The fledging hope of taps tricking constantly with water got a new lease on life after the Water and Sanitation Corporation Ltd (WASAC) contracted an American company to undertake the development of a mega project.

Domestic consumers as well as businesses say the development has lifted their hopes as it appears like the much sought-after solution.

Last week, WASAC signed a contract with Culligan International for the development of a Rwf22 billion water project.

The project, which is expected to be complete in a year’s time, comes after months of persistent public outcry over the water shortage across the City of Kigali.

The corporation is optimistic that the investment will increase nearly two-fold their capacity, from 65,000m3 per day to 120,000m3, thus bridge the water supply gap for Kigali – which is estimated to be about 45,000m3 a day.

Following the deal, city residents expressed optimism that the persistent water problems would soon come to an end. They, however, have questions on why the water corporation took so long to address the water shortage.

The majority of business establishments who spoke to The New Times said that they expected that, on completion, the project will reduce the cost of doing business and help attract more clients.

Landlords and operators of restaurants and hotels are among the most affected by the water crisis.

Anicet Ngarambe, an owner of rental houses in the Gikondo suburb, said the water shortage had largely reduced demand for his property leading him to reduce rent fees.

"It is hard to price accordingly when clients know that you have persistent water shortages. It also led us to incur more costs in water storage tanks at the same time reducing rent to give tenants value for money,” Ngarambe said.

Medium-sized restaurant operators said reliable water supply would reduce their operating costs as some of them incur up to Rwf10,000 a day in water expenses.

Diane Ingabire, who runs a café around Kimironko market, told The New Times that regular water supply would save her over Rwf60,000 a month that she could use to expand her business.

Project details

The new WASAC project components include the rehabilitation and optimisation of Nzove I treatment plant that was constructed in 2010 but failed to meet the projected capacity of about 40,000m3.

The treatment plant, constructed by Spanish firm ESPINA, failed to deliver as per expectations due to what James Sano, the WASAC chief executive, termed as "poor workmanship on the project.”

Now, the first task of the American firm, Culligan International, will be to clean up the ‘mess’ of their predecessors by reconstructing filters, repairing wells and constructing new ones.

The phase will also see construction of new intakes to tap water from River Nyabarongo to reduce dependence on wells that are susceptible to drying up due to weather and climate changes.

This will also reduce the energy cost in production of treated water as well require pumps to move water to treatment plants.

Culligan International has also been upgrading the treatment plant which will be ready for inauguration by end of January will begin having impact to the city’s water supply network by the first week of January, according to Sano.

"This means that Nzove I alone will produce 80,000 cubic metres per day, which is more than 65,000m3 we can produce in Kigali today,” Sano added.

The last component of the project will be construction of forwarding infrastructure which include installation of pumps and construction of a pipeline to transport water from the plant to Mount Kigali where there will be reservoirs and linked to existing water networks.

"What this means is that besides getting water at the highest elevation point of Kigali, we will be able to transport water from Mount Kigali by gravity into the network enabling us to reduce the number of pumping stations,” Sano said.

Through the development, areas that have for long had water challenges such as Nyamirambo, the city centre, Rebero and Gikondo, are expected to have running water with ease.

Will Culligan Internation deliver?

Vouching for the firm, the US Ambassador to Rwanda, Erica Barks-Ruggles, said based on Culligan International’s performance in the first phase of Nzove upgrade, the firm will no doubt deliver on time.

Other benefits, she added, would be skills transfer to Rwandan professionals.

The Minister for Infrastructure, James Musoni, said Culligan International’s suitability to implement the project was evident as it agreed to pre-finance the project before government could mobilise funds.

Musoni said the current water shortages were largely due to the mismatch between the rate of investment in water production and distribution and the rate of growth of the city.

The project, Musoni said, would enable Kigali city to have 100 per cent access to clean water by end of 2016 – two years ahead of the national target of 100 per cent by 2018.

Going forward, Musoni said, government was keen on ensuring that the water supply matched the country’s development aspirations.

To keep up with the rate of Kigali’s growth, Minister Musoni said, another project by Metito, a global provider of water management solutions, would add 40,000m3 per day to bring the supply to 160,000m3.

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Who is Culligan?

The American firm was established in 1938 in USA and has experience working across America, Asia, Middle East and Africa, making Rwanda their 95th country.

Their first project in the country was the upgrade of Nzove which is due for inauguration later next month to a capacity of about 25,000m3 per day.

The project will be completed within nine months after commencement in May.

The firm’s chief executive Beyhan Nakiboglu said that the new task was a challenging one given the timeline allocate but noted that it was doable with the support of local firms and WASAC.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw