The new water treatment plant at Rundu will ensure water security up to 2037.

This is according to Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform, Calle Schlettwein, during the launch of the Rundu Purification Plant Extension here on Thursday.

Rundu has been experiencing recurring water crises for the past decade, with debts to NamWater amounting to over N.dollars 124 million, while residents owe the Rundu Town Council about N.dollars 300 million in unpaid water bills.

“The objective of this project is to develop a new water treatment plant at Rundu and related water supply infrastructure in order to meet the increasing water demand and ensure water supply security up to 2037,” Schlettwein said.

The minister said the Ministry of Finance concluded a financing agreement with the African Development Bank in 2020 to support the Namibia Water Sector Programme, for which part of the loan is to be utilised in financing the provision of engineering consultancy services and construction of the Rundu Purification Plant Extension.

Schlettwein said the town has been developing rapidly over the years, explaining that water for the town is abstracted from the Kavango River using two different abstraction installations and conveyance pipelines which pump water to two distribution points which are Rundu and Nkarapamwe, respectively.

He said currently both water treatment plants at Rundu and Nkarapamwe schemes are direct filtration systems and the total capacity of these schemes is about 840m/h.

He said the two schemes are old and have reached their full supply capacity.

NamWater board chairperson, Thaddius Maswahu said the water from the Kavango River is not conducive for direct human consumption and needs to be purified in accordance with international standards to which Namibia subscribes, explaining the necessity of the plant.

Source: The Namibian press Agency