GOBABIS residents have summoned NamWater to a meeting today over the water crisis at the town.
The Omaheke capital is the third town to in as many days to complain over the quality of water after Windhoek and Omaruru.
Although NamWater senior manager for water supply Zahua Tjiyahura was adamant yesterday that there was nothing wrong with the water, he admitted that he was on his way to Gobabis for a meeting with the town council to address the water problem.
Tjiyahura, who said he was yet to assess the water problem at Gobabis, vehemently denied that people could fall sick as a result of the water.
Instead, he attributed the Gobabis water mess to an algae problem just as he did with the situation in the capital.
On Monday, Tjiyahura told The Namibian the Windhoek water was caused by the problem of large amounts of algae in the water – a phenomenon particularly peculiar to the summer.
Tjiyahura also said the Windhoek municipality used a lot of chloride to treat the algae, which resulted in the unusual taste. The Namibian spoke to several Gobabis residents yesterday who all said that the quality of water was not good.
A pharmacy employee at the town said the tap water is “sometimes browner than other times” and that it also smells badly.
“The water is not wonderful at all. It also doesn’t taste good,” she said, declining to be named.
An OK Furniture Stores worker yesterday said: “The water that is coming out of the tap has a funny colour.” This has been the order of the day for at least the past week, she charged.
She said residents were furious about the water and are demanding answers.
A Gobabis businessman, Pottie Potgieter, said he is out of town at the moment but his employees have told him that the water “looks like mud water”.
“It’s a real mess. The water [situation] is chaotic. You can’t drink the stuff,” Potgieter said, adding that he has heard of people who have fallen sick as a result of the water.
Windhoek and Gobabis do not seem to be the only towns in the country having to put up with water woes.
Yesterday, it was also reported that due to a pipe burst in Omaruru’s main road, the town had no water or low water pressure for about three weeks until 31 December 2014.
The pipe burst was reportedly caused by large trucks parking next to the pavements of Wilhelm Zeraua Street under which water pipelines are located.
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