Keetmanshoop — NamWater has defended its handling of the recent water supply interruption in Mariental, maintaining that it followed established communication procedures after Local Authority councillor Daniel Gariseb criticised the utility over unannounced water disruptions and called for greater accountability.

Gariseb said recent water disruptions had left "businesses, households and schools stranded", prompting him to demand urgent operational reforms.

"Our community deserves reliable basic services. Sudden water suspensions without prior notice compromise public health and damage our local economy. We are demanding a binding communication protocol with NamWater immediately," he said.

Gariseb further alleged that the municipality is often left unaware of NamWater's maintenance activities.

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"This Council is frequently left unaware of planned NamWater maintenance preventing the council from proactively warning or providing alternative water supply measures to our residents," he stated. Responding to New Era, NamWater's head of communications, Lot Ndamanonhata, said the interruption was caused by "a complex pipe failure at the Hardap Water Treatment Plant over the weekend", which required technical teams to work continuously for nearly 48 hours to restore the system.

He said NamWater kept the Municipality of Mariental informed through its chief executive officer while repairs were underway.

"NamWater kept the Municipality of Mariental informed through its Chief Executive Officer, advising of the pipe failure and the potential risk of a temporary water supply interruption should the town's terminal reservoir reach critically low levels, as pumping operations had been suspended while repairs were underway," Ndamonohota said.

He added that after pipe repairs and the replacement of damaged electrical cables were completed on Tuesday evening, there was a brief interruption on Wednesday while the terminal reservoir was replenished.

"Water supply has since been restored and stabilised," he said.

Addressing Gariseb's concerns over communication, Ndamonohota explained that NamWater communicates directly with its contracted customer, the Municipality of Mariental.

"NamWater's operational protocol is to communicate directly with its contracted customer in this case, the Municipality of Mariental which is responsible for distributing water to residents."

He added that while planned maintenance is communicated to both customers and the public in advance, emergency incidents are handled differently.

"However, unforeseen operational incidents such as emergency pipe failures require immediate technical intervention, with communication taking place concurrently through established customer channels," he said.

Gariseb has, meanwhile, maintained that residents deserve more reliable service delivery and better communication whenever water supply interruptions occur.

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