Seasonal transition responsible for water supply drop -Board

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Water Board has linked the present drop in water supply in the territory to the current transition from rainy to dry season.

The agency said the transition has triggered supply strains as water demand has surged due to the change in weather.

Abuja Metro reported that the drop in the water supply started about a week ago, after months of remarkable improvement.

The agency had experienced a shortage of chemicals, used to purify water at its treatment plant, located at Usuman dam, in the Bwari area council, in the FCT.

But in a response to the Daily Trust inquiry, a senior official of the FCT water board, who sought anonymity as he was not cleared for the interview, noted that a sizable amount of chemicals was supplied to the agency that improved their water production, currently.

The official also disclosed that the problem of the dam shrinking water has since been addressed with the augmentation of the raw water supply from the Gurara dam, located in Kaduna State.

He, however, pointed out that residents who previously relied on other sources of water supply during the rainy season are gradually shifting their reliance to the water supply by the agency.

“Take, for instance, the use of our supplies in the watering floor, which have not been applied during the rainy season, coupled with water consumption by the human being and other instances like baths, that would be multiplied, now.

“And on the other hand, the availability of raw water has dropped at the dam, unlike what is available during the rainy season,” said the official.

Expert advise on optimal utilisation

An expert who has in-depth knowledge of the agency has argued that there is a need to optimise the use of the existing treatment plant used by the agency, as well as building additional ones, to overcome the lingering water supply deficit in the FCT.

The expert who does not want to be mentioned in the media alleged that the present 4 water treatment plants are being underutilised, while two additional ones designed to address the continued growth of the population of the nation’s capital city are yet to be constructed.

While the phase 1 and phase 2 treatment plants are designed to produce 5000 cubic meters of water per hour, the remaining phase 3 and phase 4 treatment plants were each originally made to produce 10,000 cubic meters of water per hour.

The phase 1 treatment plant is currently shut down and has been undergoing rehabilitation for some time now.

The experts advised for construction of phase 5 and phase 6 treatment plants, with each planned to produce 15,000 cubic meters of water per hour.

The source noted that the same is needed with the water storage reservoir tanks, built at some strategic locations across the territory to convey water from the dam, and transmit it to the various locations within the territory.

It was discovered that out of 10 such designed tanks, only 4 were fully built and connected to the treatment plants.

“They are tank 2, located at Katampe, tank 3, located at Maitama, tank 4, located at Asokoro, and tank 5, located at Apo. The tank 1, located at Dawaki, and tank 6, located at Galadimawa, though completed, are yet to be connected with the treatment plants, while tank 7,  tank 8,  tank 9,  and tank 10 are only on design level, and waiting for the award of their contract, as has been further learnt,” the source said.

The expert was also optimistic that the Usuma dam, with its capacity to absorb about 100 million cubic meters of water, and the Gurara dam, which has a capacity of 800 million cubic meters of water, noted that the treatment plants have an abundance of raw water to use within their disposal.

All that is needed is to provide the needed facilities that include additional treatment plants and water storage tank reservoirs, in order to address the rapid expansion of the city.

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