RUNDU – Mid-last month NamWater announced that a water disruption occurred at Rundu after lightning struck two pumps supplying the town, but last Sunday night the water crisis worsened after the third water pump was damaged after it also got struck by lightning.
The lightning strike of the third industrial water pump took place at Nkarapamwe pump station.
The three pump stations that are now dysfunctional supply Rundu’s 85 000 residents.
According to NamWater the damaged water pumps had a combined capacity ranging between 170 to 190 cubic metres per hour and replacing them will cost the water utility around N$1 million.
“The Nkarapamwe Production Raw Water Scheme is at a standstill now, and currently we are feeding Nkarapamwe raw water line by means of a bypass route with a delivery of 93m3/h. The 93m3/h will fill up Nkarapamwe reservoir that will be utilised on critical requests and the affected locations will be: Katutura, Safari, Kehemu, Millennium, Ndama and Kaisosi along with Donkerhoek, the Army Base and Masivi,” said NamWater regional head in the two Kavangos, Johannes Muremi, in a statement.
Rundu Industrial Area, Tutungeni and Sauyemwa will also experience low pressure due to high demand that exceeds the production.
NamWater says the solution is expected to be found in two weeks from now, however Muremi said the full restoration of water will depend on suppliers of the pumps which are outside the country as they cannot be acquired in Namibia.
Water interruptions are between 10h00 to 16h00 from January 28 to the second week of February.
“The technical team is working around the clock to rescue the situation; some pumps will be transported from Rosh Pinah to Rundu that will take NamWater 1-2 weeks if everything goes well with the installation. Residents should wisely make use of water and keep taps closed all the time whenever water drops stop in order to preserve water when it flows again,” Muremi said.
“This situation is affecting business at the town. Critical places such as the hospital and others will be served with a water tanker when necessary. We apologize for any inconvenience that will be caused,” he further stated.