- Water PS said the illegal connections are taking place, even as the city’s population is expected to increase with the demand for the commodity.
- Rono said such illegal connections were depriving the government of resources to enhance water coverage in the country.
Image: KIPLANGAT KIRUI
The government has admitted that its revenue is leaking and it is not making the required money from the Sh1 trillion invested in water infrastructure.
In a shocking revelation on Thursday, Water Principal Secretary Paul Rono said the resources were being lost due to unaccounted water, also known as non-revenue water.
“The government has made huge investments in the water sector through the construction of 100 mega dams, boreholes, and water pans. Studies by the government have shown that we are losing Sh 10 billion per year through non-revenue water. This is not acceptable,” he said.
Rono said there are illegal connections across the country and the government won’t sit back and watch as its resources are misused.
He cited major towns as the epicentre of illegal connections.
The PS said Nairobi, for instance, receives 560,000 cubic meters per day, but losses 300,000 cubic meters.
“We have realised that there is quite a number of households who are not paying for water and the government has invested heavily in the sector. We are seeking to address the issue of illegal connections and wrong metering and to some extent tampered water infrastructure,” Rono said.
“From the data, we have from our offices, out of 360,000 customers in Nairobi who are connected with treated piped water, only 250,000 pay for water. The rest close to 100,000 do not pay for water and they are getting through illegal connections which are tampering with the infrastructure of water.”
The PS said those with illegal connections will be met by the full force of the law.
Early this year, the government formed a special police unit to curb the rising cases of vandalism and theft of the country’s water supply and sanitation infrastructure.
The Water Police Unit will comprise officers drawn from the Administration Police Service and will be integrated into the Critical Infrastructure Protection Unit.
The unit has also been tasked to rein in illegal pipeline connections and siphoning off water from pipelines and storage facilities, a trend that has dealt various national water and sanitation agencies a major financial setback.
The PS said as they tamper with pipes, a lot of water is lost through spillages.
Rono said the illegal connections are taking place, even as the city’s population is expected to increase with the demand for the commodity, hitting 890,000 per day.
The PS said such illegal connections were depriving the government of resources to enhance water coverage in the country.
To curb non-revenue water, the government has launched a 100-day rapid results initiative to deal with illegal connections.
The PS was accompanied by Nairobi City Water and Sewerage managing director Nahason Muguna and Athi Water Works Development Agency CEO Michael Thuita, among other officials.
The theme of the initiative is ‘Protect water, pay for water.’
Those with car wash businesses must ensure that the water they are using is legally connected.
Rono said 10 individuals are being followed for illegal connections and will be apprehended soon.
He said an intelligence-led operation will nab more culprits.
A plot 10 area in Embakasi was the first stop for the exercise, where a number of plots were connected to water illegally.
The crackdown will move to other areas in the city and be scaled down to other parts of the country.
The PS said the state has rolled out some initiatives with a view of enhancing the water supply.
Rono said the Northern Collector tunnel that will supply 140,000 cubic meters of water per day is one of the initiatives.
He said the Karumenu dam is also set to enhance the water supply to Embakasi, Mavoko, Langata, Kitengela and Ongata Rongai.
The PS said 100 other mega dams are being constructed to enhance the water supply.
Rono said an emergency programme was being rolled out to help those grappling with the effects of the ongoing drought.
The PS also warned those extracting water from rivers illegally, saying the long arm of the law will catch up with them.
Rono said they have received alerts that some rivers and streams were drying up.