Urban Environment - Infrastructure and Water: Intermittent water supply in Kampala

Under the scenario of rapid urbanisation in Africa, the pressure on water supply is on multiple stakeholders. Moreover, infrastructure development has not kept pace with the growth of informal settlements. The population of the slum, which makes up about 60% of the city’s inhabitants, is highly vulnerable to and disadvantaged by the unpredictable changing water supply system under climate change. 

Therefore, noting the fact that in many cases infrastructural development often lags behind settlement and population growth, we came to ask the question: how can different stakeholders take their role in assisting a more effective, sustainable and fair water supply system in African cities? I will use an example, Kampala in Uganda, to illustrate the significance and benefits of a well-managed water supply system.

National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) Uganda

NWSC Uganda is a public utility company that is owned by the state of Uganda. In the year of 1972, the company first established itself as the operator and provider of water and sewerage services in a few cities in Uganda, including Kampala. The strategic focus of the company assist the overall water development goal: in past years NWSC had been accelerating the achievement of giving 100% clean, safe water service coverage for all. Its infrastructural water system aims for a new approach to provide water service, following their slogan ‘some for all and not all for some’, that avoid being an overwhelmed and conventional one. Strongly believing in their goal, NWSC increased their service towns from 24 to the current 258 across Uganda.

Intermittent water supply in Kampala

As the capital city of Uganda, Kampala constitutes over 65% of NWSC’s operation and became the biggest operational area of NWSC. The city is also one of the fastest-growing ones in the country - during the past two decades, Kampala expanded massively and have incorporated satellite towns such as Mukono, Entebbe and Bombo, as well as peri-urban areas. This became a big problem for NWSC, as they have to rapidly chase the fast-growing geography and demography of the city to provide efficient water service to all. In parallel with the growing urban population in Africa, between 2007 and 2020, the Kampala water customer base almost tripled, from approximately 95,000 customers to the current 345,000 customer connections; with no doubt, the water demand is estimated to increase to about 350,000m^3 per day, exceeding the daily production capacity of 240,000 m^3 per day by 110,000m^3.

However, it is important to note that based on rapid population growth, it is not enough to just increase the water supply and hope that everyone will have equal access. There are many factors that we need to take into account to build an effective water supply system, such as the spatiality of an urban environment, social effects like the inclusion of vulnerable groups. By considering the spatiality of an urban environment, the role of low-cost, on-site water supply and sanitation solutions is suggested by NWSC with its decentralised alternative mini water supply systems. By breaking down bigger water supply central to a smaller system, not only can water be transported faster, but also the water transportation system can adapt quickly to the changing arrangement of urban settlements, as well as reach regions of in-formal settlements to ensure ‘some for all and not all for some’. At the moment, around 14 underground water production wells have been developed in Kampala in order to assist in addressing intermittent water supply in the City. Furthermore, NWSC also took action, adjusting their water supply system responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. By investigating connections between public water taps that are in supply for the vulnerable groups or poorer communities and smaller water storage tanks, the corporation maximised its intention in fully addressing intermittent water supply to all social groups. Moreover gender-wise speaking, there’s increasing research that suggests the need to understand that neither climate change impacts nor responses are gender-neutral, and the role of the institutions, formal and informal, is crucial and takes a degree of responsibility to respond accordingly and maximise the elimination of such gender bias.

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The experience of NWSC taking an intermittent water supply approach in providing water resources to meet the growing diverse population demand in the changing urban environment in Africa has shown that: if the intermittent water supply system is well managed and optimised, this can be a feasible solution for reaching more people with limited water resource under climate change.