KAFUBU Water and Sewerage Company (KWSC) has taken over the abandoned Lake Ishiku Water Treatment plant in Ndola which it will reinstate at a cost of US$1.4 million, company public relations officer, Margaret Zulu has said.

Responding to a Times of Zambia Press query, Ms Zulu said the taking over of the Lake Ishiku Water Treatment Plant which a few years ago was operational under the Ndola City Council and later abandoned because of various challenges, was one of the projects which the company had embarked on to improve water reticulation.

Ms Zulu said KWSC was determined to improve service delivery in Ndola's southern zone and a number of projects of which the resumption of the operations of Lake Ishiku projects was the major one.

"The expected outcome of this project is to improve the amount of water being produced and supplied to the southern zone," she said.

Ms Zulu said once it becomes operational, the Lake Ishiku Water Plant which is located on the outskirts of Ndola near Chief Chiwala's area, would play a vital role in meeting the demand for the efficient supply of clean and safe drinking water in the city's southern zone and Bwana Mkubwa area.

The Lake Ishiku Water Plant, which was operational until a few years ago under the management of the Ndola City Council, was expected to supplement the Itawa, Kafubu, Misundu one and Misundu two which caters for the southern and northern zones of Ndola.

KWSC which supplies water to Luanshya and Masaiti districts operates two water treatment plants in Mikonfwa and Makoma in Luanshya and two treatment plants in Masaiti.

Ms Zulu said that starting this month, KWSC would be displaying water quality results for each plant at all customer service centres.

This was being done to see to it that customers would have guarantee in terms of water quality.

Ms Zulu said her company has never received complaints from Itawa residents over their occasionally having water mixed with impurities coming from their taps.

"We have not received any reports of impurities coming out of the customers' taps. KWSC has an elaborate water quality system in place that ensures that water supplied to the customer was treated with appropriate chemicals and tested and certified to be fit for human consumption," she said.

Ms Zulu said through the quality control section, various water samples analyses were being conducted as the sources where KWSC extract raw water.

The quality testing was being conducted at the treatment plants and the distribution and in the distribution network.

"Random weekly samples are carried out at customers' premises," she said.

Ms Zulu, however, said the quality of water could be compromised due to leakages along the transmission lines and leakages at customers' point and KWSC ensures that repair works on them were done from time to time.

Ms Zulu denied assertions made by some Itawa resident's that the area had been experiencing erratic water supply in the past four months.

She said KWSC customers in the southern zone of Ndola which consists of Itawa, Masala, Main Masala, Lubuto, Ndeke, Skyways, Mushili and Kabushi residential areas, had no water since last Saturday from 15:00 hours up to yesterday morning.

"The problem was caused by a power failure at the Kafubu Water Treatment plant. Zesco has so far rectified the problem and power had been restored at the plant," Ms Zulu said.

Yesterday some Itawa residents said they had been experiencing acute water shortages in the past four months.