Persistent water shortage is likely to continue for a while as the country struggles to meet the shortfall.

Despite the shortage or lack of supply, the Water and Sanitation Corporation Ltd (Wasac) effected the new water tariffs this week, much to the shock and dismay of city residents.

Residents Gikondo, Kicukiro-Kagarama, Nyamirambo, Nyarugenge Sector and other raised parts of the city say they have not had water in weeks, some for months, despite assurances from Wasac.

“We were informed by Wasac that the water tariffs have gone up since September 1, but we don’t have water for more than three weeks now. Why increase the price of something which you are not even supplying?” Asked Jacques Uwimbabazi, a resident of Gikondo.

Residents of the area say they now buy a 20-litre jerrycan of water at Rwf500, the highest price in town so far, while in other parts of the city a jerrycan goes for Rwf300.

City dwellers blame Wasac for not doing much to address the ongoing water crisis.

“Our taps have been dry. We have been buying water for the past three months. Water comes once in one month and only at night. But we ask ourselves where those who sell it to us get it from,” says Chantal Masozera, a resident of Kimironko.

Some blame Wasac for cutting off less affluent suburbs in favour of high end neighbourhoods such as Nyarutarama, Kagugu and Gaculiro.

In parts of the city such as Gikondo, Nyamirambo, Remera, Kanombe and Kimironko, water has become a scarce resource, with some people turning to water hoarding while hospitals, schools and water-reliant activities are struggling to get enough volumes to sustain them.

But Wasac says it is doing everything in its capacity to address the shortfall while implementing long-term projects to increase water supply, at least over the next two years.

READ: WASAC: Water shortage will be history in next two years

The water utility firm blames the increased demand of water which exceeds the supply for the shortage. According to Amandine Umukesha, the Director of Water and Sanitation Development at Wasac, the supply stands at 65,000 cubic metres in Kigali alone yet the demand is at 110,000 cubic metres.

“We have a number of projects to address this shortage. One of the projects is Nzove II to add 25, 000 cubic metres. Work is expected to be completed by the end of November and it will be full productive by the end of December 2015,” said Umukesha.

Wasac is also working on optimising the old Nzove I project to up its production capacity to 40,000 cubic metres from the current 25,000.

The two Nzove projects are expected to address the shortage in the short term along with the Kigali Bulk Water Project by Metito in Kanzenze, which is expected to add 40,000 cubic metres per day by March 2017.

According to Wasac chief executive James Sano, most of the projects to “fully solve the water shortage problem” are expected to be completed in the next two years.

Mutobo project — to supply 120,000 cubic metres a day to Kigali, Muhanga and Bugesera — is expected to take longer, at least four years.

In May, the government signed a memorandum of understanding with a Chinese firm Sinohydro to undertake the stalled multimillion dollar project to pump clean water from the Northern Province Mountains.

The Mutobo project has been in the pipeline for many years with the government failing to raise the required money or get an investor to pump in an estimated $350 million.

Under the public private partnership agreement, the Chinese firm will submit a proposal next week, which if accepted, will see the project commence, Sinohydro taking 70 per cent of the project with government taking 30 per cent.

To increase access to water, Wasac will need to revamp or completely overhaul the current old and rickety supply system, which was established over three decades ago.

According to officials, Wasac will work on replacing old and rusty pipes with a new and modern network capable of distributing water not only to the vast growing capital but also to other parts of the country and fast growing towns.

“A tender has already been issued to revamp the network in the city by replacing old pipes with new ones to improve the network. It will be done in phases,” said Ms Umukesha.

Hilly neighbourhood

City dwellers blame the current network of not being able to transport water in uphill neighbourhoods which are the hardest hit by the shortage.

According to the new tariffs announced by Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (Rura), effective this week, water tariffs will increase from Rwf240 per cubic metre to Rwf323 per cubic metre for public taps and residential units as well as institutions consuming between zero and five cubic metres per month.

Residential units and institutions with a monthly water consumption of between six and 20 cubic metres will see the price rise from Rwf300 to Rwf331 per cubic metre while residential units and institutions consuming between 21 and 50 cubic metres per month, the price goes up Rwf400 to Rwf413 per cubic metre.

Homes and institutions using between 51 and 100 cubic metres per month will see the price go up to Rwf736 per cubic metre from Rwf650, while for those consuming between 101 cubic metres and above per month, the price will go up to Rwf847 per cubic metre from the current Rwf740.

For industries, the flat fee will go up to Rwf736 from the current Rwf593 per cubic metre.