After months of public outcry following persistent water shortage, the Water and Sanitation Corporation Ltd (WASAC) has contracted an American company, Culligan International, to develop a mega water production project to increase national production capacity.

The deal, sealed in a contract signing ceremony in Kigali yesterday, is worth $28 million (about Rwf21.5 billion) with the project expected to be complete in a year.

The deal is expected to raise WASAC’s production capacity from 65,000m3 per day to 120,000m3 and bridge the water demand gap for Kigali, which is estimated to be about 45,000m3 per day.

James Sano, the WASAC chief executive, said the mega water project is composed of three components.

Among the components is the rehabilitation and optimisation of Nzove 1 treatment plant which was constructed in 2010 but failed to meet the projected capacity of about 40,000m3.

This is expected to go a long way in reducing the energy cost incurred in treating water as less underground water will be used as the plant will use water from surface water from Nyabarango River.

The second component will involve upgrading of the treatment plant from 25,000m3 per day to 40,000m3 per day, the chief executive said.

The last component of the project will be construction of forwarding infrastructure to transport water from the treatment plant to Mount Kigali, where water reservoirs are to be constructed and linked to the existing networks in Kigali.

"By getting water at the highest point in the city, it will make it easier to reduce on pumping stations in making water accessible all across the city,” Sano said.

Among the biggest beneficiaries of the development are areas that have for long experienced water problems such as Rebero, Gikondo, Nyamirambo and Kicukiro.

Sano expressed confidence in the contractor having worked with them in a previous water project in the construction of a 25,000m3 a day treatment plant.

The plant, Nzove II, will be inaugurated end January after nine months since commencement of the project, he said.

Culligan International chief executive Beyhan Nakiboglu said the 80-year-old firm had experience in working in 94 other countries.

He said the first phase of the project would be ready for inauguration by end of January next year, while the entire project will be complete and operational before the end of 2016.

Welcoming the development, the Minister for Infrastructure, James Musoni, said the project would ensure that the water supply matches the rate of growth and development of the city.

"Today, we have almost 50 per cent of our population in the city without water access, it is a big challenge. But the good news is that, with the completion of the first phase of the project in January, this will change,” Musoni said.

The project, he said, would enable the City of Kigali have 100 per cent access to clean water by end of 2016 ahead of national target of 100 per cent in 2018.

Going forward, he said, the government was keen on ensuring that the water supply was as per the rate of development of the city and would develop further projects in line with that goal.

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