Nairobi water : What's behind severe shortages?
Kenya's
rapidly growing capital city is facing severe problems with the supply and
quality of its water supply, driving people to buy it from unsafe and
potentially contaminated sources.
So,
how bad is the water problem facing Nairobi and how does it compare with other
major cities in Africa?
The demand (for water in Nairobi) is higher than supply. We are 20 years behind…so we need to develop new sources.
Nahason
Muguna
Managing
Director, Nairobi City Water
Nahason
Muguna, the head of the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC),
appeared on national television recently and expressed serious concerns about
the pace of improvements to the water supply in the face of a rapidly growing
population over the past few decades.
In
1990, more than 90% of the population in Kenya's urban areas had access to
clean water, according to the United Nations.
Now,
it is estimated that just 50% of Nairobi's four and a half million residents
have direct access to piped water.
Many
residents obtain water from kiosks, vendors and illegal connections.
The growing population of Kenya's capital city
Since 2017 a system of rationing has been in place.
Different
areas of the city receive water on specific days of the week, some for a few
days and others for just a few hours.
"What
can resolve problems of water supply in the city is the development of new
water sources," says Mr Muguna. "The water we are using was supposed
to serve the population of the city only up to the year 2000."
Projects
are under way to expand local dam capacity and construct a new water transfer
tunnel. Some of this extra capacity is due for completion next year.
Mr
Muguna says these projects were due to be finished more than a decade ago, but
faced problems in raising the finance.
How much water does Nairobi need?
There
is currently about a 25% shortfall in supply to Nairobi homes, according to the
city's water provider, NCWSC.
There
are also significant issues over the quality of the piped water, particularly
in the city's informal settlements.
Water
from drains or sewage can seep into the supply due to the deterioration of
pipes and much of it is undrinkable, according to the World Health Organization
(WHO).
GETTY IMAGES |
The
government has a national target to ensure availability and access to improved
water to everyone by 2030.
However,
previous targets have been missed, with a promise to reach 80% national
coverage by 2015 falling significantly short.
The
national estimate for household provision of clean water was 57% by the end of
2018.
How does Nairobi compare?
A
study of water provision in 15 cities in lower income countries around the
world was carried out by the US-based World Resources Institute.
Nairobi
is certainly not the worst for water provision among those cities studied.
Water supply around the world
Average hours of water availability per week
Source: World Resources Institute 2019 report |
Out
of the cities surveyed in the region, Kampala and Lagos have the lowest access
to piped water, with many informal settlements in Nigeria's largest city having
no piped water.
The
study also says that the cost of water is high in many developing cities, with
a high proportion of household income going to purchase piped or bottled water.
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