Due to the scarcity of water, Namibian authorities have moved to recycling waste water for drinking. The municipality of Walvis Bay launched a feasibility study to appoint a competing agent and transactional adviser to develop a direct potable reclamation (DPR) plant in the town.
The municipality general manager for waste water and environmental management, John Esterhuizen has assured that the plant will produce safe drinking water from treated municipal waste water. All precautionary measures will be taken to ensure that people do not get sick.
“We are doing it because of the scarcity of water. We looked around and Windhoek has been doing it for 50 years,” said the general manager.
The people in the town have been depending on boreholes in Kuiseb River and Omdel Aquifer for decades. For a very long time, this has been the traditional water supply. Plans had been executed to set up a large seawater desalination plant that will source water but this is delaying due to various factors.
“Borehole water is running out. You have expensive desalination water, so maybe there is something in between, and that is where DPR comes in,” Esterhuizen says.
“We are giving water to the plants and birds, but we still have an excess. What shall we do with the excess? We thought of going the Windhoek route of direct potable water treatment. It is still cheaper than desalinated water,” continued Esterhuizen.
The general manager has asked the citizens to bear with the government as they try by all means to provide the cleanest water for them. He stated that it would take time but people ought to be patient.
