Henties Bay takes the lead in “future of water”

Namibia is not a stranger to water desalination technology and the country is also not unfamiliar to solar technology. However, at Henties Bay there is a new concept taking shape – the combined use of these technologies to secure Namibia’s water future.

The University of Namibia’s Sam Nujoma Campus at Henties Bay is in the process to establish a pilot seawater desalination plant and also a solar power generating plant which in turn would supply the electricity needed for the water desalination process. To prove that the future of water security and food security in Namibia lies in desalination water, the Campus also ear-marked land now for drip irrigation crop production with desalinated water.
Namibia’s Founding President Dr Sam Nujoma launched the plant pilot project at Henties Bay on Friday and called for the Agriculture Ministry to adopt the combination of desalination technology and solar energy as the primary strategy to ensure Namibia’s water future.
Although Namibia is blessed with a 1500 km coastline as a plat-form to introduce desalination on a grand scale, there are also an equal abundance of brackish water boreholes in rural areas of Namibia and through desalination and solar power this water can at last be put to use for communities for drinking water, water to irrigate crops and for animal husbandry, said Dr Nujoma.
“I take this opportunity to appeal to the Government of Namibia, through the Minister of Agriculture, Water and Forestry to consider the implementation of large-scale seawater and desalination as a priority national project”, the Founding President said. Adding from a technological point of view this is achievable and the country stands to benefit in terms of water security and food security.
Dr Nujoma explained with a well-developed desalination water network, power by solar makes it sustainable, more cost effective and opens massive opportunities for green schemes in arid Namibia and secures the country’s future amidst the many uncertainties climate change brings. Uncertainties which include prolonged droughts, such as the current one Namibia finds itself into.