Hotel boom in Karongi blamed for water scarcity

A mobile water treatment plant is set to be installed in Karongi District to cater for the rising demand for water, which has been linked to the growing number of hotels along Lake Kivu. The project is part of the Government’s plan to achieve universal access to clean water by 2024. According to Aimé Muzola, the Chief Executive of Water and Sanitation Corporation (WASAC), the capacity of the current treatment plant cannot cater for the population and businesses. “This technology is a temporary solution in areas that have a huge shortage of water while working on sustainable solutions. It is a compact unit in containers set as a water treatment plant. It is installed near sources of water such as rivers, treats and supplies it,” he disclosed. He noted that water from rivers can also be piped into such prefabricated plants to be treated for supplying surrounding areas with water shortage. A mobile water treatment plant in Bwishyura Sector, in Karongi District. The Government plans to achieve universal access to clean water by 2024. Photo: Courtesy. The daily demand for water in Karongi city stands at just over 2,500 cubic metres, more than double the capacity of the existing water treatment plant, which is 1,000 cubic metres. This temporary mobile facility, which is expected to be installed by the end of November 2020, and treat both surface and groundwater will supply 2,000 cubic meters every day. Plans are underway to construct Musogoro water treatment plant to supply 7,000 cubic metres of water per day, Muzola disclosed, underscoring that this is a sustainable solution to water shortage in the area. This, he said, involves building reservoirs and water supply systems to ensure universal access to water in the area. “The new treatment plant with sustainable solutions will start next year,” he said. The mobile water treatment plants have also been used to address water shortage in Nyagatare, Bugesera and Muhanga districts. However, Muzola said considering that huge water treatment plants are being completed to supply water in these districts, the mobile water treatment plants are being deployed to other districts that are still struggling to get clean water. “For instance, Kanzenze water treatment plant with 40,000 cubic metres will solve water shortage in Bugesera. Water networks to Bugesera International airport are also being finalized,” he said. Is universal access to clean water attainable? Muzola said that, given the current projects in the pipeline, Rwanda’s ambitions of universal access to clean water by 2024 is within reach. The major concern though is that at least 44 per cent of the water supplied within different networks goes to waste, according to figures from Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA). The water losses are mainly due to leakages, illegal connections, road construction, metering inaccuracies, meter bursts, meter blocks, natural disasters and stealing water by moving meters. Currently clean water access is 87 per cent in Rwanda. Over the next three years, the ministry of infrastructure is set to invest $440 million in water treatment plants and supply systems in urban and rural areas. Out of 1017 rural water supply systems in the country, 423 are fully functional representing about 41.6 per cent; 474 accounting for 46 per cent of them are partially functional, while 121 of them representing 11.9 per cent are non-functional.

News

Hotel boom in Karongi blamed for water scarcity