- The company's managing director says production has been reduced by 12 million litres of water and this has forced them to enhance water rationing programme.
- He called on customers to use the available water sparingly as the firm works to resolve the crisis and as they wait for the rains to subside.
Image: JOHN KAMAU
Image: JOHN KAMAU
Thika Water and Sewerage Company (Thiwasco) has told residents to use water sparingly after the firm enhanced water rationing programme.
This is after Thika River broke its banks due to the ongoing torrential rains pounding the region, causing massive floods and siltation at the firm's water intake which is along the river.
The company's managing director Eng Moses Kinya told journalists on Monday that water production has been drastically reduced by the floods noting that the daily production has been cut from 36,000m3 to 24,000m3.
Kinya said the water intake gives the firm a third of its daily production, adding that they have been forced to enhance water rationing in the region which will see most homesteads experience dry taps for days.
“Our production has been reduced by 12 million litres of water and this has forced us to enhance our water rationing programme. We call on our customers to use the available water sparingly as we work to resolve the crisis and as we wait for the rains to subside,” Kinya said.
He however noted that the firm has taken immediate measures to address the problem including procuring motor engines to replace the ones that have already been damaged by flood waters.
The firm that serves a population of over 300,000 residents in Thika and a section of Gatanga and Juja constituencies, produces 36,000m3 of water per day against the demand of 46,000m3 per day in the region.
The current situation has caused a crisis in the region with most residents going for days without water.
“We are working indefatigably to ensure our consumers get water in their homes. However, we urge them to use the little they get sparingly because at the moment, pressures are very low,” he said.
Kinya also told residents to harness rain water and use it for domestic purposes to mitigate the current water shortage in their homes. “We don’t know when the heavy rains, that are pounding the upper regions making the rivers where we source our water from burst, will stop,” he said.
Meanwhile, consumers of water from Thiwasco urged the water firm to fast-track implementation of various projects it seeks to undertake to increase water supply in the town.
The water users said for perennial water shortage and rationing to come to an end, the firm should accelerate execution of the multi-billion shilling projects.
With the town’s population rapidly growing at a time that industries also continue being established, water users led by Alfred Wanyoike, the chairman of businesspeople in the town, called on the water company management to speedily begin putting up new water treatment plants, new sewerage systems and embark on new household water and sewer connections.
Wanyoike singled out the need for the firm to promptly implement the Sh15.4 billion project its undertaking in partnership with Danish agency, Danida, for the upgrade and expansion of its infrastructure to increase water supply, establish new water storage systems and treatment plants to cushion increasing population from thirst.
The project is set to commence in January 2025 and will take 36 months to complete.
It is expected to help end water shortages and rationing in the fast-growing town that seeks to become the fifth city in Kenya after Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu and Nakuru.
Once complete, the project will undertake large-scale water supply, generating 70,000 cubic metres of water daily against the current 40,000.
Thiwasco also seeks to benefit from the multi-billion shilling Kariminu II mega dam in Gatundu North constituency, which has been supplying water to Ruiru, Juja, and Nairobi.
The water consumers also called on both the national and county governments to join hands and support the firm to successfully implement its water supply plans.
MD Kinya said the water firm has been doing everything possible to quench the thirst of water users within its jurisdiction.
Some of the projects to expand water supply, he said, have begun while others are in various phases of implementation.
Kiambu county assembly Water committee chairperson Joseph Kibuu said the government was committed to supporting water companies to exploit their potential on the commodity's provision.