38% of Nairobi water is lost before reaching meters

By MUNGAI KIHANYA

The Sunday Nation

Nairobi,

17 February 2019

If you were not restricted in any way, how much water do think you would use in a day? That is, for drinking, cooking, washing etc. The answer might surprise you.

Six people live in my house and when there is no water rationing (a rare happenstance!), we use about 25,000 litres per month. I know this from my water bill.

The water company works out its bills in cubic metres and one cubic metre is equal to 1,000 litres. Without rationing, my bill ranges between 20 and 30 units and so, 25 is fair average. Now, 25,000L divided by 6 is 4,167L per person per month; and this works down further to 139L per person per day.

Now pause for a moment and try to visualise that…

I must reiterate that this 139L is calculated on the assumption that the supply is unrestricted. The reality is quite different: my most recent bill indicates that I consumed 17,000L in January 2019. That is 94L per person per day.

There are two reasons for the reduced consumption: first, of course is the ongoing water rationing. Secondly, I have sensitised my household on the importance of reducing water usage: they were quite shocked to learn that each uses over 100L per day.

I have a 100L container and I pointed to it saying: “that’s how much water each person uses every day in this house. And that doesn’t include what is used ‘out there’!”.

How does my water usage compare with that of other residents of the city? According to the audited report of the Nairobi Water Company for the year that ended on 30 June 2017, the company produced 181 billion litres in that period. This works down to about 496L daily.

Now the population of the city was about 4 million people so the company produced about 124L per person per day. It appears that we are saving about 30L per person each day in my house.

If that is so, why do we have city-wide water rationing? The answer is to be found in the audited report. The auditors found that even though the company produced 181 billion litres during the year, it only billed for 113 billion litres.

Nobody knows where the other 68 billion litres went! I suspect that a small portion is lost through broken pipes while the larger amount is stolen in illegal connections…

In short: 38 per cent of the water produced is not accounted for. Thus, the daily share comes down to 77L. so, the reality is that my house is getting more than its fair share – 17 more litres per person per day.

But if you think Nairobi water supply is bad, consider Lagos. The Lagos Water Corporation produces 880 million liters daily for a city of almost 20 million people. This is just 44L per person per day – before deducting losses. Can you survive on that?