Nairobi residents have been warned that their water crisis is unlikely to end before 2035, a delay blamed on slow implementation of several projects.
The Athi Water Works Development Agency anticipated the shortage to end by 2026, but has pushed back scheduled completion dates of the projects.
Some of the ongoing projects include the World Bank-funded Northern Collector Tunnel, Kigoro Water Treatment plant, raw and treated water transmission pipelines, and Karimenu 2 Dam.
According to the agency's Strategic Plan for 2018-2022, the daily water demand for the city stands at 810 million litres against an installed production capacity of 550,000 million litres.
The deficit is 260 million litres, forcing the Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company to ration the supply.
The county gets its daily supply from four main sources - Kikuyu Springs (4,000 cubic metres), Ruiru 1 Dam (22,800), Sasumua Dam (59,000), and Ndakaini Dam and Ngethu ( 460,000).
The Northern Collector Tunnel (Phase One) is due for completion next month. It will supply 140 million litres daily to an additional 1.2 million city residents.
The recently completed Kigoro Water Treatment plan is expected to treat 140 million litres daily.
The raw and treated water transmission pipelines are due for completion by December 2021. They will convey 140 million litres daily.
The Nairobi City Water Modification project is a five-million litre storage tank in Embakasi scheduled for completion this month.
Karimenu 2 Dam will supply 70 million litres daily when it is completed in December 2022.
The Nairobi water shortage has persisted for about five years. Water is rationed with most households receiving their supplies at least twice a week.
The NWSC says the rationing will significantly ease in 2023 when most of the ongoing projects will be completed.
The crisis is a blessing to water vendors who sell a 20-litre jerrican of the commodity for between Sh20 and Sh50.
City Hall had last year predicted that water rationing would end this year, noting that the shortage was not so much due to lack of water but to pilferage by cartels from the mains and loss through dilapidated pipes.
It is estimated that demand increases by 20,000 cubic metres annually.
