Mombasa and Kilifi residents are likely to stay without water for seven to 30 days after floods completely submerged three wells at the main supply station at Baricho, Kilifi County.
Coast Water Service Board chief executive officer Jacob Torutt and Mombasa County Deputy Governor William Kingi said ongoing heavy rains have caused flooding in River Sabaki where the three pumps are located leading to closure of the plant on Wednesday last week.
Mr Torutt said pumping of water at Baricho is done using eight wells, three of which are upstream and five downstream of River Sabaki, producing 90 million litres of water per day of which 35 million litres is supplied to Mombasa and 25 million litres to Kilifi.
“Unfortunately at around 10.30pm on the night of Wednesday 25 April 2018, the flood water increased tremendously resulting in the submerging of the other five downstream wells, leading to the closure of the whole plant,” Mr Torutt.
Speaking during a press briefing at the Mombasa Governor’s office yesterday, Mr Torutt said engineers from the Coast Water Services Board on Saturday assessed the damage caused and discovered that the embankment (the protective barrier to the pumps) of one of the boreholes had been swept away and the pump lost in the flood water.
“Boreholes number 2 and 3 were covered with muddy water and all power components had been destroyed and some pipes swept away. The 5 downstream wells were full of muddy water as well,” the CEO said.
He said all access roads to the wells had been destroyed and that the high voltage power supply pole for borehole number 4 was tilting dangerously.
“Pumping could not resume immediately and thus there was no water supply to Kilifi and Mombasa counties. Borehole number 1, 3 and 4 need to be replaced. The 3 boreholes produce approximately 13 million litres of water per day,” he added.
Up to a month
The CEO said the cost of replacing one borehole is approximately Sh150 million and that replacing the other three would cost a total of Sh450 million.
He said water supply to Kilifi and Mombasa counties is set to resume immediately the four pumps are revived, which could take up to a month.
Dr Kingi said he is seeking funds for urgent repair of the boreholes.
He called on CWSB, through the Ministry of Water and Sanitation, to conduct a detailed study of the flow of the Sabaki River to determine ways of mitigating future flooding.
He said the county government of Mombasa and the water service providers are preparing to supply water to the most affected residents of the devolved unit especially the North Coast and parts of the island using water bowers which will be located at specific areas.
He urged both residents of Mombasa and Kilifi counties to harvest rain water and to conserve the little water available.
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