Water supply shortage in Addis

BY WORKU BELACHEW
 

Mekedes Belele is working as cashier at Trinon cafe & restaurant, one of the famous recreation spots found adjacent to cinema Ethiopia. She bitterly complains the regular water supply cuts experienced in their surrounding explains; “When customers come to enjoy our warm service in the evenings, it is much tougher for us. This is because of the regular absence of water in the pipe. Due to that, our restrooms could not function, we could not serve water with meals customers' order, as you know most of us depend on tap-water for drinking. Customers does not like to have either water from water tank or jerrycans. As a result, we face many challenges from most customers and it is a huge problem to us.” she said.

Most managers of famous hotels, cafe & restaurants and owners of small business also share  what Mekedes says and adds that this trouble even creates frequent clashes with customers. Owner of a hotel who declined to be named around Haile-Selassie venue ,for instance, said; “most people who rent my hotel rooms are too upset when they are told there is no water in the pipe. I could not relay on my water tank because we use much water for various purposes, it will not be used for prolonged hours. And some customers even take it as I intentionally deed that to foster the selling soft drinks and packed water.” 
Yitayish Alemu was taking a glass of coffee with milk at one of the cafés found at Arada Building -piazza. What she said also proves the magnitude of the problem faced by the aforementioned guys. “what I abhor from waiters around here is when they suggest me have soft drink or packed water as they are running out of tap water. I do not have a plan for neither of the drinks. Above all, I have the right to get tap water for free. ”  According to most of the business owners found around Arada Sub-city they collect water from remote places with additional costs both to buy water and transport it.

Almaz Tenaw is another lady whom this writer approached around sidest kilo as she was marching to the neighborhoods around Ras-Mekonen bridge on 17th of September. She said it had been four days since the supply of pipe water was unavailable. She did not know the reason for that. She carried empty twenty five liters of  jerrycan  to buy water from one shop for two birr. “If I managed to endure the long queue and get water, it will take me more than thirty minutes of walk, caring the full jerrycan,  to reach my home. This irregularity made me even to fill out a half day leave from my work place, ”   she sadly uttered.

Recently water supply breakage has become a day to day experience for most resident of Addis. Among the most loved  household properties, jerrycans of various types- originally made for palm oil package__have joined almost each households to transport tap water from remote areas when there is service interruption. What fuels the problem more is, previously if pipe water is not available in some neighborhood, one may collect it from the near by , but now when the service is interrupted it covers a large portion of the capital.
“Water supply service interruption has become a defining character of our village these days. I remember a time that  water supply service interrupted was interrupted last year covering a wide area in the city. And the authority told us it was because of faulty construction near a major water supplier pipe line and the blame was said to be on a sub-city officials who permitted this risky construction near the pipe line. In the recent interruption, went early in September, we had been again told it was because of  a theft made on an iron bar structure which supports a  900mm pipe line  found under Kebena Bridge. So, when does this accusation ends?” Aregawi Gebre whom the writer of this piece met around Kotebe , eastern Addis Ababa, questions.

Contrary to the complains of customers, the service interruption helped few people in the city, like Yalew Andarege. He came to Addis from Gojjam-North western Ethiopia- recently with full vision to collect enough money engaging in labor. “I charge people who let me carry their jerrycans based on the volume the jerrycan contain and the distance of their residents. I can work up to 60 birr a day,” he said. According to him twenty five liters of water costs three birr and above depending on the willingness of the retailers. And he hustles more than thirty minutes to get turn enduring the long line.‫ ‪

The country has set major goals to maximize the supply of potable water and irrigation development during the GTP period, among which is to reach sustainable water coverage -with in the range of half of a kilometer-to a daily supply of twenty liters per head and maximize the coverage from a little more than ninety one percent in 2011  to hundred percent at the end of the GTP period, in urban areas. To meet the set goals at a city level Addis Ababa Water and Sewage Authority is undergoing various projects according to the Authority's Water Supply and Distribution Core Process deputy manager Tesfalem Bayou, explains; “ we have various projects aimed to alleviate the current  shortage of potable water in the capital. One of the projects is  Akaki underground water development, south of the capital, which is intended to supply around 140 000 cubic meter of water and legedadi surface water dam expansion project which again is intended to supplly around 30 000 cubic meter as well as local bore holes. He said these projects will see completion in the coming two years. He also unveiled that at current, though water supply coverage has reached 93 per cent, the distribution has faced irregularity due to shortage of water. Due to that, he said, we are forced to implement rationing. Thus, some places get water in two days, while others only in the day time or at night time, but the majority gets twenty four hours. Places with high elevation also could not get the service regularly due to less pumping capacity.

The rapid expansion and growth of the capital has, obviously, become a great factor in increasing the demand for potable water. On top of that, the construction boom in the city which also primarily depended on potable water has exacerbated the water shortage of the city to a more grater extent. Not only that, some residents also attribute the shortage to poor management of water by both households and construction firms.  A senior citizen who has lived in the capital for more than thirty years, Tadesse Gebre whom the writer approached says: “Among the grand factors accounting for the shortage of tap water in the city one could be mismanagement pipe water which has a huge cost upon production. Most residents, for instance, have no awareness on how to utilize tap water properly. One indication of that might be water used to launder clothes is thrown away, while it can be used to clean restrooms and even floor of living rooms and so on  and consume tap water to clean the aforesaid. Most residents in Addis also do not report when there is  leaky water pipe in their environs timely.” 

According to Tadesse it is up to the authority to raise the public's awareness on the proper utilization of tap water. Residents can collect rain water for cleaning purposes. In so doing, they can save their cost for soapy detergents as rain water help produce more lather because it is soft water. This means it has economical advantage for customers of the authority. In the construction industry as well rain water harvesting can have some advantages like bringing their water bills to the minimum. Apart from producing more potable water the authority need to boost its awareness raising activities to register better results, Tadesse concludes.