The Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company says it has suspended water supply in the town of Chirundu as a result of high turbidity levels on Zambezi River which is the source of water.
Company Marketing and Public Relations Patson Phiri says the high turbidity levels have rendered treatment virtually impossible.
Mr. Phiri says all efforts have been made but the water quality remains compromised.
“The required levels for us to supply water from a recommended stand point is less than 5ntus but we have been registering over 40 to 50ntus in terms of purity. In the last 24 hours, we have observed that the main production unit is discharging water with dark colour that is not recommended for human consumption,” said Mr. Phiri.
He added that it is also not practical from the company’s perspective that insists on total quality as its policy to supply water of compromised quality.
“We have a duty to protect the lives of the people and having analysed these developments, it has become necessary to suspend supply until the quality of water on the Zambezi River improves. We are monitoring this situation and supply will be restored as soon as the levels of turbidity improve.
In the meantime, we have deployed chemists, to Chirundu to continue testing and giving us updates on levels of water quality,” he said.
Mr. Phiri disclosed that another team has been deployed to modify the sedimentation system in an effort to find a lasting solution to the problem of turbidity on the river.
“Please note that there is virtually nothing we can do about the high levels of turbidity other than waiting until the quality of water on the river improves. It is suspected that the turbidity levels have arisen from the tributaries of Zambezi River which are collecting dirty into the River thereby compromising turbidity levels,” said Mr. Phiri.
He said the company does not expect this situation to continue for a long time.
He clarified that the smaller production unit remains active.
“We are urging these residents to share the commodity with the vast portion of the residents who are not receiving supply,” he added.
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