Nairobi to Experience Water Shortage Amid High Prices

A severe water shortage is set to hit Nairobi County, if state reports are anything to go by.

According to officials, the water shortage will be occasioned by low water levels in the main catchment areas.

There has been inadequate rainfall in areas that serve the catchment areas, especially in Kiambu and Murang’a counties whose ripple effect would be dry taps in Nairobi.

A water vendor using hand-drawn cart in Nairobi to sell water

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Managing Director of Limuru Water and Sewerage Company Margaret Maina explained why Kenyans should be worried.

“We are experiencing a dry spell, in the near future, we may be forced to close operations with the hope that the levels at Tigoni Dam will rise because we cannot extract water anymore,” Maina told Nairobi based journalist Sharon Tamba.

Maina projected that water shortages will hit the county by the end of February 2023.

One area that has been affected is Ndakaini Dam in Murang’a County which supplies 84 per cent of water in Nairobi.

The Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company operates the dam and supplies the capital city with 230,000 cubic metres of water per day.

If there is no rain in the next month, the dam will not be able to deliver the required 230,000 cubic metres since the dam is now at 56 per cent capacity.

Ndakaini Dam is supplemented by Tigoni Water Supply Project in providing water to Nairobi residents.

Tigoni Dam in Limuru, Kiambu County is also facing depletion due to insufficient rain making it impossible to supply water in Limuru and neighboring Nairobi towns.

In the past, the project used to supply 2000 cubic metres in a day but now the levels have dropped significantly to 900 cubic metres.

The water woes come at a time when the government has hiked water prices and introduced a raft of regulations for water vendors.

The Water Services Regulatory Board (WASREB) on January 31, 2023, announced that all water vendors must be licenced through the board as well as sell water at recommended prices.

The regulations affected water kiosks, water tankers, hand or donkey-drawn carts, water points and private boreholes.

WASREB further implemented new water levies which are projected to increase water prices tenfold.

Water charges will rise from 50 cents to Ksh5 for every 1,000 litres of water sold to consumers according to the new levies.

Nairobi residents getting water from a kiosk at one of the estates.

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