Mzuzu City residents are now enjoy continuous water supply all day every day following completion of upgrading and expansion of the water supply system in the city by Northern Region Water Board (NRWB).

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Malawi News Agency (Mana) Wednesday, NRWB’s Public Relations Manager Edward Nyirenda said there is tremendous improvement in water supply in the city since the water board completed upgrading, rehabilitation and expansion of the water system’s equipment recently.

“In the past, residents in some locations in the city used to have the water supply for only 15 to 17 hours per day; but now they are able to enjoy the flow of water supply for more than 20 or even 24 hours per day,” Nyirenda said.

However, Nyirenda was quick to say that though there is such a positive development, there are still some locations such as Chithira, Hilltop, Salisbury Line and Katawa that are still having problems in water supply.

He then assured people in the areas that NRWB is addressing the problems to ensure uninterrupted water supply soon.

NRWB with financial support of K1.2 billion from World Bank through National Water Development Programme recently installed new distribution water pipes.

Before the installation of new distribution water pipes which has taken almost 18 months to complete, the NRWB upgraded, rehabilitated and expanded its water treatment plant and installed new water tanks in Mchengautuwa, Nkhorongo, Kaning’ina and Area IV, among other locations.

“We noted that our water treatment plant was not giving us enough water for the demand of our consumers in Mzuzu. The treatment plant then was giving us only 13 cubic meters of water per day while the demand is at 19 to 20, 000 cubic meters per day.

“But now the plant is able to give out up to 22, 000 cubic metres of water per day; that is more than enough for our consumers in the city,” Nyirenda said.

He added that previously 70 per cent of the consumers in the city were on direct pumping system (getting water straight from the treatment plant to the consumers). So every time there was power blackout, simultaneously, there was no water supply.

“I can now assure our valued customers that we are now having enough water reservoirs; even if there can be power blackouts or any challenges in water pumping, we can still feed our customers with enough water from those reservoirs,” Nyirenda said.