By MILDRED KATONGO and MUSONDA MANGILASHII –
THE National Water Supply and Sanitation Council (NWASCO) has called on all water utilities to avoid disconnecting water in cholera-affected areas in order not to worsen the situation.
NWASCO director Kelvin Chitumbo said water utility companies should continue being diligent and alert in view of the prevailing cholera outbreak.
Mr Chitumbo said despite the cholera outbreak being contained, it was
important that utility firm continued to provide clean water.
This is contained in a statement made available by NWASCO public relations and communications manager Mpunga Simukwai.
Mr Chitumbo said by continuing to provide clean water, the providers would
discourage members of the public to resist the temptation to draw from shallow wells or unsafe sources.
Mr Chitumbo directed all commercial utilities to respond with urgency to any reports of sewer blockages in order to safeguard the water quality and the health of the public.
Utilities were also expected to stock enough water purifying chemicals to ensure continuous provision of clean and safe drinking water.
He said the company’s inspectors were carrying out spot check across the country.
“Currently annual and spot inspections are underway in different parts of the country, aimed at ensuring that the provision of clean and safe drinking water is going well.”
Mr Chitumbo said residents must continue to maintain good general hygiene at personal and community levels by ensuring that all solid waste was disposed of safely, washing hands before handling food and after using the lavatory and boiling or treating water before drinking it.
Mr Chitumbo further implored Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company to ensure that the water points put up in the cholera-affected areas were sustained by extending piped water supply to those points.
Meanwhile NKana Water and Sewerage Company (NWSC) has intensified sampling and testing of water aimed at ensuring that the quality of water supplied to resident is safe for drinking.
NWSC public relations manager Bivan Saluseki said the water utility had also increased the check-ups on the treatment plant as well as the distribution center.
Mr Saluseki said the company had set up kiosks in peri-urban areas and was supplying chemicals such as chlorine and lime to help fight the spread of cholera.
He said this during the Social Chatter Programme on YAR FM Radio in Kitwe.
“As NWSC,we have got a very robust monitoring system in place. In terms of sampling, we are sampling very frequently… we used to do it once per week, but now we are doing it almost every day and this is done at random,” he said.
Mr Saluseki said that the company had employed additional plumbers to address the challenge of blocked sewer pipes.
Meanwhile, Mr Saluseki said that 50 per cent of water produced by the company goes unaccounted for in form of non revenue water because of vandalism and non-payment of bills.