- Residents suffering shortage five days after Ng'ethu treatment plant was closed.
- Shutdown attributed to flow of muddy water in the treatment works from Aberdare Forest.
Water supply within Nairobi is still poor due to low pressure, forcing many residents to struggle accessing the commodity.
Areas such as Eastleigh, parts of Buru Buru, Umoja and Kayole are suffering shortages five days after Ng'ethu treatment plant was closed to avoid the flow of mucky water.
On Thursday, Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company head of corporate affairs Mbaruku Vyakweli confirmed there was still a problem.
“The pressure is still low,” Vyakweli said on a phone interview.
Most of the water was by Monday evening being supplied to the densely populated slums of Mathare, Mukuru, Korogocho and Kibera.
“South B, Lang’ata, Kilimani, Lavington, Westlands, Kariobangi and Nyayo Embakasi, estates along Mombasa Road and the Central Business District started receiving water,” NCWSC said then in a statement.
The shutdown of Ng'ethu plant, which supplies 85 per cent of water in Nairobi, was attributed to the flow of muddy water in the treatment works from the Aberdare Forest, River Chania's catchment area.
Heavy rains in the Aberdares have caused mudslides, with mud washed down River Chania into the water treatment plant since last week. Friday and Saturday were the most affected days, according to NCWSC.
Ng'ethu plant production manager Philip Githinji told the Star on Thursday that “the system is somehow stabilising.”
However, the Aberdares are still receiving heavy rains.
“The turbidity is not very high and we are producing 90 per cent,” Githinji said.
He said the water produced was being directed to crucial areas such as hospitals.
The high turbidity in the water had blocked the Mwagu intake along River Chania.
Githinji said there was a huge water deficit in the city due to high demand.
According to NWSC, 15 per cent of Nairobi water supply is sourced from Sasumua, Kikuyu Springs and Ruiru dam, which have not been affected.
“Even after unclogging of the intake, the turbidity levels were quite high and the raw water was not responding to clarification/ treatment chemicals,” the water company said last week.
Turbidity is the quality of being cloudy, opaque or thick with suspended matter. Its measurement is a key test of water quality.
Githinji told the Star on Monday that the situation was still “fluid.”
Ng'ethu's treatment capacity is 18,333 cubic metres per hour or 440,000 cubic metres per day.
“We are treating water from 11pm at 90 per cent of the capacity to comply with quality standards set by the regulator.
"We are dealing with very high turbidity of above 5,000 NTU (Nephelometric Turbidity Units) causing us to temporarily shut the systems then resume once turbidity goes down," Githinji said on Monday.
The normal raw water quality for 85 per cent turbidity is below 100 NTUs.
WHO requires potable water to be below five NTUs after treatment.
Githinji said conventional water treatment systems like Ng’ethu treats up to 800 NTUs.
Edited by Henry Makori