Nairobi water crisis to end in two years - Sakaja

Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has expressed confidence that the county's longstanding water shortage will be resolved within the next two years.

Speaking on Citizen TV's JKLive Show on Wednesday, Sakaja outlined a clear plan to tackle Nairobi's water crisis, which he says has been worsened by rapid population growth and underdeveloped infrastructure.

According to Sakaja, Nairobi has historically faced challenges in supplying water to residents, relying on just four main sources; Kikuyu Springs, Ruiru Dam, Sasumwa Dam and Ndakaini. Of these, Sakaja says, that Ndakaini is the most crucial, supplying 84 percent of Nairobi’s water.

However, he pointed out that Ndakaini was designed to serve a population of 2 million, whereas Nairobi’s population has now risen to over 7 million. According to Sakaja, Nairobi receives 522 million litres of water daily, while the demand stands at between 870 million and 900 million litres per day.

According to the Nairobi Governor, the first key step to address the water shortage in Nairobi is the completion of the Northern Collector Tunnel, which he says has been stalled for years.

"The first thing I promised in the campaigns was to make sure the Northern Collector Tunnel is completed. It had been stuck and there was politics around it but it's done. We've completed the Northern Collector Tunnel, it's just waiting for commissioning. The water is coming in," he said.

He added that the tunnel will contribute an additional 140 million litres of water daily to Nairobi's supply, noting that it has already started reaching areas like Karen, Riruta and South B, which he says were previously underserved.

"Remember the gap between 525 and 900 million litres and we've gotten 140 million litres extra and so the rationing program will ease up. Those who are getting it twice will now probably get it 3-4 times," said Sakaja.

Further, the Nairobi Governor highlighted a new water supply line for Lang’ata, which he says had previously suffered from inadequate pressure

"Like in Lang'ata, the water issue had been the pressure coming from the Kibera line so we concreted it and gave them water properly. We did another line through Kungu Karumba Road and Langata Link Road but now," he said.

"In the last two weeks we agreed to do a tender where the water will come through Karen then Bomas and a pathline through the Langata barracks for the people of Langata to get water. For the first time, they will get water and it must be done." 

Sakaja also revealed that Nairobi is set to secure a USD100 million commitment from the Korean government to fund two additional key projects: the Maragua 4 and Northern Collector 2 water schemes.

According to Sakaja, these projects alongside ongoing improvements like a reverse backwash filtration system in Gatundu North will recover 30 million litres of water lost daily, adding another 220 million litres to Nairobi's supply.

"We have negotiated with partners like the Korean government and they have committed USD100 million.  Unfortunately, with the structure of government I can only get it through the National Treasury, I can't borrow directly but that discussion is going on. The USD 100 million will help us do Maragua 4 and Northern Collector 2...that will give us 180 million litres of water," he said.  

"In Gatundu North where we do our water treatment we lose 30 million litres daily through the filtration backwash system so my engineers have engineered a reverse backwash system at just 2 billion that will give us 30 million litres of water so that comes to close to 220 million additional litres and there's Karamenu that's been done that's supposed to bring in 50 million litres going to Ruiru...Fortunately for Nairobi, Ruiru was not ready for that so it will all come in," he said.  

He added that: "Once this one for Korea is done, within the next two years the issue of water deficit in Nairobi will be complete but we must plan for the next 100 million litres since the demand goes up by 4 percent every year."