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SADCAS is delighted to announce the re-accreditation of the Water Utilities Corporation’s Mmamashia Laboratory.

Through this reaccreditation the Mmamashia Laboratory has been regranted the unique accreditation number TEST-

1 0004 and TEST-5 0009 indicating that the Mmamashia Laboratory is accredited in the scopes “Microbiological

Analysis – Determination of coliform bacteria, E coli, fecal coliforms and heterotrophic plate counts” and “Chemical

Analysis – Determination of trace elements, heavy metals and anions in water”. The certificate which was reissued

on 18 December 2018 is valid for 5 years until 17 December 2023.

Guests at the Ceremony left is Ms Malebe SADCAS SC TLAS From left to right are Mr Gaselemogwe Senai, Mr Mmetla

Masire, Mrs Maureen Mutasa and Mrs Masego Marobela

BOBS MD

The certificate was handed over during a ceremony held on 6 March 2019 at the Mmamashia Water Treatment Plant

in Gaborone, Botswana. The ceremony was attended by the Management and staff of the Water Utilities

Corporation and other guests from the Botswana Bureau of Standards, Ministry of Health, Department of Water and

Sanitation, BIUST, BUAN and the press. Guests were introduced by Mr Teddy Ditsabatho, the Water Quality Manager

whilst the welcome remarks were given by Mr Gaselemogwe Senai, the Sustainability and Water Resources Director.

This was followed by a speech by the SADCAS CEO Mrs Maureen Mutasa who was accompanied by Mrs Pinkie

Malebe the Scheme Coordinator Testing under which Mmamashia Laboratory is accredited.

Mr Teddy Ditsabatho introducing

guests at the ceremony Mr Gaselemogwe Senai giving the

welcome address Mrs Mutasa giving her speech

before certificate handover

Water Utilities Corporation’s Mmamashia Laboratory Reaccredited

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Mr Mmetla Masire giving his

certifgicate acceptance speech

Mr Obed Motsumi giving the vote of thanks

Mrs Mutasa handing over the certificate to

Mr Masire

Gusts touring the Mmamashia Laboratory

Mmamashia Laboratory supports the regulatory functions of Water Utilities Corporation a parastatal

mandated with the supply and distribution of water. It also serves as a testing facility for both individuals

and industry in quality control process through testing of water. The Mmamashia Laboratory covers a

wide range of technical disciplines including chemistry; microbiology and physical tests on water and

waste water. “Testing is at the very core of Water Utilities Corporation services and ISO/IEC 17025 is the

international standard that testing laboratories have to comply with in order to be accredited.

Accreditation which is the process by which an authoritative body i.e. SADCAS gives formal recognition

that an organization/person is competent to carry out specific tasks involves the creation of confidence

in the results of the tests carried out by Mmamashia Laboratory.

Water as an essential part of everyday life and clean water is a basic and crucial human rights issue. The

key issues of concern with drinking water are whether the water is safe, free of pathogens, toxins and

contaminants and in the case of bottled water can we trust the labelling? An increasing proportion of the

world population is also interested in the way bottled water are produced in terms of the environment in

which the water is produced and the origin of the water.

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