NWASCO to punish erring water companies

Thu, 20 Oct 2016 12:30:25 +0000

NATIONAL Water Supply and Sanitation Council (NWASCO) has threatened to penalise water utility companies that would not meet its requirements after concluding its ongoing water quality inspections across the country.

In an interview with the Daily Nation, NWASCO chief inspector Peter Mutale disclosed that the water regulatory council had been carrying out water quality checks in both private and public institutions across the country. Mr Mutale said that NWASCO had concluded inspections of water quality in most provinces and that they were waiting for a final compilation of its findings.

He warned that NWASCO would not hesitate to penalise utility companies that would not meet the required standards of water being piped to consumers.

Mr Mutale said that companies that would be found wanting would be charged a fee or even suspend their trading licences if they did not comply.

“We are done with water quality inspections in most provinces and now we are just winding up with Lusaka. Normally, it takes us 3 days to compile our findings, then the final outcomes would be made available. We will not hesitate to penalise any company that does not comply.

“Firstly, we are going to charge them a fee or any befitting penalty and if there is consistent non-compliance, then we even go to extremes of suspending the licence,” said Mr Mutale.