Masama boreholes feed Greater Gaborone Kanye, Moshupa and Thamaga currently benefitting

Residents of the greater Gaborone areas will no longer experience dry taps now that the Water Utilities Corporation ( WUC) has started supplying them with water from Masama boreholes.

In an interview, Chief Executive Officer of WUC, Gaselemogwe Senai explained that following the successful completion of the construction of the Masama pipeline, they embarked on pressure testing, which entailed testing at pressures in excess or above the normal operating pressure, and a similar process at the feeder tank near Rasesa. Describing the final stages, Senai said the pipeline and tank were subjected to water quality tests to ensure compliance of water to the BOS 32: 2015 drinking water standard. He revealed that the tests were successful hence water from Masama is now pumped into Mmamashia waterworks, and blends with the NSC water for onward distribution to the greater Gaborone area which now extends to Thamaga, Moshupa, and Kanye. Although there is every reason to smile, the same cannot be said about the residents of some towns and villages such as Lobatse, Goodhope, and Molepolole as WUC’s process to supply them with potable water is still ongoing.

The Masama- Mmamashia pipeline was constructed on an emergency basis at a cost of P783 million by Khato Civils and sister company Zambezi, to provide reliable water supply to the heavily affected southern part of the country. The Masama well fields would yield 64 million litres of water per day. The construction was completed about three months ago on schedule within the agreed 12 months with outstanding final touchups, which included cleaning the entire pipeline and feeder tanks, as well as pressure testing.

All this has been done with the last step of cleaning the water with chlorine and supplying it to consumers from last week.