Mozambique launches US $220M drinking water plant

The government of Mozambique has launched a drinking water plant in Sábiè, a village in the Moamba district of Maputo province. President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi performed the launch ceremony and said the plant will strengthen the supply of drinking water to the population.

The drinking plant located in the district of Moamba was commissioned in June and constructed at a cost of US $220m financed by the World Bank. It has a capacity of 60,000 m3 per day, operates with a pumping station installed in the reservoir of the Corumana dam.

The structure built on the Sabiè River has a reservoir with a storage capacity of 1.23 billion m3. The water pumped from the dam passes through 94 km of pipes to supply the new drinking water plant. A total of 560,000 people will benefit from drinking water via distribution points installed in Machava, Intaka, Matlemele and Guava.

Read:Biwater awarded Desalination Company of the Year

Increase urban drinking water coverage

The dubbed ‘Sabiè drinking water plant’ was built as part of a vast project to supply drinking water to the Greater Maputo area. According to the Mozambican Ministry of Public Works and Housing, the project aims to produce 120,000 m³ of water per day by 2024.

In addition to supplying drinking water facilities in Maputo, the dam provides water for farmers and herders in the Incomati Valley. The dam will also improve storm water management in southern Mozambique, while generating electricity. The president also initially Nyusi commissioned six valves in the Corumana dam.

Mozambique aims to increase urban drinking water coverage to 80% by 2024 from the current 77%. To achieve this goal, the East African country needs US $941m in investment. The Mozambican government also plans to open up the country’s drinking water services to public-private partnerships by the end of 2022.