A man hawks water in jerrycans in Nairobi/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 18 – The Nairobi County Government says water rationing in the capital city is set to continue despite the rainfall being experienced in various parts of the country.
Environment County Executive Peter Kimori indicated that there are no rains in the Aberdares water catchment area which supplies the Ndakaini dam, the man source of water for most parts of the county.
Speaking to Capital FM News, Kimori stated that due to this, the water levels at the dam were still critical at 20 per cent of its full capacity.
“For the last one or two weeks, rain have been there in Nairobi, but not in the Aberdares. I was actually in Aberdares yesterday and the rains have not fallen. We are however hoping that by next week, something will happen in the Aberdares,” he said.
“I can confirm that there is rationing and the situation is not good because the percentage of water in Ndakaini is about 20 per cent which is making the situation difficult for us,” he said.
He urged the public to preserve water and avoid wastage.
“Please be patient, use your water sparingly. The rains have come and this will help us in watering our gardens instead of using our tap water, “he stated.
“We are also encouraging people to recycle water so that even if we go back to the normal situation, we want to change our habits.”
“Please do not waste water, even in the bathroom, do not start singing and you leave the tap running. When you are brushing your teeth, turn off the tap,” he stated. “My request to Nairobi residents is, please be patient. It is not a situation which is human and that is why the President has declared drought as a national disaster.”
Ndakaini Dam has a capacity of 700 million cubic metres but this has been reduced to less than 175 million.
Residents need 750,000 cubic metres of water per day but the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC ) now supplies less than 400,000.
The county and the Ministry of Water has also started drilling 40 boreholes as a short-term measure.
Water Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa recently launched the Sh200 million borehole project at the Kaloleni Health Centre.
Each borehole is expected to produce 20,000 litres of water per day.
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