The Water Utilities Corporation (WUC) has raised concern about illegal fisheries causing a lot of vandalism at the Gaborone Dam.
The Corporation has lost expensive equipment, particularly that made from copper and other metals, which maintains and monitors the dam.
During a media tour of the Gaborone Dam and the Water Treatment Plant, Matida Mmipi, the WUC Corporate Communication Manager, said that vandalism has lead to the interruption of water supply, adding that this had affected the quality of water.
Mmipi said that the equipment is reported to be sold for scrap. She also revealed that her corporation is spending a lot of money often replacing the dam fence which is also vandalized often.
“This contributes to the pollution of the water and destroys the dam’s ecosystem and is also dangerous to the culprits,” said Mmipi. She said that the charges are minimal hence the offences are frequent.
Mmipi confirmed that the Gaborone dam is still a tourist destination like Letsibogo, Shashe, Bokaa and Ntimbale dams.
She also pointed out that there is an increase in drownings at the different ponds surrounding Gaborone Dam, particularly during religious functions.
“A lot of those people use the water for religious rituals such as baptism and end up drowning after trespassing into those fenced areas. For a long time people have been mistaking these ponds with the actual dam,” said Mmipi. She highlighted that the dam is monitored on a fulltime basis and people end up using side streams where the dam spills the water.
She pleaded with the public to practice the culture of conserving water and make it a way of life.
Mmipi also revealed that water at Gaborone Dam should last for 19 months.
“The water demand can go high any time and, automatically, it will drop down to less than nineteen months. During rainy season and after, people should continue saving water,” said Mmipi.
She also revealed that the dam loses two-thirds of the water in summer through evaporation.
Waterworks Superintendent, Tshupo Maforaga, highlighted the importance of the good quality of the water for consumption. He revealed that one hundred and eighty million cubic meters (180m3) of water is produced at the water pump station for Gaborone consumption.
He said that processing and the treatment of water are done in three different plants of different capacities before distribution stage.
