Now a water shortage looms at flood-stricken Mariental

THE water supply at flood-stricken Mariental was cut off yesterday so that the level of the town’s main reservoir could be raised.

It is the only reservoir currently supplying the town with water: the reservoir in the Fish River was damaged by the weekend’s flood. Both municipal reservoirs are fed from the NamWater main reservoir.The municipality’s Chief Executive Officer, Paul Nghiwilepo, yesterday told The Namibian that the water level in the town’s main 4 000-cubic-metre reservoir had dropped drastically because of the clean-up operation.As a result, the Municipality was forced to disconnect water to residential areas at 08h00 yesterday, he said.Normal water supply was expected to resume between 16h00 and 22h00 yesterday, only to be cut off again until 08h00 today.Nghiwilepo warned that water rationing would continue until the situation normalised.”People need to clean their houses and businesses, but the water consumption is just too high,” he said.He said the increase in water consumption was caused by the cleaning of mud-filled houses and businesses after the weekend’s flood.Nghiwilepo said the close to 14 000 surviving pigs at the Namibia Pig Farm were also affected by the water rationing.However, the municipal official said, water tanks filled from boreholes on surrounding farms were being transported to the pig farm.Many people at the town are suffering from diarrhoea because of the contaminated water.NamWater officials are hard at work to purify the water, Nghiwilepo said.Both municipal reservoirs are fed from the NamWater main reservoir.The municipality’s Chief Executive Officer, Paul Nghiwilepo, yesterday told The Namibian that the water level in the town’s main 4 000-cubic-metre reservoir had dropped drastically because of the clean-up operation.As a result, the Municipality was forced to disconnect water to residential areas at 08h00 yesterday, he said.Normal water supply was expected to resume between 16h00 and 22h00 yesterday, only to be cut off again until 08h00 today.Nghiwilepo warned that water rationing would continue until the situation normalised.”People need to clean their houses and businesses, but the water consumption is just too high,” he said. He said the increase in water consumption was caused by the cleaning of mud-filled houses and businesses after the weekend’s flood.Nghiwilepo said the close to 14 000 surviving pigs at the Namibia Pig Farm were also affected by the water rationing.However, the municipal official said, water tanks filled from boreholes on surrounding farms were being transported to the pig farm.Many people at the town are suffering from diarrhoea because of the contaminated water.NamWater officials are hard at work to purify the water, Nghiwilepo said.