The director of reservoir and production at the Lower Usuma Dam, Abuja, Usman Aliyu, has said that the new water treatment plants built by the federal government at the dam to boost water supply to the FCT is ready for commissioning.

Aliyu disclosed on Monday that the four fully automated treatment plants which cost the government  N18.9 billion are the biggest in Africa and are each capable of producing 10 million gallons of water per hour.

The project which commenced since 2005 was supposed to last for 24 months, but had suffered delayed due to paucity of funds.

Aliyu identified periodic rust of water pipes as the challenge of maintaining the facilities at the Lower Usuma Dam and advised government to set aside adequate funds to ensure the effective maintenance of the dam facilities.

“Pipes which have been burried for 20 years to 25 years or 30 years, it will not tell you when it is breaking. You will come up one day to see the water is gauging out somewhere, so you have to source money to do it. This is why we are appealing that government should set aside some funds for these emergency cases,” he said.

He stated further that the final stage of water supply project for the FCT would be completed through the installation of phases five and six  in the next 30 years.