Installation of the plant was embarked on during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and was programmed to supply clean water to the districts under the Greater Kampala Metropolitan area which include; Mukono, Kampala, Wakiso and Buikwe.
BY HENRY NSUBUG AND MIKE MUSISI MUSOKE
The Katosi Water Treatment Plant, constructed during the COVID-19 pandemic, is now supplying clean water to millions of people in Mukono, Kampala, Wakiso, and Buikwe.
With a capacity to produce 240,000m³ litres daily, the plant has increased total water production on addition with the old Gaba water treatment plant to 400,000m³ litres, meeting the area’s needs for the next 10-15 years. Officials tout the project’s benefits, including reduced costs and improved lifestyles for locals.
Government officials including the head of the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) Eng. Silver Mugisha, Mukono Resident District Commissioner (RDC) Hajat Fatuma Ndisaba Nabitaka and the former State Minister for Water, Ronald Kibuule have highlighted operation of the Mukono-Based Katosi Water Treatment Plant located at Ssumbwe village in Mpunge sub-county.
(Photo by Henry Nsubuga)
Installation of the plant was embarked on during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and was programmed to supply clean water to the districts under the Greater Kampala Metropolitan area which include; Mukono, Kampala, Wakiso and Buikwe.
According to Eng. Mugisha, the plant was designed to extend clean water close to 7.5 million people and initially, it was calculated to provide 160,000m³ litres although it has the capacity to provide 240,000m³ litres daily.
Eng. Mahmood Lutaaya, the Kampala Water General Manager said that the demand for water in his service area was so high compared to the available water from Gaba Water Treatment Plant.
(Photo by Henry Nsubuga)
“The water demand in this area was over 300,000m cubic litres per day yet the Gaba Water Treatment Plant could only produce about 240,000m cubic litres per day,” he said.
Eng. Mugisha therefore said that the completion of Katosi Water Treatment Plant which at the first phase added 160,000m cubic litres per day was quite a commendable job.
“After the completion of the Katosi Water Treatment plant, the total water production increased to 400,000m cubic litres a day. This is considered sufficient to meet the water supply needs in the greater Kampala metropolitan area over the next 10-15 years,” he said.
Highlighting achievements of the NRM government since it came into office 40 years ago, Kibuule, RDC Ndisaba and a cross section of residents showed how the Katosi plant has contributed to provision of clean water not only to Mukono but to neighbouring districts and towns as well.
RDC Ndisaba is of the opinion that when the supply of safe water generated by this plant is stepped up to reach more areas in Mukono, resources spent on sinking bore holes will be cut, especially given that there is also a system of extending water generated by solar powered sources; this, Ndisaba says, will translate into more kilometres of roads made in the district.
She disclosed that currently, the clean water supply system in the district stands at 68 per cent, adding that Kkoome islands have also been considered through the construction of gravity water source supplying locals with tap water at a cost of sh300m.
“At Mayangayanga in Kimenyedde sub-county, we provided them with a sh2bn water source which is also supplying a number of villages with tap water. Katoogo and Ddundu parishes have also not been spared,” the RDC said.
Kibuule gave assurances that the government is committed to extend this water further down in villages which, he noted, will cut the water charges currently paid by consumers in households.
“Currently a jerrycan of water is accessed by the locals at sh100 but I believe if all goes well, the money will go down to at least sh50 for a final consumer,” the former water Minister Kibuule said.
At Kisowera village in Nama sub-county, residents including Cyril Bampa and Sophie Mbabazi said piped water which has been extended to their homes has greatly changed their lifestyles, with a 20-litre jerrycan, which used to cost between sh500 and 1,000, now going for only sh100.
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