Water is a scarce commodity for local inhabitants in metropolitan regions across Rwanda, including the capital Kigali, with some inhabitants of the town not seeing a drop for days to come. The scarcity has continued to a critical point in latest months that they are becoming increasingly worried.
Although not all parts of the country are affected in the same way, many residents of Kigali now say they don’t have water most of the day.
And some regions are more than others most negatively affected.
“Look at this water. Would you drink it?” Asks Gaudance Mukundente as she displays a glass that he has just filled with unhygienic water from the nearby Nyabarongo River, where brown sediments float, in his home in Mageragere, Kigali suburb.
“I have no choice but to use this for consumption purposes and other domestic activites without purifying it,” Mukamazimpaka told journalists in an exclusive interview.
Like Mukundente, despite government attempts to tackle the situation, several inhabitants in several regions in Kigali and its outskirts have been struggling with water scarcity in recent months.
“The few existing piped water and other public standpipes which are established in some urban suburbs have the capacity to supply safe drinking water to a limited number of local residents who can buy limited jerrycans for drinking and cooking,” the mother of five said with a sigh of resignation.
Like several other neighborhoods around the Rwandan capital, in Mageragere, local inhabitants have become more worried and unhappy as water scarcity reaches a critical point.
According to the recent Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) report, which reflects a method of calculating complete stocks and flows of natural assets and services in Rwanda, only 37% of local inhabitants have water in their homes in Kigali, while 36% of homes use government pipes.
With only 53 percent of the country’s available water supply available, specialists say Rwanda faces an annual water deficit of several billion cubic meters that it has never encountered if nothing is done.
However, official statistics show that access to enhanced sources of drinking water rose from 74 percent in 2010 to 85 percent in 2014, Water and Sanitation Corporation Ltd (WASAC) of the government stresses that the leaked water currently stored underground has not yet been extracted for consumption.
“Households are reaching an improved drinking water source more quickly than it was before, but it is still challenging for urban settings like in Kigali city, where so many people still rely on established treatment plants for drinking and other sanitation activities,” Dr Omar Munyaneza, a researcher from College of Science and Technology (CST) of the University of Rwanda who conducted the study said.
Reports from the Water and Sanitation Corporation of Rwanda (WASAC) show that present inhabitants of Kigali currently require 143,668 cubic meters per day, but Kigali has so far relied on 95,000 cubic meters.
Sometimes protected spring and piped water at government pipes are some of the country’s main sources of water supply, but scientists argue that developments in this region are essential, given that water availability is gradually deteriorating, particularly in urban environments such as Kigali.
Kigali residents have been experiencing water shortages for most of the day, but this year the Rwandan government and its partners announced a $300 million fund to address water shortages over a three-year period.
Despite all these major initiatives, the three water treatment plants have a restricted capacity supply to inhabitants of Kigali of approximately 120,000 cubic meters per day, while demand is presently 130,000 cubic meters per day.
According to officials of the Water and Sanitation Corporation’s urban water and sanitation department (WASAC), Rutagungira Method, additional efforts are also being spent on building new water treatment plants to tackle long-term water shortages, particularly in the capital.
“We are expediting several joint projects with our partners and the private sector to realise this mission” Rutagungira told journalists.
Results from the 2014 Fifth Integrated Household Living Conditions Survey indicate that less than 2% of the rural population in Rwanda has access to water within their homes.
Only 60.5% of urban homes have access within 200 meters to an enhanced water source, it said.
“With current rural–urban migration and the rapid growth of urban areas including Kigali the demand for water is growing while the supply of water remains constant,” experts said.