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Some residents of Thitho Ward in Maun have raised concern over the discoloured water that has been coming from their taps of recent, raising fears that the water may not be safe for human consumption.
Some of the concerned residents took to social media complaining about dark brown water which also has some brown particles running from their taps.
In an interview, one of the residents, Sarefo Phatshwe complained that the water sometimes even has bad odour.
Area councilor for Thito/Bombadi, Kebonyemodisa Ramolapo, confirmed receiving the complaints and concerns especially in some parts of Thito along the Maun Sports Complex who receive water from the same supply system.
He noted that the residents are worried that the water could lead to health issues such as diarrhea, further complaining that the water also ruined their bright colored clothes. He added that some are even hesitant to bath with the water as they highly question its quality.
The councilor said personally he has not witnessed the discolored water from his taps but suspects that the problem could be from the other water supply system on the other side of Thito.
Ramolapo assured that he will continue observing the situation to see how it can be resolved. He noted that sometimes when the complaints arise, they engage with Water Utilities Cooperation who would in response state that the issue is usually caused by dirt in the pipeline infrastructure, a situation which is always quickly resolved but keeps recurring.
For his part WUC Maun Branch General Manager, Paul Mafavuneh said they have not received any complaints but they are aware about the posts doing round on social media. The general manager said following the reports they went on to examine the situation in the said affected area with an aim to fix the problem but they found none except for clean water running from the taps.
Mafavuneh however said the reported discoloration might be caused by the stagnant water following the disconnection of water supply in homes. He explained that when the water is reconnected after sometime its color is highly likely to change as it has been locked up in the pipes for a long time.
“When the water is like that, it is only advisable to let it run for some time until the colour has been flushed out then clean water will be eventually start flowing,” Mafavuneh advised.
