Water shortage hits Wakiso district

By Chris Kiwawulo

A water shortage has hit parts of Wakiso district with some areas going for weeks without a single drop out of their taps.

The shortage has affected areas including parts of Nabweru, Wamala, Katooke, Jinja-Kalori, Kawanda, Kisimu, Maganjo, Kagoma, Ttula, Mpererwe, Kireka, Kira, Namugongo and Seeta, a survey done by New Vision established.

This has forced the affected residents to resort to fetching water from springs and dirty wells as well as buying from neighbours who own water tanks and those that vend it on bicycles.

The vendors have as a result taken advantage of the situation as they have increased the price of a 50-litre jerry can of water from sh200 to between sh500 and sh1, 000. Some residents were seen refilling their tanks using water tank carrying trucks.

Deborah Kyeyune, a resident of Katoke-Kisimu in Wakiso’s Nabweru sub-county, told New Vision that they have not had water for over a week now. “I now have to part with sh180,000 to fill my tank using a truck. I also had to increase the cost of a 50-litre jerry can to sh500 from sh200.”

Ronald Mutebi, a builder/foreman in Kirinyabiggo-Kawanda said they have to incur extra costs to pay boda-boda riders who collect water from springs and wells after the taps ran dry.

“Water used to come at night towards the end of December 2014, but as of today, it does not come at all,” noted Ali Mukisa, a resident of Maganjo.

However, some residents said they were still getting water although irregularly. John Ssenabulya, a resident of Kagoma said water was on and off and usually comes at night.

New Vision established that those who live in hilly areas were more affected than those who stay in low-lying areas because the water pressure is low and therefore water cannot ascend hills.

When contacted Sam Apedel, the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) communications manager acknowledged that there were cases of water shortage in the aforementioned areas.

“Some parts of Kampala receive less water than others especially those that lie towards the end of the (water supply) network. But NWSC is aware and we have short and long-term solutions for this problem,” Apedel explained.

For starters, he said, NWSC is in advanced stages of connecting areas at the end of their network on a booster line to improve on water supply.

“We put up a booster in Nabweru and laid a pumping main up to Lugoba hill where we acquired land and we are looking for a contractor to put up a reservoir there. For Ttula area, we have also acquired land in Kanyanya where we are planning to put a reservoir to solve the water shortage problem."

Apedel added that NWSC is in the process of adding 50 million litres of water on the daily supply of water in Kampala and the surrounding areas like Wakiso.

On a daily basis, he noted, Kampala has been using 190 million litres of water yet the demand has risen to between 230 and 240 litres per day.

He said the extra 50 million litres of water will be pumped direct to people’s homes and some will be stored at the eight-million-litre reservoir that is being constructed at Namasuba. He hoped that these remedies would all be completed by August this year (2015).

For the water shortage in Kireka, Apedel said it was as a result of pipes cut during the ongoing road works in the area. “We have replaced the pipes and restored supply.”

As a long term measure, Apedel revealed that NWSC has completed studies and plans to pump water from Katosi in Mukono to a reservoir on Seeta hill and later to areas like Kyambogo and Banda.