The population growth in Rundu has placed pressure on the council to meet the demand for water provision.

The construction of the Rundi water treatment plant, worth N$577 million, will not completely satisfy the demand.

Olavi Nathanael, the CEO of the Rundu Town Council, stated that the project will enhance the water treatment systems in the heavily affected areas, such as Ndama, Sikanduko, Sauyemwa, and Kasote.

"Our current treatment plant is pumping at a rate of seven hundred cubic meters per hour, but the demand is now around 1200 cubic meters per hour. This means there is a deficit in the supply. That's why there have been protests regarding water shortages. With this new plant, it will be capable of producing approximately one thousand eight hundred cubic meters per hour, which means it will meet our demand of one thousand two hundred and still have a surplus."

The main contractor for this project is the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, operating under the Rundu Water Treatment Plant Extension and Associated Works.

The project began in March of this year.

Jimmy Liu, the Manager of the Water Treatment Plant Extension, shares:

"Ultimately, the project will meet the demand of the entire Rundu area because Rundu is the largest town in Kavango East, and with the growing population, more water is needed. Therefore, this project was created for that purpose."

The project will complete and replace the existing outdated abstraction systems and purification plants, including the upgrading of the existing water supply scheme and the decommissioning of redundant infrastructures.

"We will also construct new reservoirs and conveyance systems. We will lay fifty kilometers of pipes to the military base side, to the Sikondo Mupini side, and to the Masivi side."

The African Development Bank financed the project in collaboration with the Government through Namwater. The project is expected to be completed by December 2026.