Blantyre Water Board (BWB) stands to pay about K2.8 billion to replace four valves damaged by suspected vandals in Chileka in an incident that disrupted water supply to parts of Blantyre for three days last week.
BWB production and supply manager Luke Dette told journalists at the site on Saturday that emergency repairs have restored the valves to operation, but the board may need to undertake more comprehensive work.
“One valve can cost about K700 million and there are four affected valves, putting the estimated replacement cost at K2.8 billion,” he said.
The damage occurred on the main supply line carrying water from Walker’s Ferry Pumping Station to Chileka Pumping Station, which supplies reservoirs serving Blantyre.
Dette said the suspected vandals cut off the spindles used to control the valves, with one spindle removed in one chamber and three spindles in another.
The removal of the spindles caused the valves to close and block the flow of water, forcing BWB to shut down Walker’s Ferry Pumping Station which supplies more than 80 percent of Blantyre’s water.
BWB supplies potable water for commercial, industrial, institutional and domestic use in the supply area of Blantyre City and surrounding areas. Currently, the board supplies about 1.4 million people within its supply area, which includes Blantyre City, Bvumbwe in Thyolo, Chileka, Lunzu, Chiradzulu, Limbe and Mapanga.
The main intake at Walker’s Ferry on the Shire River is about 40 kilometres away and 800 metres below Blantyre City.
