The country loses Sh10 billion annually through water wastage, Water Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa has said.
Mr Wamalwa said despite efforts to ensure universal coverage of water, the level of non-revenue water was still high at 42 per cent leading to enormous losses.
The losses are incurred through leaks, theft and water meter inaccuracies, which have undermined the financial viability of water utilities, as well to the quality of the commodity, said the CS.
He noted that if the trend is not reversed, the sector will lose more than Sh150 billion by the year 2030.
“This is a big threat for the sector’s sustainability. Every effort must be made therefore to reduce non-revenue water to below 20 per cent by the year 2030,” he said.
Wamalwa spoke at Simba Lodge in Naivasha when he presided over the opening of a workshop for chief executive officers of water services boards and other water company managers across the country.
He said the realisation of the universal access to water must be achieved within the next five years. The current national water coverage stands at 56 per cent. Coverage in urban areas is 65 per cent while in rural areas coverage stands at 49 per cent, according to statistics released at the meeting. The country’s sewerage coverage is at 22 per cent.
The minister also noted that access to safe drinking water rose from 51.1 per cent in 2012/13 financial year to 56 per cent. This, he said, has been achieved following the formulation of the National Policy on Water Resources Management and Development in 1999 and the enactment of the Water Act 2002 resulting into the water sector reforms.
New sewerage schemes
“In fact in the last two years, access to safe drinking water rose during the 2014/15 financial year. An additional 3.3 million people have access to safe drinking water,” he said. Wamalwa announced that 199 new water and sanitation projects have been constructed, while 410 existing rural water supplies were rehabilitated and 276 boreholes drilled.
“Seven new sewerage schemes were constructed and 14 existing sewerage schemes rehabilitated. In addition, seven exhausters were procured to provide on-site sanitation services to the municipalities of Kisumu, Homa Bay, Bomet, Kericho and Migori,” he said.
Key projects to be rolled out include the northern collector, which is intended to improve water supply in Nairobi by providing additional 140,000m3/day, Siyoi Muruny dam in West Pokot, Itare dam for Nakuru and surrounding towns.
