Blantyre Water Board (BWB) in partnership with Blantyre City Council plan to venture into a project to improve water accessibility and sanitation in the city.

The water supply and sanitation project to be funded by the World Bank will involve rehabilitation and setting up of new treatment plants and sewage collection sites.

Speaking after leading a World Bank mission on a tour of the proposed project sites, BWB chief executive officer Robert Hanjahanja said most of the board’s equipment is old and need replacement.

“We plan to install new tanks, bring in new meters, upgrade the main transmission line at Chileka, mostly to improve on operational efficiency and reduce on losses through none revenue water,” he said.

The project, which is expected to start next year, will also enable the board to supply water consistently.

“Right now we supply on average 18 hours, but we want to move to an average of 24 hours of continuous supply,” said Hanjahanja.

The World Bank mission toured the project sites to appreciate the need for the project and assess requirements.

BCC director of town planning Costly Chanza said the project will improve sanitation in the city as it will help the council to rehabilitate some of its sewage collection sites and sewage pipes.

“Most of our sewage plants are old and need rehabilitation. We also plan to increase pipe network for the sewer system and connect more houses to sewer pipes,” he said.

Chanza further urged city residents to be responsible and keep the city clean through proper waste management to prevent the spread of infectious diseases such as cholera.n

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