Some residents of Lufwanyama’s Lwamisamba area on the Copperbelt Province are reportedly drinking contaminated water.

This is after their boreholes which were sunk for them by Chibiluma Mine started producing water contained with some black elements.

The residents told ZANIS in an interview that they now fear drinking the said water, as they do not know if it’s safe for human consumption.

One of the residents by the name of Reuben Chitambala explained that their water has a bad taste and black elements.

“The water we are drinking has some thick black stuff which we suspect to be copper, and they become more visible when we put it in containers or cups,” claimed Mr Chitambala.

Mervi’s Malakata, also said each time they use the same water for cooking nshima, the colour turns into brown with some oil stuff on top.

“Most of our buckets and containers we use for storing water have since changed their colours to black, while others are brown due to the same water,” said Malakata.

Meanwhile, Councilor for Sokontwe Ward, Lenox Kaseka, who visited the affected residents, has since appealed for quick interventions by the relevant authorities in order to establish the cause and content of the said commodity.

M  Kaseka has feared that the life of people in the area is at risk at the moment as he indicated that about 42 households are affected in his ward.

Councilor Kaseka said the affected people are the ones that were relocated from Nkana area to Lwamisamba by the former Chibiluma mine last year.

He added that this was after the mine was directed to build houses for them by the government following concerns of harmful pollutants from the mine’s damp site mountain.