By Andrew Irumba
The National Water and Sewerage Corporation Kampala Water top management team on Wednesday visited the site for the new 240million litres per day design Capacity Water Treatment Plant in the Eastern part of Kampala at Katosi.
According to Kampala Water General Manager Eng Mahmood Lutaaya, the combined water production from Katosi and Ggaba Water Treatment Plants will cater for the growing demand for clean water in greater Kampala Metropolitan Area up to the year 2040.
“The demand for services in Kampala is growing each day as a result of the mushrooming developments in various parts of the city. We are planning to serve over 7.5million people in Kampala, Wakiso and Mukono up to 2040.” he said.
Eng. Lutaaya added that as Katosi gets on board, NWSC is implementing a number of water supply stabilization plans to boost water supply reliability in various parts of the city.
New Technology According to the Senior Manager Infrastructure planning and Development Eng. Taremwa, NWSC is moving away from the traditional treatment of water by sedimentation to the use of dissolved air floatation, in order to deal with the problem of increasing algae on Lake Victoria.
Upon completion, the Katosi plant will be the first and biggest plant in East and Central Africa using the AquaDAF and AquaZur technologies.
The state of the art plant being constructed by Sogea-Satom and Suez International under the supervision of GkW Tractebel and Alliance consultants, shall incorporate water recycling and sludge thickening to minimise plant losses and promote environmental conservation.
The new Plant shall also house;
• A 500m offshore abstraction pipeline into Lake Victoria.
• A scada system that will be integrated with the existing NWSC installations
• A modern laboratory to enhance water quality monitoring and management
• A mechanical workshop
•A compact wastewater treatment plant
•A solid waste handling and incineration facility
• A modern staff housing estate with modern amenities and recreation facilities
The new plant will be operational by February 2021.
Katosi Water Transmission Network At A GlanceFrom the plant, water shall be pumped to the new Nsumba reservoirs (40million litres capacity) through a 9.5km bulk DN1400mm pipeline.
•The water shall thereafter gravitate to Kampala via Mukono – Seeta – Sonde – Namugongo, through a 55km DN1400mm bulk pipeline.
•The Project also entails construction of a 15million litre reservoir in Sonde and booster station in Namugongo.
The project also has a component to supply water to Katosi, Lugazi town and the surrounding areas.
As part of the environmental protection measures, the National Forestry Authority (NFA) allocated NWSC 40 hectares of land for replanting a forest around the plant and along the lake shores.
This will reduce encroachment on the lake and preserve the water source for the current and future generations.
Water Quality Concern
According to the Senior Manager Water Production Eng. Andrew Muhwezi, the cost of water treatment at Ggaba water works has significantly gone up as a result of pollution on the lake.”Algae and subsequent organic matter are significantly affecting chemical costs. The bill for chemicals alone at Ggaba was about Shs1Billion. This has now increased to Shs1.4 Billion per month.” he said.
He called upon city dwellers to stop degrading wetlands. “Wetlands form a natural filter. Most wetlands have been turned into people’s homes affecting the natural filtration process.” he cautioned.
In a bid to improve sanitation, the Corporation is working on the largest Sewage Treatment Plant in East and Central Africa at Bugolobi with capacity to generate 630kw of power from Biogas, serve a population equivalent of 380,000 people and treat over 45 million litres of wastewater from Nakivubo channel and Kampala city. This will help improve the quality of water draining into the lake.
The project is funded by the Government of Uganda, the European Investment Bank, The German Funding Agency KfW, The French Funding Agency AfD, and the EU Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund.
Project Progress
Toatal project progress is at 58%
Total pipe length is 51km
DN 1400 is at 33.2km laid out of 38km
DN 700 is at 3.2km out of 12 km
SONDE reservoir works at 35%
