Green Hills, Blue Cities

WATER DEMAND MANAGEMENT Nairobi has a water deficiency of about 200 000 m 3 per day and the distribution network is inadequate and outdated. The NCWSCmanages the supply deficit by rationing of the available water to the city residents. This means that some areas do not receive water at certain times of the day. Other efforts being made include: • Bulk water transfers to areas that do not receive water on a regular basis; • Modification of water distribution network to facilitate more Although rainwater harvesting and water use efficiency measures could substantially augment current and projected water demands for the city, these measures are not widely used in Nairobi. WATER RE-USE, WASTEWATER TREATMENT AND DISCHARGE The enactment of the Environmental Management and Coordination Act (1999), with its requirement for environmental audits and fairly deterrent legal and financial sanctions, has forced a number of businesses and industrial plants to embrace cleaner production concepts and principles. It is estimated that over 10 000 establishments have carried out the initial environmental audit to determine the impacts of their production processes and outputs. The capacity of the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) to cope with compliance and enforcement of the statutory provisions, and to follow up on the implementation of the environmental management plans, has been a weakness in the improvement in water use efficiency and ecosystem degradation. Consequently, loss of water and discharge of wastewater, which does not conform to the set standards into the sewer or natural environment, are common. Whereas water re-use and wastewater treatment may be minimal, Nairobi has two sewerage treatment plants at Ruai and Kariobangi. The utilization of the Ruai plant is about 74 per cent of the design capacity due to its dilapidated infrastructure. Plant utilization at Kariobangi treatment works is lower at 39 per cent. Despite improvements in treatment efficiency and reduction in the pollution load, the facilities do not meet equitable water distribution in the city; • Development of new water sources; and • Recharge enhancement.

cent of which is unaccounted for as it is lost through leakage. About four per cent of Kibera’s residents have in-house water connections, 15 per cent relies on yard taps and 68 per cent relies on water kiosks managed by private individuals, Non-Governmental Organisations or Community-Based Organisations. Although approximately 25 km of pipe network exists in Kibera, much of this network receives little or no water due to limited pump capacity, and the diversion of available water to neighbouring high income areas (COHRE 2007). The NCWSC and Athi Water Services Board recognize the plight of the underserved residents of Kibera, and have developed the informal settlements’ strategic guidelines. The objectives of the guidelines are to provide a framework for operations in informal settlements; promote and facilitate partnerships with key stakeholders; and increase the predictability and transparency of water andsanitationservices interventions in informal settlements. It is within this framework that the NCSWC has established the Department of Informal Settlements, whose overall objective is to increase coverage, affordability and sustainable access to safe water and basic sanitation facilities aimed at raising the wellbeing of the poor living in unplanned areas within Nairobi. The NCWSC has made some interventions in different informal settlements of Nairobi in a bid to improve access to water and sanitation services. Some of these interventions include (Muiruri and Kaseve 2008): • The Mukuru Chamber Project, which houses metres for individual connections. So far, 67 chambers have been constructed with a total of 1 300 connections, and serving about 100 000 people in the 12 villages of Mukuru. The chamber project, funded by the World Bank and completed in 2006, has reduced the price of water from USD 0.24 to USD 0.05 per litre, besides providing access to safe water; and • The Mathare Water Project, which is a joint collaboration between the NCWSC and Pamoja Trust, and is expected to construct 45 communal water kiosks in the settlements. The NCWSC has met with various challenges in providing water services to the urban poor in Nairobi, including illegal connections, leakages due to poor quality pipes, unplanned construction above water and sewerage pipes, community conflicts, insecurity due to criminal gangs, uncoordinated interventions by different players, land tenure issues, and the unplanned nature of the slums (Muiruri and Kaseve 2008).

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