NamWater says it is adopting new strategies to get additional sources of income, including working with private enterprises to lower the cost of water.

NamWater's Chief Executive Officer, Abraham Nehemia, revealed this during an information sharing session at the Government Information Centre in Windhoek.

Nehemia believes that it has a fundamental responsibility to assist in improving the lives of disadvantaged communities in Namibia. 

But he pointed out that NamWater has a responsibility to ensure water is available for all while also ensuring its sustainability.

However, the water parastatal faces challenges with ageing infrastructure, needing replacement that costs millions of dollars. 

NamWater CEO stated that although tariffs have not increased over the past five years, maintenance costs have increased, adding that people illegally tapping into their pipelines also have a negative financial impact on the company.

However, despite the challenges, NamWater aims to construct infrastructure and pipelines to transport water over large distances to provide water to rural communities.

"You find either a clinic or a school or put up 25 kilometres away from where the NamWater systems are. So you lay a 25-kilometre pipeline to that school, and if they pay for water, they will not be able to recover the cost that has been put into that pipeline. So we must find other sources that will help us recover the costs other than water tariffs. Otherwise, if you increase the tariffs based on the actual cost, it won't be affordable."

The CEO says the company is in the process of organising workshops to discuss its approach to taking over all the pipelines in rural areas.

Nehemia urged people in rural areas to apply for water at any of its offices.

The company currently operates five business units in the central, coastal, southern, north-western, and north-eastern parts of Namibia.