The Nairobi City Water & Sewerage Company on Tuesday clarified why it is rationing water despite the heavy rains being experienced in different parts of the country including the capital.
In a statement, Nairobi Water explained that Nairobi City County has four water sources namely Kikuyu Springs, Ruiru, Sasumua, and Thika Dams which cumulatively have an installed daily production capacity of 440 million litres.
The company therefore explained, that its water supply is limited to this installed production capacity.
“This means that even when we have our dams overflowing, the water supply will remain constant. We cannot go beyond the installed production capacity,” read a statement issued by the water company.
As such, the company stated that it will continue rationing water to ensure that the different households in various parts of the county are all serviced fairly.
“This is done through an equitable water distribution program developed by Nairobi Water,” the company observed.
Nairobi Water Managing Director Engineer Nahashon Muguna further stated that the county is currently working on 4 projects that will boost water supply in the capital by 23 million liters of water per day.
The water company revealed that the 4 water projects will go a long way in alleviating water rationing in the city.
These include the Northern Collector Tunnel Phase I Project, the Northern Collector Tunnel Phase II Project, the Karemenu Dam Water Project, and the Maragua IV Dam.
"Nairobi City County and the National Government have further secured funding to the tune of $100 million for the development of the Northern Collector Tunnel Phase II Project in Murang'a to bring an additional 120 million liters of water per day to the city by 2026," read the directives.
This comes after the Kenya Meteorological Department issued forecasts projecting that various parts of the country will continue to experience heavy rainfall in line with its earlier El Nino prediction.
The rains are expected to proceed until 2024.
As a means to deal with the effects of the El Nino rains the national government has set aside Ksh10 billion which will be channeled towards various functions including food distribution, reconstruction, disbursements, and rescue efforts.
