Water crisis hits north

NamWater is experiencing a water supply shortage at the Oshakati treatment plant because of work at the Calueque Dam in Angola, resulting in a water crisis in the northern regions.Some of the remote areas that get water from the Oshakati treatment plant, such as Ambende, Omutele, Otatashe and Akazulu, are without water. Oshakati, Ondangwa and Ongwediva are also experiencing a water shortage. NamWater spokesman Johannes Shigwedha said NamWater started repairing the pipeline leading to the Calueque canal in July.“To do this, one of the two pumps at our dam at Calueque had to be stopped to enable the work on the pipeline to commence. “This was fine during the cold months of July and August when the water demand was low due to low temperatures and when the earthen dams where still full of water, but demand started to pick up during the dry months of September and October, thus the one pump that was still operating could not meet the demand leading to low water levels in reservoirs across the north,” Shigwedha said.“We are currently supplying water to all our lines during the day, except the South Feeder and Ambende lines from Omuthiya. Tonight (last night), we will switch off the inlet to Ongwediva Reservoir to build up the supply to Ondangwa and fill the two reservoirs there, and consequent filling at Oshali, Okatope and Omuthiya in Oshikoto Region.”He said Oshakati's pumps would also be switched off at 22:00 to build up the level in the square reservoir, as well as to have a third pump running to Omakango. “Currently Omakango has a deficiency of about 34 cubic metres between the inlet and outlet, because we only have two pumps on. The third pump will be switched on at night, at 22:00, by the plant shift staff,” he said.Also in Oshikoto Region, the Ambende area will be supplied from the Omutele pump at Ondangwa, and not from Omuthiya as usual. Shigwedha added that the South Feeder pump is always off during the day and only switched on at 19:00 to supply Otatashe, Akazulu, and that entire network up to Eengodi.“The level at Ogongo, Oshakati, Ongwediva and Okatope is currently not moving up significantly. The plant is currently abstracting about 1700m3/h from these dams, and the distribution is 1630m3/h. This is an improvement from the inability to produce anything, which was the case Friday to Saturday. Yesterday afternoon the plant started producing again.”He said the water in the canal was being monitored. The level at Ogongo has picked up and the inlet to Ogongo is throttled to have more water passing through to Oshakati. By yesterday morning the water had reached Oshikuku. The Oshakati Intermediate Hospital was also reported without water, but Shigwedha said the problem was unrelated to the current shortage.“The hospital reported their problem to Oshakati town council, but nothing came through to us. Their pressure problem was related to their system at the hospital. The hospital has a dedicated line from NamWater premises, should there be a pressure or shortage problem in that line, the shift staff can rectify such a situation at any time, if it is at NamWater,” he said. The Ongwediva town council's spokesman, Jackson Muma, said the council has been supplying residents from its emergency water storage since Sunday because of the low water supply from the Namwater reservoir.In May this year the canal between Ogongo in the Omusati Region and Oshakati in the Oshana Region was filled with sand from the efundja flood, resulting in water from Calueque Dam not reaching the Oshakati treatment plant. Meanwhile, NamWater has completed a N$33 million purified water reservoir at Oshakati to address water shortages in areas dependent on the Oshakati purification plant.The northern regions experience water shortages every year. Last August, Ohangwena and Oshikoto had no water supply, while Oshana received only a trickle.Shigwedha said the water demand in the north has increased by more than 300% since independence and the existing water infrastructure at Oshakati cannot meet the demand.“The population in these areas is increasing, putting stress on the current water reservoirs to the point [where] it is no longer possible to have a 48-hour stand-by period, as is the policy of the water utility,” Shigwedha said.ILENI NANDJATO

Water crisis hits north

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-16

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Water crisis hits north

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-16

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