Rationing kicks off
Of the 28 boreholes that can supply water to Gobabis only 16 are currently operational, with the rest in need of rehabilitation.
Water rationing kicked off on Friday night at Gobabis, with the town currently receiving only about half of its daily water demand.
NamWater last week informed the Gobabis municipality that it will start rationing water to the town, with no water to be supplied to Gobabis residents from 22:00 to 05:00.
The rationing will last until the end of February.
It is being implemented because dams supplying water to Gobabis are bone-dry and no water can be sourced from them anymore. Boreholes have to be tapped to provide water to the town.
However, of the 28 boreholes that can supply water to Gobabis only 16 are currently operational, with the rest in need of rehabilitation.
Gobabis municipality spokesperson Frederich Ueitele told Namibian Sun the remaining 12 boreholes require rehabilitation.
He said the 16 boreholes that are operational provide about 44 000 cubic metres of water to the town per day.
However, the town's daily demand stands at 86 000 cubic metres.
“If the other 12 boreholes are rehabilitated, we are sure that the water supply to Gobabis can be about 112 000 cubic metres per day - more than our daily demand,” Ueitele said.
According to him the rehabilitation of the boreholes will likely proceed until 28 February, after which the water restrictions will be lifted.
Ueitele said residents were informed last week of the water restrictions via radio, bulk SMSes and public notifications.
Residents were told to prepare themselves for the restrictions and take the necessary measures when they take effect.
According to the latest dam bulletin, the dams supplying water to Gobabis were only 3.2% full last week, holding about 620 000 cubic metres of water. At the same stage last year, the dams were 9.8% full.
The Otjivero Main, Otjivero Silt, Tilda Viljoen and Daan Viljoen dams have a combined capacity to store 11.4 million cubic metres of water when full.
Meanwhile, the dams supplying water to the central area of Namibia have a total of 39.8 million cubic metres of water.
The combined levels of the Swakoppoort, Von Bach and Omatako dams stood at 25.8% of their full capacity, compared to 35% a year ago.
The levels of the dams supplying water to the south stood at 41%, in comparison to last year when they were 50.6% full. These include the Hardap, Naute, Oanob, Bondels and Driehuik dams. The Bondels Dam is currently empty.
ELLANIE SMIT
NamWater last week informed the Gobabis municipality that it will start rationing water to the town, with no water to be supplied to Gobabis residents from 22:00 to 05:00.
The rationing will last until the end of February.
It is being implemented because dams supplying water to Gobabis are bone-dry and no water can be sourced from them anymore. Boreholes have to be tapped to provide water to the town.
However, of the 28 boreholes that can supply water to Gobabis only 16 are currently operational, with the rest in need of rehabilitation.
Gobabis municipality spokesperson Frederich Ueitele told Namibian Sun the remaining 12 boreholes require rehabilitation.
He said the 16 boreholes that are operational provide about 44 000 cubic metres of water to the town per day.
However, the town's daily demand stands at 86 000 cubic metres.
“If the other 12 boreholes are rehabilitated, we are sure that the water supply to Gobabis can be about 112 000 cubic metres per day - more than our daily demand,” Ueitele said.
According to him the rehabilitation of the boreholes will likely proceed until 28 February, after which the water restrictions will be lifted.
Ueitele said residents were informed last week of the water restrictions via radio, bulk SMSes and public notifications.
Residents were told to prepare themselves for the restrictions and take the necessary measures when they take effect.
According to the latest dam bulletin, the dams supplying water to Gobabis were only 3.2% full last week, holding about 620 000 cubic metres of water. At the same stage last year, the dams were 9.8% full.
The Otjivero Main, Otjivero Silt, Tilda Viljoen and Daan Viljoen dams have a combined capacity to store 11.4 million cubic metres of water when full.
Meanwhile, the dams supplying water to the central area of Namibia have a total of 39.8 million cubic metres of water.
The combined levels of the Swakoppoort, Von Bach and Omatako dams stood at 25.8% of their full capacity, compared to 35% a year ago.
The levels of the dams supplying water to the south stood at 41%, in comparison to last year when they were 50.6% full. These include the Hardap, Naute, Oanob, Bondels and Driehuik dams. The Bondels Dam is currently empty.
ELLANIE SMIT
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