Nairobi residents to pay more for water

Residents of Nairobi County are set to pay more for water. This is as the Athi Water Services Board (AWSB) moves to raise water tariffs, in a move likely to raise the cost of living for most city households.

Athi Water services Board Chief Executive Officer Malaquen Milgo. Photo: Jenipher Wachie/Standard

According to a notice in the Kenya Gazette, the water services company seeks to introduce a new component in the water tariffs pricing to help raise money for infrastructure development and to improve service delivery.

“AWSB proposes increasing block tariff structure with a built-in component of a lifeline tariff of Sh204 per month for water consumption of up to 6,000 litres per month for piped connections,” reads the notice in part.

Low-income segment

Water vendors will further be expected to pay an extra shilling for each 20 litre container of water they sell, a levy that will most likely be passed on to the consumers who are often from the low-income segment.

The new tariff adjustments, which have been proposed to the Water Services Regulatory Board are expected to take effect in three years beginning this year, and running through to 2018. This is the latest proposal to increase the waterbills for Nairobi residents in less than two months, after the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company successfully applied to raise the water tariffs by almost 200 per cent in a review the water company said was long overdue.

The recent proposal comes days after the launch of a Sh6.8 billion pipeline construction project by the AWSB that is expected to ensure uninterrupted water supply for Nairobi, Kiambu and Murang’a counties within the next two years.

Water rationing

The northern collector tunnel will see an additional 140,000 cubic metres of water per day supplied to the city going a long way in plugging a 200,000 cubic metres per day shortfall that has seen several city estates experience water rationing.

According to AWSB Chief Executive Officer Eng Malaquen Miglo, the construction of the northern collector tunnel constitutes the first two phases of the 2012-2035 masterplan to overhaul the water infrastructure system in East Africa’s largest urban area.

“Nairobi City alone requires $368 million (Sh33.4 billion) and an additional $343 million (Sh31.2 billion) totalling to more than Sh60 billion,” stated Eng Miglo. The Northern Collector Tunnel is being financed with support from the World Bank, Africa Development Bank and KfW Germany.