Water supply and sanitation in Nairobi
Encyclopedia
Water supply and sanitation in Nairobi is characterized by achievements and challenges. Among the achievements is the expansion of infrastructure to keep pace with population growth, in particular through the construction of the Thika Dam
and associated water treatment plant and pipelines during the 1990s; the transformation of the municipal water department into an autonomous utility in 2003; and the more recent reduction of water losses - technically called non-revenue water
- from 50 to 40%. Challenges include poor quality and intermittent water supply (only 40% of those with house connections receive water continuously); the loss of storage capacity in reservoirs behind dams through siltation accelerated by erosion in the Aberdare Range
; lack of access to adequate sanitation in slums where half the population of the city lives; blockages of sewers resulting in overflows; and unused capacity in the city's largest wastewater treatment plant in Dandora. Another problem is political infighting and corruption, leading to the firing of the entire Board of the Nairobi Water Company in 2009.
north of Nairobi, as well as local deep wells. In the 1970s these sources were not any more sufficient to supply the growing city during the dry season and financing for a new and larger dam, the Thika Dam
, was mobilized to alleviate growing water shortages. The dam and the associated pipeline and water treatment plant were financed by the World Bank
, the African Development Bank
, the European Investment Bank
and the Japanese OECF. Gross water availability increased from 165 liters per capita and day in 1976 to 200 in 1995. When the Thika dam came on stream the last wellfield used by the city for piped water supply was closed down so that the city began to rely exclusively on surface water.
, which includes physical losses as well as administrative losses such as illegal water use and undermetering, had thus been reduced to 27-30%. However, water losses subsequently must have increased again, because in 2010 the Nairobi Water and Sewer Company declared that it had successfully achieved a reduction of non-revenue water from 50 to 40%.
plant - in Africa. In parallel, an effort was made to expand the sewerage system. With the new infrastructure the discharge of liquid waste in open drains declined considerably and for a period between 1987 and 1995 the water quality of the Nairobi River improved. However, the discharge of untreated wastewater in non-sewered areas continued. Because of inadequate garbage collection and poor maintenance sewers became clogged and overflowed, so that the benefits of the sewerage were less than expected. Furthermore, the Kariobangi plant was poorly maintained and stopped functioning so that the wastewater bypassed it and was discharged without treatment to the Nairobi river.
In 2002 the government approved a major sector reform that, among other things, resulted in the transformation of the city water and sewer department into a legally and financially autonomous utility called the Nairobi City Water & Sewerage Company in 2003. Physical assets were transferred to an Asset Holding Company, the Athi Water Services Board, which signed a performance contract with the new operating utility. The reform was designed to allow utilities to offer higher salaries to qualified staff, to insulate decisions about tariff adjustments from political interference, to improve the financial viability of utilities and to ultimately improve service quality.
, which has a storage capacity of 70m cubic metres, held only 26m cubic metres of water at the height of the drought. Environmentalists attributed the low water levels not only to the failed rains, but also to the destruction of forests in the Aberdare Range
Erosion reduces the storage capacity of the reservoir and water quality has been reduced by pesticide runoff. The Nairobi water utility drilled emergency wells during the drought and connected them to the piped network, relying again on groundwater about a decade after the utility had closed down its last wellfield.
-Kenya and the Kenyan NGO Maji Na Ufanisi (Water and Development). The report had found cases of bribery for illegal connections, tampering with meter readings and diversion of water from domestic users to industries in five cities, with the highest incidence of bribery in Nairobi. However, according to a report by NTV (Kenya) "some of the failures blamed on the Board can be traced to members of the City Council". The elections were won by incumbent mayor Geoffrey Majiwa
. However, he had to step down himself a year later because of corruption allegations.
In August 2010 the Athi Water Services Board presented a 24-year, USD 1 billion Master Plan to more than double surface water supply to Nairobi by delivering an additional 750,000 m3 of water from the Irati, Gikigie, Maragua and other rivers in north of Nairobi. Financing is expected from the French Development Agency and the World Bank.
in 2009. Those who can afford it boil or filter water before drinking it, or buy bottled water. Those who cannot afford this are forced to take their chances with tap water.
Nairobi residents receive water through the piped network and pump water from their own deep wells. Water supply from both sources is about 570,000 cubic meters per day. If one takes into account that the population of Nairobi swells to 5 million during daytime, this corresponds to less than 120 liter per capita per day before distribution losses. However, water is not equally distributed: Wealthier users with access to piped water use much more than average, while those without access to piped water receive much less. Half of Nairobi’s population lives in slums, but they consume only 34,500m3/day, corresponding to less than 20 liter per capita per day. The heavily polluted and relatively small Nairobi River
that flows through the city is not used for drinking water supply.
The Nairobi
utility receives 94% of its water from the Tana River
basin north of the city through three reservoirs: the Sasumua Dam on the Chania River, the Thika Dam
and the Chania-B Dam. The Thika Dam is the largest, supplying 225,000 m3 per day. Water from the reservoirs is treated in two treatment plants, including the largest one in Ngethu. The remaining 6% comes from local sources: the Kikuyu Springs and the Ruiru Dam, both located in the Athi River Basin and whose water is treated in two smaller treatment plants. The spillway of the Sasumua Dam has been badly damaged during the 2003 El Nino floods. The spillway was rehabilitated between 2009 and 2011 with financing from the French Development Agency at a cost of 65m Euro.
and Karen
). Groundwater is also used to irrigate gardens and to supply tankers that resell the water. Many private well owners are also connected to the mains water supply network and use groundwater as a back-up supply. Natural groundwater quality is good. There are few data on whether the aquifer has been polluted or not. At the height of another drought in 2008/2009, Athi Water Services Board drilled over 40 emergency boreholes in various parts of the city and connected them to the distribution network.
There are two wastewater treatment plants in Nairobi: The Dandora
stabilization ponds
treat industrial and domestic sewage and have a design capacity of 80,000 cubic meters per day. They constitute the largest pond system in Africa, but as of 1996 only half its capacity has been used. The Kariobangi wastewater treatment plant has a capacity of 32,000 m3 per day and uses the trickling filter
technology. The effluent from both plants is discharged into the Nairobi River.
The Athi Water Services Board is under the authority of the Ministry of Water and Irrigation and covers its costs through a Regulatory Levy collected from the Water Services Providers. The Minister of Water and Irrigation, a position held by Charity Ngilu since 2008, appoints the Board of AWSB. a The 8-member supervisory Board is chaired by Reuben Ndolo, a Member of Parliament from the Orange Democratic Movement
of Prime Minister Raila Odinga
. Since July 2011 the CEO is Malakwen Milgo, an engineer who has previously worked for the German technical advisory agency GTZ. The company is ISO 9001 certified.
Water and sewer services in Nairobi city are provided by the Nairobi City Water & Sewerage Company Ltd. The Company is owned by the City and has a supervisory Board of 12 Directors from the private sector, professional associations, NGOs and the City Council. The Board is chaired by Peter Kuguru, a businessman and politician from the Orange Democratic Movement
. The day to day business of the company is run by a Managing Director. Managing Director Francis Mugo has been sent on "compulsory leave" in October 2011 by the Athi Water Services Board, which wants to replace him with Philip Gichuki, a former manager of Tana Water Services Board. However, a court quashed the decision stating that it was illegal since the Managing Director of the company is appointed by its Board and not by AWSB. The politicization of the company caused divisions among staff, leading to offices being deserted. Perviously AWSB had attempted to control NWC finances through a new Service Provision Agreement (SPA) that foresaw a new account to which AWSB would have been a signatory. The company is ISO 9001 certified.
The 10 other WSPs under contract with the Athi Water Services Board operate water and, in some cases, sewer systems in towns around Nairobi. They are the Kiambu
Water & Sewerage Company, the Gatundu
South Water & Sanitation Company, the Karimenu Community Water & Sanitation Company, the Gatanga Community Water Project, the Limuru
Water & Sewerage Company, the Kikuyu
Water Company, the Ruiru
Juja Water & Sewerage Company, the Kitisuru
Water Company, the Runda Water & Sewerage Company and the Githunguri Water and Sanitation Company. Some of them are private, such as Runda Water and Sewerage Company that provides piped water to the Executive Residential Housing Estate of Old Runda since 1975.
Water tariffs are identical for all water service providers under contract with the Athi Water Service Board. Tariff increases are approved by WASREB. In June 2009 a tariff increase took effect, bringing residential and commercial tariffs to the following level:
If there is a sewer connection, there is a sewer surcharge of 75%. Water kiosks in slums are billed at a lower rate of 10 shillings/m3 (USD 0.10/m3) independently of consumption, if the kiosk owners are properly registered. Nevertheless, slum residents end up paying much more for water. A 20-litre jerry can of water in a slum typically sells for 2 Kenyan shillings, corresponding to 100 shilings per m3 (US$ 1). This is double the recommended price of 1 shilling (50 shillings per m3) and more than five times the water tariff in the lowest consumption bracket (19 shillings per m3). During the 2009 drought prices in slums rose to 5 and even 10 Kenyan shillings, corresponding to 250 to 500 KSh per m3 (US$ 2.50-5.00), which is higher than water tariffs in some European countries.
Fraudulent billing remains a challenge. While some parts of the city are so dangerous that meter readers do not venture to enter them, in other cases men posing as employees of the water company threaten to disconnect customers unless they pay them. In order to combat this type of fraud, the water company has purchased clearly marked motorcycles that will replace the Nissan cars that were previously used by meter readers and disconnection crews.
and other slums of Nairobi water is supplied through water kiosks
. 98% of kiosks are privately owned and the owners financed the construction of the kiosks and the pipes to the water mains. Only 2% were operated by community-based organizations or NGOs. Water is supplied by the Nairobi utility, but is often not paid for by the kiosk owners. Although two thirds of the kiosks have water reservoirs, their capacity is insufficient and often water is not available due to supply interruptions. A higher percentage of kiosk users reports scarcity than households with mains connections, suggesting that in times of scarcity kiosks are less likely to receive water than domestic connections. According to residents, "water is highly contaminated, smells, has a weird color and has particles inside", "because old, rusty pipes often break and water is polluted by the open drainage lines and sewage lines which run parallel to the water network". In 2003, when the new water law was passed, the government threatened to shut down kiosks that were not properly registered, saying that they overcharged the poor and did not pay their bills to the city. As a result, in 2004 kiosk owners formed an association called Maji Bora Kibera (MBK) - the Swahili translation of ‘better water services for Kibera’. They engaged in a dialogue with the government, paid their arrears, committed not to pay bribes and were trained on courtesy and customer relations. One of the reasons for high water prices charged by kiosks was, and perhaps still is, that kiosk owners have to pay bribes to officials, both to allow the initial construction and to operate the kiosks. In order to register a water connection the utility requires the applicant’s plot number, address details, a landlord’s certification as a proof of residence, and a certificate of employment. The kiosk operators often do not have these documents and thus pay bribes. Another reason for high prices is that unregistered kiosk owners are not charged at the preferential bulk sale rate, but rather at the increasing-block rate for residential customers. A 1997 study showed that there is substantial competition between nearby water kiosks. Profits of kiosk owners were low and high prices were caused primarily by high costs.
The membership in Maji Bora Kibera dropped from the initial 1500 kiosk owners to only 195 who had paid their membership dues in early 2005. Six years later, the problems had apparently not been resolved. According to statements made at community meetings in the slums of Kibera and Mathare in September 2011, so-called cartels still try to monopolize water supply, resorting even to violence to keep prices high. Allegedly, local politicians back these cartels. The cartels “create artificial water shortages and, through vandalism and threats, hike up prices”.
, the French Development Agency
, the African Development Bank
and the European Investment Bank
finance investments in water supply and sanitation in Nairobi.
Thika Dam
The Thika dam is a 63m high, 458m crest length earthfill dam on the Thika river near Ndakaini, 50km north of Nairobi, Kenya. The reservoir has a storage capacity of 70 million cubic meters and serves for drinking water supply. Water is treated a the Ngethu treatment works...
and associated water treatment plant and pipelines during the 1990s; the transformation of the municipal water department into an autonomous utility in 2003; and the more recent reduction of water losses - technically called non-revenue water
Non-revenue water
Non revenue water is water that has been produced and is “lost” before it reaches the customer. Losses can be real losses or apparent losses . High levels of NRW are detrimental to the financial viability of water utilities, as well to the quality of water itself...
- from 50 to 40%. Challenges include poor quality and intermittent water supply (only 40% of those with house connections receive water continuously); the loss of storage capacity in reservoirs behind dams through siltation accelerated by erosion in the Aberdare Range
Aberdare Range
The Aberdare Range is a 160 km long mountain range of upland, north of Kenya's capital Nairobi with an average elevation of . It is located in west central Kenya, northeast of Naivasha and Gilgil and just south of the Equator...
; lack of access to adequate sanitation in slums where half the population of the city lives; blockages of sewers resulting in overflows; and unused capacity in the city's largest wastewater treatment plant in Dandora. Another problem is political infighting and corruption, leading to the firing of the entire Board of the Nairobi Water Company in 2009.
History
The history of water supply to Nairobi since the city was founded as a rail outpost in 1899 has been to a large extent a history of tapping ever more distant water sources to supply a rapidly expanding city with sufficient water. Other challenges faced included the reduction of water distribution losses, reaching the poor in slums, expanding sewerage and wastewater treatment, and strengthening the Nairobi water utility.Supply expansion
The source of the first piped water supply system of Nairobi were the Kikuyu springs and the Kabete treatment plant developed in 1906. This was followed by the Ruiru dam in 1936 and the Sasumua Dam on the Chania River in 1945, both located in the Aberdare RangeAberdare Range
The Aberdare Range is a 160 km long mountain range of upland, north of Kenya's capital Nairobi with an average elevation of . It is located in west central Kenya, northeast of Naivasha and Gilgil and just south of the Equator...
north of Nairobi, as well as local deep wells. In the 1970s these sources were not any more sufficient to supply the growing city during the dry season and financing for a new and larger dam, the Thika Dam
Thika Dam
The Thika dam is a 63m high, 458m crest length earthfill dam on the Thika river near Ndakaini, 50km north of Nairobi, Kenya. The reservoir has a storage capacity of 70 million cubic meters and serves for drinking water supply. Water is treated a the Ngethu treatment works...
, was mobilized to alleviate growing water shortages. The dam and the associated pipeline and water treatment plant were financed by the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
, the African Development Bank
African Development Bank
The African Development Bank Group is a development bank established in 1964 with the intention of promoting economic and social development in Africa...
, the European Investment Bank
European Investment Bank
The European Investment Bank is the European Union's long-term lending institution established in 1958 under the Treaty of Rome. A policy-driven bank, the EIB supports the EU’s priority objectives, especially European integration and the development of economically weak regions...
and the Japanese OECF. Gross water availability increased from 165 liters per capita and day in 1976 to 200 in 1995. When the Thika dam came on stream the last wellfield used by the city for piped water supply was closed down so that the city began to rely exclusively on surface water.
Water loss reduction
In parallel with the tapping of new water sources, efforts were undertaken to reduce water distribution losses by introducing a metered zoning system. According to a World Bank evaluation the system allowed to “significantly reduce water losses”. In 1998 non-revenue waterNon-revenue water
Non revenue water is water that has been produced and is “lost” before it reaches the customer. Losses can be real losses or apparent losses . High levels of NRW are detrimental to the financial viability of water utilities, as well to the quality of water itself...
, which includes physical losses as well as administrative losses such as illegal water use and undermetering, had thus been reduced to 27-30%. However, water losses subsequently must have increased again, because in 2010 the Nairobi Water and Sewer Company declared that it had successfully achieved a reduction of non-revenue water from 50 to 40%.
Water kiosks in slums
A particular challenge in Nairobi has been and still is how to provide sufficient and affordable water to half its population living in slums. Since the 1970s slum residents with piped water connections built water kiosks where they resell water to other residents in buckets. The number of water kiosks in slums increased from about 150 in 1978 to nearly 1,500 in 1994. The municipal water department recommended a resale price, but could not enforce it so that the poorest end up paying much more than those fortunate enough to have a tap in their house.Sewerage and wastewater treatment
Another challenge is sanitation. A sewer system for the central district was built in the late colonial period and the first wastewater treatment plant was completed at Kariobangi just east of the city in 1961, shortly before independence. A second wastewater treatment plant was commissioned in 1980 in Dandora further East and further downstream on the Nairobi River. In 1994 a substantial expansion of the plant was completed, making it the largest plant of its kind - a stabilization pondStabilization pond
Stabilization pond technology - sometimes also called facultative pond technology - is a natural method for wastewater treatment.-Technology:Stabilization ponds consist of shallow man-made basins comprising a single or several series of anaerobic, facultative or maturation ponds...
plant - in Africa. In parallel, an effort was made to expand the sewerage system. With the new infrastructure the discharge of liquid waste in open drains declined considerably and for a period between 1987 and 1995 the water quality of the Nairobi River improved. However, the discharge of untreated wastewater in non-sewered areas continued. Because of inadequate garbage collection and poor maintenance sewers became clogged and overflowed, so that the benefits of the sewerage were less than expected. Furthermore, the Kariobangi plant was poorly maintained and stopped functioning so that the wastewater bypassed it and was discharged without treatment to the Nairobi river.
Sector reforms:From city department to utility
Another challenge was of an institutional nature: The Water and Sewer Department (WSD) of the city had difficulties retaining qualified staff because of its salary structure that made it uncompetititve compared to the private sector and other parastatals. For example, out of 57 staff sent for training in 1996-97, one third had left by 1998. The morale of those who remained was said to be low. Furthermore, cost recovery was low and declining. For political reasons tariffs were increased less than the inflation rate, so that real tariff levels declined between 1988 and 1998. Furthermore, the devaluation of the Kenyan Shilling in the early 1990s led to high losses because the utility was indebted in foreign currency. The sustainable operation and maintenance of the water and sanitation infrastructure was thus in jeopardy because of lack of financial resources.In 2002 the government approved a major sector reform that, among other things, resulted in the transformation of the city water and sewer department into a legally and financially autonomous utility called the Nairobi City Water & Sewerage Company in 2003. Physical assets were transferred to an Asset Holding Company, the Athi Water Services Board, which signed a performance contract with the new operating utility. The reform was designed to allow utilities to offer higher salaries to qualified staff, to insulate decisions about tariff adjustments from political interference, to improve the financial viability of utilities and to ultimately improve service quality.
2009 drought
In 2009 the dry season was longer than usual and the reservoir of the Thika DamThika Dam
The Thika dam is a 63m high, 458m crest length earthfill dam on the Thika river near Ndakaini, 50km north of Nairobi, Kenya. The reservoir has a storage capacity of 70 million cubic meters and serves for drinking water supply. Water is treated a the Ngethu treatment works...
, which has a storage capacity of 70m cubic metres, held only 26m cubic metres of water at the height of the drought. Environmentalists attributed the low water levels not only to the failed rains, but also to the destruction of forests in the Aberdare Range
Aberdare Range
The Aberdare Range is a 160 km long mountain range of upland, north of Kenya's capital Nairobi with an average elevation of . It is located in west central Kenya, northeast of Naivasha and Gilgil and just south of the Equator...
Erosion reduces the storage capacity of the reservoir and water quality has been reduced by pesticide runoff. The Nairobi water utility drilled emergency wells during the drought and connected them to the piped network, relying again on groundwater about a decade after the utility had closed down its last wellfield.
2009 sacking of the Nairobi Water Company Board
The drought coincided with the campaign for the Nairobi mayoral election, thus triggering a political crisis. In July 2009 the Nairobi City Council sacked the entire Board of the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company for "malpractices". This was in the wake of the publication of a report by Transparency InternationalTransparency International
Transparency International is a non-governmental organization that monitors and publicizes corporate and political corruption in international development. It publishes an annual Corruption Perceptions Index, a comparative listing of corruption worldwide...
-Kenya and the Kenyan NGO Maji Na Ufanisi (Water and Development). The report had found cases of bribery for illegal connections, tampering with meter readings and diversion of water from domestic users to industries in five cities, with the highest incidence of bribery in Nairobi. However, according to a report by NTV (Kenya) "some of the failures blamed on the Board can be traced to members of the City Council". The elections were won by incumbent mayor Geoffrey Majiwa
Geoffrey Majiwa
Geoffrey Majiwa is a former mayor of Nairobi.He represents the Orange Democratic Movement . He is also the Bada Dogo ward civic councillor...
. However, he had to step down himself a year later because of corruption allegations.
Plans for further supply expansion
Access
Of Nairobi’s 3.14 million inhabitants at night, a number that swells to about 5 million during the day, only about 50 per cent have direct access to piped water. The rest obtain water from kiosks, vendors, illegal connections or from wells. Only about 40 per cent of those with access to piped water receive water 24 hours per day.Water quality
The Nairobi water utility NCWSC has stringent water quality monitoring programs to ensure the water they supply the city is safe for drinking. However, due to high leakage in the network and intermittent supply treated water is soemtimes recontaminated before it reaches the tap. Also, sometimes water is contaminated because of pipe bursts. For instance, over 10 fatalities from water borne diseases were experienced in the slum Mukuru kwa NjengaMukuru kwa Njenga
Mukuru kwa Njenga is a slum in the East of Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. It belongs to Embakasi Constituency. It is one of the largest slums in Nairobi. Kenyan international footballer Patrick Oboya was born in Mukuru kwa Njenga. Among other major slums in Nairobi are Korogocho, Kibera and...
in 2009. Those who can afford it boil or filter water before drinking it, or buy bottled water. Those who cannot afford this are forced to take their chances with tap water.
Water sources
Nairobi River
Nairobi River is a river flowing through the Kenyan capital Nairobi. It is the main river of the Nairobi river basin, a complex of several parallel streams flowing eastwards. All of the Nairobi basin rivers join east of Nairobi and meet the Athi River, eventually flowing to the Indian ocean. These...
that flows through the city is not used for drinking water supply.
Surface water
The Nairobi water utility relies almost exclusively on surface water to satisfy the growing city's water needs. Surface water supply for Nairobi stood at 484,500 m3 per day in 2010. Reservoirs have sufficient storage to supply the city during a normal dry season, but during extended droughts water supply can be lower than average. The above figure is for 99% supply reliability. At 90% reliability available water supply is higher at a total of 577,000m3/day. However, storage capacity in reservoirs is gradually reduced through sedimentation.The Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
utility receives 94% of its water from the Tana River
Tana River (Kenya)
The long Tana River is the longest river in Kenya, and gives its name to the Tana River District. Its tributaries include the Thika. The river rises in the Aberdare Mountains to the west of Nyeri. Initially it runs east before turning south around the massif of Mount Kenya. The river then runs...
basin north of the city through three reservoirs: the Sasumua Dam on the Chania River, the Thika Dam
Thika Dam
The Thika dam is a 63m high, 458m crest length earthfill dam on the Thika river near Ndakaini, 50km north of Nairobi, Kenya. The reservoir has a storage capacity of 70 million cubic meters and serves for drinking water supply. Water is treated a the Ngethu treatment works...
and the Chania-B Dam. The Thika Dam is the largest, supplying 225,000 m3 per day. Water from the reservoirs is treated in two treatment plants, including the largest one in Ngethu. The remaining 6% comes from local sources: the Kikuyu Springs and the Ruiru Dam, both located in the Athi River Basin and whose water is treated in two smaller treatment plants. The spillway of the Sasumua Dam has been badly damaged during the 2003 El Nino floods. The spillway was rehabilitated between 2009 and 2011 with financing from the French Development Agency at a cost of 65m Euro.
Groundwater
Groundwater supplies an additional 85.000 m3 per day or more from an estimated 3000 boreholes, up from an estimated 2250 boreholes in 2001. The groundwater table has declined; in one well it declined by 40 meters between 1958 and 1996. The average depth of new wells in 2001 was 238 meters. In that year 97 new wells were drilled because of a drought. Most wells are operated by industrial enterprises, hotels, farms for flower production in greenhouses, and private houses in parts of the city that receive only intermittent supply (eg. LangataLangata
Lang'ata is a suburb of Nairobi in Kenya, lying south west of the city centre and east of Karen. The suburb consists of many smaller housing developments, referred to as estates. They include Nairobi Dam, Otiende, Southlands, Ngei, Jambo estate, Onyonka, Madaraka Estate and many others...
and Karen
Karen, Kenya
Karen is a suburb of Nairobi in Kenya, lying south west of the city centre.It is generally believed that the suburb is named after Karen Blixen, the Danish author of the colonial memoir Out of Africa; her farm occupied the land where the suburb now stands. Blixen herself declared in her later...
). Groundwater is also used to irrigate gardens and to supply tankers that resell the water. Many private well owners are also connected to the mains water supply network and use groundwater as a back-up supply. Natural groundwater quality is good. There are few data on whether the aquifer has been polluted or not. At the height of another drought in 2008/2009, Athi Water Services Board drilled over 40 emergency boreholes in various parts of the city and connected them to the distribution network.
Sewerage and wastewater treatment
The existing sewer network of a total length of about 163km only covers an area of about 208Km2, which is less than 30% of the 696 km2 area of the city. It is unclear what share of the population is connected to the sewerage system: Estimates vary from 10 to 48%.There are two wastewater treatment plants in Nairobi: The Dandora
Dandora
Dandora is an eastern suburb in Nairobi, Kenya. It is part of the Embakasi division. Dandora is divided into five phases. Dandora was established in 1977, with partial financing by the World Bank in order to offer higher standard of housing . However, the estate has turned into high-density slum...
stabilization ponds
Stabilization pond
Stabilization pond technology - sometimes also called facultative pond technology - is a natural method for wastewater treatment.-Technology:Stabilization ponds consist of shallow man-made basins comprising a single or several series of anaerobic, facultative or maturation ponds...
treat industrial and domestic sewage and have a design capacity of 80,000 cubic meters per day. They constitute the largest pond system in Africa, but as of 1996 only half its capacity has been used. The Kariobangi wastewater treatment plant has a capacity of 32,000 m3 per day and uses the trickling filter
Trickling filter
A trickling filter consists of a fixed bed of rocks, lava, coke, gravel, slag, polyurethane foam, sphagnum peat moss, ceramic, or plastic media over which sewage or other wastewater flows downward and causes a layer of microbial slime to grow, covering the bed of media...
technology. The effluent from both plants is discharged into the Nairobi River.
Institutions
The responsibility for water supply and sewerage in Nairobi is shared between an asset holding company, Athi Water Services Board (AWSB), and an operating company, the Nairobi City Water and Sewer Company that operates under contract with the AWSB. 10 other Water Service Providers (WSPs) operate under the AWSB in localities near Nairobi that are located outside of Nairobi Province. Service standards are set and monitored by a national water regulatory agency called the Water Services Regulatory Board (WASREB).The Athi Water Services Board is under the authority of the Ministry of Water and Irrigation and covers its costs through a Regulatory Levy collected from the Water Services Providers. The Minister of Water and Irrigation, a position held by Charity Ngilu since 2008, appoints the Board of AWSB. a The 8-member supervisory Board is chaired by Reuben Ndolo, a Member of Parliament from the Orange Democratic Movement
Orange Democratic Movement
Orange Democratic Movement refers to a political party in Kenya, which is the successor of a former grassroots people's movement which was formed in the 2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum. The erstwhile single party which separated in August 2007 into two...
of Prime Minister Raila Odinga
Raila Odinga
Raila Amollo Odinga , also popularly known to Kenyans as Agwambo, is a Kenyan politician, currently serving as the Prime Minister of Kenya in a coalition government. He has served as a Member of Parliament for Langata since 1992, was Minister of Energy from 2001 to 2002, and was Minister of Roads,...
. Since July 2011 the CEO is Malakwen Milgo, an engineer who has previously worked for the German technical advisory agency GTZ. The company is ISO 9001 certified.
Water and sewer services in Nairobi city are provided by the Nairobi City Water & Sewerage Company Ltd. The Company is owned by the City and has a supervisory Board of 12 Directors from the private sector, professional associations, NGOs and the City Council. The Board is chaired by Peter Kuguru, a businessman and politician from the Orange Democratic Movement
Orange Democratic Movement
Orange Democratic Movement refers to a political party in Kenya, which is the successor of a former grassroots people's movement which was formed in the 2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum. The erstwhile single party which separated in August 2007 into two...
. The day to day business of the company is run by a Managing Director. Managing Director Francis Mugo has been sent on "compulsory leave" in October 2011 by the Athi Water Services Board, which wants to replace him with Philip Gichuki, a former manager of Tana Water Services Board. However, a court quashed the decision stating that it was illegal since the Managing Director of the company is appointed by its Board and not by AWSB. The politicization of the company caused divisions among staff, leading to offices being deserted. Perviously AWSB had attempted to control NWC finances through a new Service Provision Agreement (SPA) that foresaw a new account to which AWSB would have been a signatory. The company is ISO 9001 certified.
The 10 other WSPs under contract with the Athi Water Services Board operate water and, in some cases, sewer systems in towns around Nairobi. They are the Kiambu
Kiambu
Kiambu is a town in Central Province, Kenya. It is located at around , in the elevation of about 1,720 m. It has an urban population of 13,814. It is the capital of the Kiambu District, which bounds the northern border of Nairobi...
Water & Sewerage Company, the Gatundu
Gatundu
Gatundu is a small town in the Central Province of Kenya. Gatundu is also center of the Gatundu division in Thika District. Gatundu is located 15 kilometres west of Thika and 15 kilometres north of Kiambu. Gatundu and its environs has two constituencies: Gatundu North and Gatundu South.Gatundu...
South Water & Sanitation Company, the Karimenu Community Water & Sanitation Company, the Gatanga Community Water Project, the Limuru
Limuru
Limuru is a town in central Kenya. It is also the name of a parliamentary constituency and an administrative division. Current 2004 population is about 4800....
Water & Sewerage Company, the Kikuyu
Kikuyu, Kenya
Kikuyu is a town in the Central Province of Kenya. The town is located 20 km northwest of central Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. Kikuyu hosts a town council and an administrative division in the Kiambu District....
Water Company, the Ruiru
Ruiru
Ruiru is a town in the Thika District of Kenya’s Central Province. Located within three kilometers of Nairobi's city boundary, Ruiru is a dormitory town for the nation's capital, and is connected by both rail and road...
Juja Water & Sewerage Company, the Kitisuru
Kitisuru
Kitisuru is a suburb of Nairobi, the capital city and largest metropolitan area in Kenya.-Location:Kitisuru is located approximately , by road, northwest of the central business district of Nairobi. The coordinates of Kitisuru are:01 12 24S, 36 46 08E .-Overview:Kitisuru is an upscale residential...
Water Company, the Runda Water & Sewerage Company and the Githunguri Water and Sanitation Company. Some of them are private, such as Runda Water and Sewerage Company that provides piped water to the Executive Residential Housing Estate of Old Runda since 1975.
Water pricing and billing
Those fortunate enough to have access to piped water pay relatively low water tariffs, while slum residents typically have to rely on much more expensive water sold in cans through water kiosks.Water tariffs are identical for all water service providers under contract with the Athi Water Service Board. Tariff increases are approved by WASREB. In June 2009 a tariff increase took effect, bringing residential and commercial tariffs to the following level:
- Between 0 and 10m3: 18.71 KSh/m3 (USD 0.18/m3),
- Between 11 and 30m3: 28.07KSh/m3 (USD 0.28/m3),
- Between 31 and 60m3: 42.89KSh/m3 (USD 0.43/m3).
If there is a sewer connection, there is a sewer surcharge of 75%. Water kiosks in slums are billed at a lower rate of 10 shillings/m3 (USD 0.10/m3) independently of consumption, if the kiosk owners are properly registered. Nevertheless, slum residents end up paying much more for water. A 20-litre jerry can of water in a slum typically sells for 2 Kenyan shillings, corresponding to 100 shilings per m3 (US$ 1). This is double the recommended price of 1 shilling (50 shillings per m3) and more than five times the water tariff in the lowest consumption bracket (19 shillings per m3). During the 2009 drought prices in slums rose to 5 and even 10 Kenyan shillings, corresponding to 250 to 500 KSh per m3 (US$ 2.50-5.00), which is higher than water tariffs in some European countries.
Fraudulent billing remains a challenge. While some parts of the city are so dangerous that meter readers do not venture to enter them, in other cases men posing as employees of the water company threaten to disconnect customers unless they pay them. In order to combat this type of fraud, the water company has purchased clearly marked motorcycles that will replace the Nissan cars that were previously used by meter readers and disconnection crews.
Water supply to slums
In KiberaKibera
Kibera is a division of Nairobi Area, Kenya, and neighbourhood of the city of Nairobi, located from the city centre. Kibera is the largest slum in Nairobi, and the second largest urban slum in Africa...
and other slums of Nairobi water is supplied through water kiosks
Water kiosk
Water kiosks are booths for the sale of tap water. They are common in many countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. Water kiosks exist, among other countries, in Cameroon, Haiti, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia.-Description:...
. 98% of kiosks are privately owned and the owners financed the construction of the kiosks and the pipes to the water mains. Only 2% were operated by community-based organizations or NGOs. Water is supplied by the Nairobi utility, but is often not paid for by the kiosk owners. Although two thirds of the kiosks have water reservoirs, their capacity is insufficient and often water is not available due to supply interruptions. A higher percentage of kiosk users reports scarcity than households with mains connections, suggesting that in times of scarcity kiosks are less likely to receive water than domestic connections. According to residents, "water is highly contaminated, smells, has a weird color and has particles inside", "because old, rusty pipes often break and water is polluted by the open drainage lines and sewage lines which run parallel to the water network". In 2003, when the new water law was passed, the government threatened to shut down kiosks that were not properly registered, saying that they overcharged the poor and did not pay their bills to the city. As a result, in 2004 kiosk owners formed an association called Maji Bora Kibera (MBK) - the Swahili translation of ‘better water services for Kibera’. They engaged in a dialogue with the government, paid their arrears, committed not to pay bribes and were trained on courtesy and customer relations. One of the reasons for high water prices charged by kiosks was, and perhaps still is, that kiosk owners have to pay bribes to officials, both to allow the initial construction and to operate the kiosks. In order to register a water connection the utility requires the applicant’s plot number, address details, a landlord’s certification as a proof of residence, and a certificate of employment. The kiosk operators often do not have these documents and thus pay bribes. Another reason for high prices is that unregistered kiosk owners are not charged at the preferential bulk sale rate, but rather at the increasing-block rate for residential customers. A 1997 study showed that there is substantial competition between nearby water kiosks. Profits of kiosk owners were low and high prices were caused primarily by high costs.
The membership in Maji Bora Kibera dropped from the initial 1500 kiosk owners to only 195 who had paid their membership dues in early 2005. Six years later, the problems had apparently not been resolved. According to statements made at community meetings in the slums of Kibera and Mathare in September 2011, so-called cartels still try to monopolize water supply, resorting even to violence to keep prices high. Allegedly, local politicians back these cartels. The cartels “create artificial water shortages and, through vandalism and threats, hike up prices”.
External cooperation
The World BankWorld Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
, the French Development Agency
French Development Agency
French Development Agency is the French international development agency.The Agence Française de Développement is a public institution providing development financing...
, the African Development Bank
African Development Bank
The African Development Bank Group is a development bank established in 1964 with the intention of promoting economic and social development in Africa...
and the European Investment Bank
European Investment Bank
The European Investment Bank is the European Union's long-term lending institution established in 1958 under the Treaty of Rome. A policy-driven bank, the EIB supports the EU’s priority objectives, especially European integration and the development of economically weak regions...
finance investments in water supply and sanitation in Nairobi.