Opuwo needs N$19m to avert water crisis
Ageing reservoirs can no longer serve the growing population
The financially distressed Opuwo Town Council says it needs N$19 million to urgently address its worsening water crisis while battling a N$48 million debt owed to NamWater.
The situation has deteriorated to NamWater mixing treated and untreated water to meet supply needs.
This is contained in a report by the town’s CEO, Matjandara Tjihuura-Katurota, who responded to a Namibian Sun inquiry following an investigation into Opuwo’s long-standing water problems, which have persisted for over three decades.
Beyond the erratic supply, the water is not entirely suitable for human consumption due to lime deposits that corrode the town’s infrastructure.
During a recent Namibian Sun visit, residents described how taps only run during the day, while at night and early mornings, only air escapes from the pipes.
“If your tap runs early in the morning, you are lucky. What the majority of the residents have to go through is to put water in a bucket after they fill it up in the evenings or during the day.
“Some of us have to leave work to go and fill up our buckets to have water at night. This is a very bad situation. We have been living like this for years and things are not getting back,” one resident remarked.
Emergency assistance
A report titled “Urgent Request for Strategic Intervention and Funding to Avert a Compounding Infrastructure and Public Health Crisis in Opuwo Town”, submitted to the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development, details the severity of the problem and appeals for emergency assistance.
“Opuwo has a chronic 53% water supply deficit, with a demand at 190 cubic metres per hour (m³/h) while the supply from the national utility, NamWater, at only 90 m³/h, has necessitated 30 years of rationing,” the report reads.
“To augment supply, poor-quality, untreated hard water is blended into the system, causing severe calcification that systematically destroys revenue-collecting smart prepaid water meters.
"This has crippled the town council's revenue capacity, leading to a spiralling debt to NamWater that has escalated from N$40 million to N$47.5 million.”
“The root of Opuwo's crisis lies in a fundamental mismatch between population growth and infrastructure capacity.
"The 2023 National Census recorded Opuwo's town population at 12 335, with the broader Opuwo Urban constituency comprising 23 934 people.”
“The water crisis in Opuwo is not a single problem but a chain reaction of failures, where an initial supply deficit has triggered a secondary crisis of water quality, which in turn has caused a tertiary financial collapse for the Opuwo Town Council.
"This cascading failure has created a vicious cycle of debt and disinvestment that threatens the town's very viability.”
Blocking pipes and water lines
NamWater has been forced to blend treated potable water with hard, mineral-rich water drawn from boreholes to boost supply.
According to the report, this practice has introduced destructive lime deposits that cause calcification, progressively blocking pipes and water lines.
The town’s two ageing reservoirs can no longer serve its growing population, let alone provide a reserve against daily shortages.
The Opuwo Town Council has implemented temporary stop-gap measures, including a water connection from Otjorungondo to the Orutjandja informal settlement and two large temporary tanks to ease the worst shortages.
“While demonstrating proactive management, these measures are a temporary patch on a systemic wound and do not address the fundamental imbalance between supply and demand that has defined life in Opuwo for a generation,” the report reads.
According to the council, N$19.2 million is required to stabilise the situation.
The amount would fund new boreholes, a water treatment plant, replacement of 500 broken prepaid meters to restore revenue, and a two-kilometre pilot repair of the town’s most calcified main pipeline to reduce water loss.
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The situation has deteriorated to NamWater mixing treated and untreated water to meet supply needs.
This is contained in a report by the town’s CEO, Matjandara Tjihuura-Katurota, who responded to a Namibian Sun inquiry following an investigation into Opuwo’s long-standing water problems, which have persisted for over three decades.
Beyond the erratic supply, the water is not entirely suitable for human consumption due to lime deposits that corrode the town’s infrastructure.
During a recent Namibian Sun visit, residents described how taps only run during the day, while at night and early mornings, only air escapes from the pipes.
“If your tap runs early in the morning, you are lucky. What the majority of the residents have to go through is to put water in a bucket after they fill it up in the evenings or during the day.
“Some of us have to leave work to go and fill up our buckets to have water at night. This is a very bad situation. We have been living like this for years and things are not getting back,” one resident remarked.
Emergency assistance
A report titled “Urgent Request for Strategic Intervention and Funding to Avert a Compounding Infrastructure and Public Health Crisis in Opuwo Town”, submitted to the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development, details the severity of the problem and appeals for emergency assistance.
“Opuwo has a chronic 53% water supply deficit, with a demand at 190 cubic metres per hour (m³/h) while the supply from the national utility, NamWater, at only 90 m³/h, has necessitated 30 years of rationing,” the report reads.
“To augment supply, poor-quality, untreated hard water is blended into the system, causing severe calcification that systematically destroys revenue-collecting smart prepaid water meters.
"This has crippled the town council's revenue capacity, leading to a spiralling debt to NamWater that has escalated from N$40 million to N$47.5 million.”
“The root of Opuwo's crisis lies in a fundamental mismatch between population growth and infrastructure capacity.
"The 2023 National Census recorded Opuwo's town population at 12 335, with the broader Opuwo Urban constituency comprising 23 934 people.”
“The water crisis in Opuwo is not a single problem but a chain reaction of failures, where an initial supply deficit has triggered a secondary crisis of water quality, which in turn has caused a tertiary financial collapse for the Opuwo Town Council.
"This cascading failure has created a vicious cycle of debt and disinvestment that threatens the town's very viability.”
Blocking pipes and water lines
NamWater has been forced to blend treated potable water with hard, mineral-rich water drawn from boreholes to boost supply.
According to the report, this practice has introduced destructive lime deposits that cause calcification, progressively blocking pipes and water lines.
The town’s two ageing reservoirs can no longer serve its growing population, let alone provide a reserve against daily shortages.
The Opuwo Town Council has implemented temporary stop-gap measures, including a water connection from Otjorungondo to the Orutjandja informal settlement and two large temporary tanks to ease the worst shortages.
“While demonstrating proactive management, these measures are a temporary patch on a systemic wound and do not address the fundamental imbalance between supply and demand that has defined life in Opuwo for a generation,” the report reads.
According to the council, N$19.2 million is required to stabilise the situation.
The amount would fund new boreholes, a water treatment plant, replacement of 500 broken prepaid meters to restore revenue, and a two-kilometre pilot repair of the town’s most calcified main pipeline to reduce water loss.
[email protected]
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