Northern Region Water Board beaten on capacity

The Northern Region Water Board (NRWB) has expressed worry at the increase in demand for water in Mzuzu city which it says has drastically surpassed the board’s supplying capacity.

Speaking with Malawi24 on Wednesday, the NRWB director of technical services, Mwiza Mtawali, maintained that the number of consumers who demand for water supply seem to have doubled thus making it difficult for them to adequately supply like before.

Mtawali further said that despite Mzuzu being one of the fastest growing cities, NRWB has not upgraded its pumping capacity thus some of its customers experience frequent water cuts.

“Our water sources are the same ones we used way back but as you can see, the city is growing at the drop of a hat. This makes our consumers experience water problems,’’ said Mtawali.

This comes barely some days after angry residents across Mzuzu threatened to demonstrate against persistent water cuts in reaction to the board’s decision to hike tariffs.

According to the residents, it was unreasonable for the board to be charging them more than how they access water.

They cancelled their move after the board promised to work on the issue but the residents sounded a strong warning that should the board fail to walk the talk, they will meet in the streets.

On the other hand the board also fired back at some consumers who have the tendency of misusing water and breaking pipes saying they also contribute to the problem of dry taps.

“We heard their concerns but then some of them also misuse the water and fond of breaking pipes often thus contributing to the problem. We would be grateful if we can work together with them in making sure this problem is sorted out,” said Mtawali.

Meanwhile Malawi24 understand that the board has put in place various measures in a bid to make sure water problems become history in the region.

Recently they collaborated with Malawi police in safeguarding Kaning’ina forest which is the main source of water for Lunyangwa River.

They are also working on constructing another dam which is expected to ease water problems.

In the meantime, water remains a problem for residents across Mzuzu city.