The Lesotho Electricity and Water Authority (LEWA) periodically conducts inspections and audits on the Water and Sewerage Company’s (WASCO) 16 centres’ infrastructure, services and processes to assess compliance with water quality technical, customer care and safety standards and other regulatory tools.
The Authority does this as part of fulfilling its regulatory mandate to maintain and protect customers from any possible harm while enjoying and using the regulated utility services. LEWA uses the Quality of Service and Supply Standards (QoSSS) as one of its monitoring tools to ensure that the only regulated water utility, WASCO abide by it and supplies the best possible quality and equally safe water.
Ms. ‘Mapaseka Makhaba, the Authority’s Water Quality Officer, told LEWANEWS that audits on WASCO’s water quality revealed that the water supplied to consumers falls within acceptable standards. However, she mentioned that the Company is experiencing difficulty in providing a reliable water supply, which is a customer care standard, in some parts of its service areas. She further explained that the urban water supply is affected mainly during the dry season due to water scarcity, which prompts water rationing. Water supply is also affected during rainy seasons as increased river water flow either blocks and/or washes away raw water pipes, thus rendering abstraction and production challenges.
WASCO is fully equipped with competent personnel and appropriate laboratory equipment to monitor that the water treatment plants produce potable water that meet the set standard.