The availability of piped water in urban areas, especially in the city of Dar es Salaam seems to be confined to a few areas of the city centre and a few areas making residents to turn to rain water harvesting.
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Other parts of the city, including Mtoni and Temeke also receive piped water, though their neighbours like Mbag ala and Kongowe get supply from deep wells.
Other areas of the city, including Tabata, Segerea, Vingunguti, Gongo la Mboto are left with no choice but to rely on wells drilled either by Dar es Salaam Water and Sewerage Authority ( DAWASCO), otherwise they have to depend on individuals drilling wells at a very high cost.
Unfortunately, water from shallow wells is usually con taminated, collecting waste matter downstream. Drilled water is often salty and needs to undergo processing before one can be certain to get clean drinking water.
It is clear that apart from DAWASCO and private individuals who are supplying water, there is need to look for other sources of water supply.
In March and April, the country receives heavy rains and plenty of water can be collected from floods. All of it however goes into the sea or simply disappears into the ground. Many people in urban centers do not seem to seize this as an opportunity to harvest clean and safe water.
In many urban centers, especially Dar es Salaam where access to water is such a big challenge, rainwater collection is an important task worth our consideration. It may not necessarily involve a campaign, but a simple decision to make, by just including a rainwater structure in the house plan, while remembering that water is an essential component of a household.
However, all hope is not lost as some residents like Veronica Mwasha of Kimara has a different system. The roof gutters on her house collect rainwater and transfer it to five simtanks each with capacity to hold 5,000 ml of water.
This storage system saves her the challenges that come with water shortages throughout the year.
A couple of weeks ago, DAWASCO celebrated Maji Week by connecting new customers almost for free, but these were required to pay at small installments to make that the exercise is not disrupted.
In fulfilling one of the requirements of the Sustainable Development Goals, residents have this obligation of helping the water authorities to look for another alternative source of water on their own.
