Pacific Limited Managing director Faisal Aboo whose organisation has been implementing a free borehole rehabilitation exercise across the country for the past eight years says the current construction design of boreholes gives room for wastage of the precious commodity.

"In some Asian countries for instance, boreholes are constructed in such a way where by the spilt over water is used for irrigation as well as for providing drinking water for livestock" said Faisal calling on stakeholders in the WASH sector to emulate the example.

Concurring with Aboo, coordinator for the Water and Environmental Sanitation Network Willies Mwandira however indicated that the suggestion would require strong coordination from both the private sector and non-governmental organizations to materialize.

Mwandira also warned that implementation of such a suggestion should not compromise hygiene of the borehole water.

In a separate interview, spokesperson for the Ministry of Water and Sanitation, James Daile indicated that that the current government policy is to encourage construction of high yielding boreholes whose water is reticulated into a pipe system to serve a wide population.

He however said the water from such high yielding boreholes preserved in tanks could as well be used for such multiple use.

The Population and Housing Census conducted by the National Statistical office in 2018 indicates that about 85 percent of the country's population have got improved access to clean and potable water with 61.7 percent of them mainly from rural areas relying on boreholes.