KHORIXAS – The head of technical services of the Khorixas Town Council, Ralla /Gowaseb, has called on residents to use water sparingly as the water levels in the reservoir dams are low.
As part of precautionary measures the water supply at the town is closed from 21h00 until 06h00.
“Be patient. NamWater is taking care of the problem as we experience problems with the water supply,” /Gowaseb told New Era yesterday.
Residents were asked to store water in containers and also to use it sparingly. /Gowaseb referred New Era to NamWater head office but calls went unanswered at the time of going to print. However, a NamWater official from Otjiwarongo who spoke on condition of anonymity said a lot of the pipes are leaking at Khorixas.
“We supply them with water on a monthly basis. It’s up to them to use the water sparingly,” said the official. He added that the maintenance and tariffs are part of the town council and that water supply is closed at night so that the scarce resource will not go to waste.
A daily reported last month that an independent investigation and assessments by engineers and the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development found that up to 84,000 cubic metres of water go to waste each month, which translates into a monthly loss of about N$900,000.
The report also revealed the town needs N$41 million to replace its ageing water infrastructure, a matter which /Howoseb said will be taken up with Vice-President Nangolo Mbumba.
The low water level in the town’s reservoir dams has happened for the past four months and the same problem was experienced last year, said /Gowaseb.
The Khorixas head of technical services believes that roots of trees might have grown into the main pipes that bring water from Braunfels and Gainaseb.
Last week the chief executive officer Andries /Howoseb sent a Whatsapp message that read, “Please take note that water in our reservoir dams are low. As a precautionary measure the water will be closed from 21h00 to 06h00. It will be from today 30 August 2018.”
On Tuesday some areas at the town did not have water and hostel boarders at some schools had their supper late due to lack of water.