By ALICE NACHILEMBE
Mulonga Water Supply and Sanitation Company (MWSC) has bemoaned the deteriorate quality of water in the Kafue River which is negatively affecting the Company’s operations.
MWSC Acting Technical Director Cecilia Mkandawire said that the quality of water was getting worse with high levels of turbidity which was negatively affecting company operations in Chingola.
She said that the Company is regularly forced to suspend operations at Kafue Water Treatment Plant because of the quality of raw water in the river especially after heavy rainfall.
“High turbidity, which is the cloudiness of raw water has been a challenge of late, most of the times we are forced to suspend water treatment. This is having a negative effect in terms of supply to customers as well as high cost of treating water,” she said.
She said that MWSC was engaging relevant regulators to look at the matter and find possible solutions to the problem which had been more pronounced in the last 30 days.
MWSC has two major sources namely surface water from Kafue river and underground water from mine dewatering activities.
Meanwhile MWSC has attributed the inadequate water supply in some Townships to excessive vandalism and thefts of company installations.
And MWSC Communications Manager Bright Mtonga said that vandalism and thefts was becoming a source of concern as the scourge was disrupting service provision.
He was speaking on a site visit to Kamba section of Chingola were residents were drawing water from vandalized service pipes.
“The problem is Kamba can partly be attributed to the actions of the community. The area has a lot of leaking points and water goes to waste which make the reservoir to deplete easily. Our efforts to mend the leaks and improve service hours are being frustrated because of the rampant vandalism,” he said.
Mr. Mtonga said the Company was engaging the local leadership to ensure that the challenges was resolved amicably and normal water supply is restored.
