Nairobi residents will continue to spend more on water as the utility provider Tuesday said rationing will last longer as levels at the city’s main reservoir Ndakaini Dam dropped further.
Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC) said erratic rainfall has failed to replenish Ndakaini, which is a third full.
“The water level at Ndakaini Dam which is our main water supplier is still only at 33 per cent and if it continues this way we will probably reach the 50 per cent mark which is only sufficient to take through to September when we expect the next rains,” said Raphael Nzomo, the chair of NWSC.
“We had announced last month that residents would start receiving normal supply by April but this has not happened as the rains have been erratic,” he said.
Intensified rationing of the commodity will see Nairobi households dig deeper into their pockets as they seek expensive water from private vendors who charge Sh20 or higher for 20 litres of water, reaping a large profit.
This is compared to the rate of Sh53 per 1000 litres charged by NCWSC for those consuming less than 60,000 litres monthly — consumption segment that covers majority of the city’s households.
It was expected that long rains starting late March would lift water levels at the dams and ease the rationing.
The heavy rains have delayed and left around 2.7 million people in need of food aid.
Food items like milk, vegetables and sugar are trading at record levels, forcing households to dig deeper into pockets for the basics.
Last month, flower firm Primarosa Flowers, stopped operations at its Athi-River on water scarcity.
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