environmental Assessment Report made available by the national geographic team indicates that the river is under pressure with the human population along the river having tripled in the last five years.

“Cattle numbers on the river banks are fivefold of those five years ago, and abstraction of water for towns, green schemes and other industrial use has increased significantly. It is equally worrying that the water quality has, as a consequence, deteriorated,” he said.

Schlettwein said the resource is under pressure from a quantitative as well as qualitative perspective.

“These recent findings indicate clearly that the river is reaching exploitation levels that may turn unsustainable if not addressed. We must manage this most important water resource better, with great care, and sustainably,” he said.

According to the minister, these projects are part of a national development agenda under the Harambee Prosperity Plan II, which includes the implementation of several water infrastructure projects as components of a comprehensive bulk water infrastructure development programme for integrated water supply systems countrywide.

He said in the northern regions the programme entails the upgrade and replacement of the water supply system linked to the Kunene River as source, the Oshakati purification plant, and the canal and pipeline system distributing water to the east, west and south of Ruacana.

“Another component is the development of the Ohangwena aquifer to supply the Oshikoto, Ohangwena and Kavango West regions with potable water.

“In central Namibia we will develop infrastructure to link the Karst aquifer around Grootfontein and Tsumeb (Abenab area) as an additional source with the system that supplies the capital, Windhoek, and surrounding areas. We also, in cooperation with the Windhoek municipality, embarked on the upgrading of the reclamation works and are further developing a deep aquifer.

“We are also continuing with the development of an aquifer recharge system,” the minister said.

According to Schlettwein, the eastern and central areas of the Omaheke and Otjozondjupa regions are included through extensive groundwater resource development which is spearheaded by both NamWater and rural water supply.

He said communities in these regions would also benefit from tapping into the infrastructure conveying water from the Karst areas in the north, which supply Windhoek.

“In the west at the coast we have embarked on developing an additional desalination plant, and we are upgrading the extraction systems from the Kuiseb and Omdel aquifers.

“In the south, in the Hardap and //Kharas regions, we are proceeding with developing the Neckartal irrigation system, and we will upgrade and refurbish the Hardap Dam and its irrigation system, and do the same for the Naute Dam,” he said.

Email: matthew@namibian.com.na

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