Govt concerned about 33pc clean water loss

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According to minister Gerson Lwenge, the Dar es Salaam Water and Sewerage Corporation Sh2.5 billion alone incurs a loss of every month

Dar es Salaam. The government says 33 per cent of water it supplies is wasted through theft and outdated infrastructure.

The average loss every month is Sh1.58 billion, according to Water and Irrigation minister Gerson Lwenge’s budget for 2017/18.

Mr Lwenge tabled the Sh672 billion on Wednesday.

It is 30 per cent smaller than the current budget for the ministry.

The government plans to spend Sh623.6 billion on water projects.

According to him, the situation i worse for Dar es Salaam which the Water and Sewerage Corporation loses Sh2.5 billion monthly as the non-revenue water stands at 38 per cent compared with an internationally acceptable wastage of 20 per cent.

The wastage is caused by old infrastructure, by-pass and illegal connections as well as tampering with meters.

“The government is taking some measures to curb the situation including investing in building infrastructure. We are creating awareness on the water authorities about the acceptable wastage levels and review the laws to offer strict punishments to water thieves,” Mr Lwenge told the National Assembly in Dodoma.

“We are also engaging the private sector to use simple technology in managing water wastage.”

According to the ministry, 72.58 per cent of rural Tanzania was supplied with clean water by March 2017.

That put to 22.91 million the number people accessing clean water within 400 metres.

The government plan to increase water supply from 86 per cent to 95 per cent for regional capital towns by 2020 and from 60 per cent to 75 per cent for district towns.

However, the generation of water in regional capital towns is reported to have declined from an average of 470 million litres per day in March 2016 to 400 million litres in March 2017, causing water rationing in the areas, according to the minister.

The situation is caused by environmental degradation in the water sources.

The government is implementing water and environmental protection programme which has seen 1,333 projects completed and 477 others were in the final stages after the first phase.

The second phase of the programme, which started last July, aims to construct and revive water projects in 4,105 villages.

Upon the completion of the projects 19.08 million Tanzanians will get clean water.

The Lake Victoria -Kahama -Shinyanga project will supply water to 100 villages.

Other projects are Ntomoko which covers 10 villages in Chemba and Kondoa districts; Kigoma water project which covers 26 villages; Masoko project which covers 15 villages in Rungwe; Same – Rungwe – Korogwe project that covers 38 villages; and Tabora water project which targets 31 villages.

Another challenge the water authorities face was piling unpaid bills by the government institutions. Up to March 2017, the state institutions owed water authorities a total of Sh39.94 billion, according to the budget speech.

Due to that, the government planned to introduce pre-paid meters which will necessitate the users to pay before getting the service.

In 2002, it was identified that Tanzania had 29.4 million hectares which are potential for irrigation farming.

The area being utilised for irrigation farming increased from 461,326 hectares in 2015/16 to 468,338 in March this year.

At the same time, the government wants to expand irrigation farming to 1 million hectares with irrigation schemes which cover small, middle and large-scale farming come 2020.

Mr Lwenge said the government plans to construct infrastructure in 176 schemes, revive 205 others, rehabilitate 30 dams and build 40 new dams which will help in reserving water for both irrigation and other uses.

Experts say having automatic irrigation systems will increase production, assure the nation of good yields even during dry weather, save money and water.

Environment will also be conserved.

The government says it has embarked on the establishment of the water agency which will hasten provision of water in rural areas.

In 2014, the government agreed with donors to finance $3.3 billion for the second phase of water sector development programme which aimed at extending piped water supply and cut leakages by more than a half.

Mr Lwenge said so far the pledges have reached $1.59 billion.