Bulk Water Supply
NamWater supplies about 100 million cubic metres of water a year to bulk customers across Namibia.
Who We Supply
NamWater's primary objective is to supply water in bulk to bulk customers:
- Municipalities
- Commercial entities such as mines
- Government institutions
- Regional councils
- Town councils
- Village councils
- Industries
NamWater also supplies water to some individual customers and to rural communities. It supplies about 100 million m³ of water a year.
Annual Consumption by Our Biggest Customers
| Customer | Annual consumption (m³) |
|---|---|
| Mines | 13 138 186 |
| City of Windhoek | 10 407 942 |
| Walvis Bay | 6 512 500 |
| Swakopmund | 4 673 272 |
| Ongwediva | 1 246 519 |
| Namibia: treated water | 81 905 196 |
| Namibia: irrigation water | 56 038 971 |
The Cost of Supplying Water
NamWater operates on a cost recovery basis. It has to recover the money spent on supplying water, building new infrastructure and schemes, and maintaining them.
Dams, reservoirs, pipelines and purification plants are expensive to build and maintain: one kilometre of pipeline can easily cost N$5 million. Many people do not live where water is found, so NamWater has to lay long pipelines to bring water to them. Pumping water to remote areas needs electricity, one of the company's highest costs.
Tariff increases granted by Cabinet do not always cover the true cost of supply, so the company works hard to keep the water flowing and maintain ageing infrastructure with limited resources. Even so, the average NamWater tariff is about 1.5 cents per litre, roughly 1 000 times cheaper than bottled water.