Eish! Four Months NO WATER

The WUC released a statement last week Friday announcing they were shutting down the Mmamashia water treatment plant for refurbishment for a period lasting four months.

 MMAMASHIA TREATMENT PLANT REFURBISHMENT PROJECT FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

1. Why is the Mmamashia Water Treatment Plant being refurbished?
The Mmamashia Water Treatment Plant was designed with a capacity of 110million litres of water a day. Over the years, its efficiency has been eroded and it is currently treating only 70million litres of water a day. The refurbishment will restore it to its original capacity and make it more efficient.

2. Why is the plant being refurbished now when the Greater Gaborone area is facing water shortages?
The plant was designed to be refurbished after ten years. This refurbishment is overdue. With the current water shortages, WUC needs the plant to be operating at capacity and optimal efficiency so as to increase the amount of water that can be supplied to the Greater Gaborone area.

3. When was the Mmamashia Water Treatment Plant constructed?
The plant was commissioned in 2000.

4. How long will the refurbishment last?
The refurbishment will start on the 3rd of March 2016 and run for four months, up to the 3rd of July 2016.

5. What exactly will the refurbishment entail?
• The replacement of dilapidated mechanical components.
• The refurbishment and or replacement of electrical components

6. Will the plant be completely shut down during the refurbishment?
No. The plant is divided into four clarifiers. One clarifier will be isolated at a time and refurbished, leaving the other three operational.

7. How is the refurbishment going to affect water users in the Greater Gaborone area?
The Mmamashia Water Treatment Plant treats water from Letsibogo and Dikgatlhong dams, the Masama wellfield and Bokaa Dam. This water represents over 90% of the water supplied to the Greater Gaborone area. The unavailability of one of the clarifiers at a given time will result in reduced output. To address this reduced output, the Water Utilities Corporation has introduced water rationing. The new water rationing schedule is available on the Water Utilities website, Facebook page, newspapers etc.

Source: Water Utilities Facebook page