N$15.8m reservoir aims to ease Otjiwarongo's water woes

A N$15.8 million reservoir project is being developed to strengthen Otjiwarongo’s water storage and pressure as the town continues to experience frequent supply problems – especially over the past few weeks.

The project will add a three-million-litre reservoir to the municipality’s existing storage capacity of about one million litres, bringing total storage to roughly four million litres once the full system is operational.

The latest interruptions were reported last week over several days after a problem on the bulk water pipeline supplying Otjiwarongo caused reservoir levels to drop sharply.

Otjiwarongo municipality chief executive officer Mberipura Hifitikeko told Namibian Sun on Thursday that the town had experienced water-related problems for about a month.

He said the latest disruption was worsened by a break or fault on the main pipeline supplying water to Otjiwarongo, which caused the reservoir level to drop sharply.

“The reservoir level went down extremely,” Hifitikeko said, adding that it was the same reservoir from which Otjiwarongo receives its water.

The levels had begun to recover by Thursday, he said.

The municipality's building inspector, Solver Sinombe, said the new reservoir forms part of a broader bulk-water project intended to improve water pressure, particularly during peak demand periods.

The main beneficiaries will be Orwetoveni Extensions 24 and 25, the Reception area and surrounding areas, while the wider Otjiwarongo community is expected to benefit through the interconnected municipal water network.

Sinombe said the additional storage would also provide a larger reserve during temporary interruptions to the bulk supply, depending on the duration of an interruption and water consumption.

Phase 1

The project started in June 2025 and is being funded by the urban and rural development ministry through its informal settlement upgrading and affordable housing project.

Phase One, which includes construction of the reservoir and the pipeline pumping water into it, is expected to be completed by the end of October 2026.

However, the reservoir alone will not make the system fully operational.

Sinombe said Phase Two, which includes construction of a gravity pipeline to supply water from the reservoir to the community, must also be completed before the full system can operate.

Construction has also encountered hard rock, which required adjustments to the project’s completion schedule.

Once operational, the municipality expects the additional storage and infrastructure to improve pressure during busy morning and evening periods.

The project is not intended to replace NamWater as Otjiwarongo’s bulk-water supplier.

NamWater will continue supplying bulk water to the town, while the new infrastructure will increase the municipality’s ability to store and distribute water.

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