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Piped water supply recovers from 2.6% drop
Coverage of piped water has been increasing in the last three decades, spreading from just five to more than 250 towns across Uganda. Photo / File
What you need to know:
- Ubos data indicates that piped water supply slightly increased by 0.3 percent between January and March after dropping by 2.6 percent at the close of 2022
Piped water supply slightly increased across major urban centres and municipalities in the period between January and March, according to data from Uganda Bureau of Statistics (Ubos).
However, supply declined in Kampala, according to data contained in the 129th edition of the Key Economic Indicators report.
During the period, National Water and Sewerage Corporation reported a 0.3 percent increase in supply, which was a recovery from a drop of 2.6 percent in the quarter to December 2022.
The report, which highlights performance of key sectors of the economy, indicates that the growth was more pronounced in Jinja, while in Kampala supply declined by 0.9 percent.
“Water supplied by National Water and Sewerage Corporation in major urban centres [and] municipalities increased by 0.3 percent [between January and March] from an earlier decrease of 2.6 percent,” the report reads in part.
During the period supplied water slightly increased by 100,000 cubic metres, rising from 31.3 million cubic meters to 31.4 million cubic metres.
However, the report does not give reasons for the recovery, which albeit, was slower compared to the period between January and March 2022, in which supply increased by above 11 percent, before falling to 3.6 percent between April and June. The increase in water supply, Ubos data indicates, has been slow since June 2022. Supply increased to 4 percent at the close of 2022 from a slump of 1.9 percent recorded between July and September 2022.
Data indicates that National Water and Sewerage Corporation was by 2021 operating in 258 towns, covering a network of 20,000 kilometres, within which at least 15m people have access to piped water through 700,000 connections.
At least 80 percent of water supplied through National Water and Sewerage Corporation is consumed in the Kampala Metropolitan Area, which covers parts of Wakiso, Mukono and Kampala .
It is followed by Jinja and Mbarara, all of which consumer an average of 6 percent of supplied water, while Gulu, Lira, Mbale, Masaka and Mbale consume the least with an average of 3 percent.
Piped water supply has grown from just five towns in 1990, whose access had been limited to just 500 people and a coverage of 300 kilometres, which mainly relied on just 20,000 connections.
Under its Corporate Plan 2021/24, National Water and Sewerage Corporation is seeking to grow its asset base from Shs3.8 trillion to Shs6 trillion by 2026, boosted by growth in its customer base from 800,000 to more than 1.2m connections, reduction in non-revenue water from 37 percent to 33 percent and increase in the customer satisfaction index from 86 percent to 90 percent.
