Extension activities as well as establishment of the new Nzove Water Treatment Plant in Nyarugenge District will be complete by July, according to reports by officials. This was after the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water and Sanitation Corporation (WASAC) carried out an assessment tour of the works last Friday.
The State Minister for Infrastructure, Germaine Kamayirese, assured residents of Kigali and surrounding areas the objective to provide sufficient and sustainable water will be achieved once all the activities are done. She further added that after the completion they would move to address the issue of water shortages as well as work on extending water to all residents.
Both water treatment plants are located in Kanyinya Sector, Nyarugenge District. Phase one of Nzove II plant was commissioned in March last year with the capacity to produce 25,000 cubic metres of water per day, while the second phase is expected to be commissioned in July with an added capacity of55,000 cubic metres per day, giving the city a total capacity of 145,000 cubic metres of water daily.
James Sano, the chief executive of WASAC said that the progress for phase two works is currently at 80% and should completely cover demand for Kigali.
The second phase involves upgrading production capacity of the existing 25,000 cubic metres per day to 40,000 cubic metres per day and construction of a new treatment plant with initial capacity of 40,000 cubic metres per day with upgradable capacity of 65,000 cubic metres per day when demand increases in future. However, he added that the construction process is still hampered by challenges like customs clearance of materials and expropriation delays.
In the previous year, the Audito General’s report showed that there was about 42% of unbilled water and that Nzove plant was producing below its installed capacity, significantly impacting on water shortages.
Meanwhile, Sano said more efforts are underway to address some of the underlying challenges, including the establishment of forward infrastructure.
