Water shortage: discover the real causes of the problem

XALIMANEWS: In a long interview with Inquiry resumed here by seneweb, the director general of the Senegalese water (SDE), Abdoul Ball, gives the real causes of the water shortage which, for several weeks, several months to some, indispose the people of Dakar and its environs, part of Thies and Louga.

The main cause is structural. "The available water resources do not cover the needs of the population of the Dakar region," Ball says. This means that when we take the total amount of water produced by all plants and boreholes, this does not meet the demand for water. There is a deficit of 50 000m3 / day. This deficit is more felt during the peak periods, during the heat periods that began in June. "

Delay
The second cause is cyclical. The director of SDE: "The main plant that feeds Dakar has not been operating at its full capacity since May 15 because the National Water Company of Senegal (Sones) had undertaken rehabilitation work on the anti-rams system."

The problem, says Abdoul Ball, is that the work in question took longer than expected.

It states: "This rehabilitation was to last 48 hours, but unfortunately since we did this work , the plant could only operate at 75% capacity. The company, Sade, which was in charge of this work on behalf of the Sones, could not complete them within the time initially planned. Finally, the book was only put into operation four days ago. "

Why is the shortage more felt in some neighborhoods than in others? "This has been accentuated in areas with high topography or at the end of a network such as the Parcels Assainies, Niary Tally, Ben Tally," says the director of the SDE.

Solutions
When will the end Calvary? Abdou Ball did not set a date. Simply "repeat the chronogram of the Sones and the Ministry of Hydraulics". In essence: there are the perennial solutions (Keur Momar Sarr 3 plant and Dakar seawater desalination plant), which will be put in place between 2021 and 2022, to cover the demand until 2035, and those of urgent, in progress, like the drilling of boreholes.

The boss of the SDE crosses his fingers: "We hope that with all that has been done so far, in the coming days the works will be put into operation and you will see that this will contribute significantly to the improvement of water distribution in Dakar. "