BWB bemoans burst pipes, unaccounted for water
Blantyre Water Board (BWB) has bemoaned the loss of unaccounted for water and high electricity costs when distributing water to its customers.
The water utility’s distribution manager, Booker Waya, made the remarks on Tuesday on the sidelines of a review forum organised by Water for People.
He said the board is losing 50 percent of the water it pumps from Walkers Ferry due to leakages as well as burst pipes every day.
Said Waya: “Half of the water we produce is not part of our revenue due to leakages resulting from old pipes and we cannot identify where it is going.
“Additionally, the meters we are using are old such that they are not accurate enough to measure the water that is passing through, and because of that, we are losing revenue.”
He urged customers to be mindful of leakages that happen after the meter since this water is added to their bill, which brings in billing complaints.
In an earlier interview, BWB public affairs officer Priscilla Mateyu said the board is replacing old pipes as well as old meters which are not working properly.
“So far, we have replaced 20 kilometres of old pipelines with new ones and we plan to replace another 50 kilometres in this new financial year between June 2017 and July 2018,” she said. n
