Until mid-2023, running downhill every morning to fetch water used to be a tiresome chore that Providence Iradukunda had to plan for ahead of time. The 28-year-old mother of one who lives a few kilometres from Lake Kivu, in Rutsiro District, said sanitation was a challenge before a water tap was installed in her village.
"The water at the downhill well was often muddy,” she said, noting that it took an hour to bring water home.”
"When you arrived at home, you have to leave the jerrycan to allow the water to clear before you could use it,” said Iradukunda who is a farmer.
ALSO READ: Rwanda needs $400m to meet water demand by 2050
Whenever she wanted to go to the farm, she would wake up an hour earlier.
But that frustration is no more. It takes only five minutes for Iradukunda to get water from the tap in her village in Mushonyi Sector.
"We fetch clean water within a few metres from our homes and we can go about our business without stressing about water. We are thankful to WASAC Group that we get clean water”, Iradukunda said.
She is one of the more than 122,000 people who have access to a stable water supply, thanks to a 2023 project of the Water and Sanitation Corporation Group (WASAC), which rehabilitated 33 old systems that supplied water in districts with water shortages.
ALSO READ: AfDB approves over $270m for water access in Rwanda
Under the Rwf900 million project which began in February 2023, WASAC rehabilitated nonfunctional water supply systems and expanded water infrastructure that covers more than 290 kilometres in the districts of Burera, Gakenke, Kayonza, Nyaruguru, Muhanga, Ruhango, Nyamagabe, Nyamasheke, Nyabihu, Rusizi, and Rutsiro.
For Jean Marie Vianney Kabalisa, the Headteacher of Groupe Scolaire Muhehwe in Rusizi District, the rehabilitation works meant that his school which used to send labourers to collect water from kilometres away, has enough water to use in its daily activities such as sanitation and cooking.
"Our school has more than 1,000 learners. So, being able to prepare lunch for them was challenging without enough water,” Kabalisa said. "We are thankful today because we are able to do all the activities that require the use of water.”
According to district officials, at least 33,000 people in Rusizi got access to clean water after the rehabilitation works by WASAC Group. In Rusizi, the rate of water access stood at 82 per cent in 2022, which officials said could have risen by another two percentage points by 2023.
"This project came at a time we had issues with water access in different sectors of our district. Some of the pipes were old, which led to water shortages in the community, in schools and in health facilities,” said Rusizi District Vice Mayor in charge of Economic Development, Louis Munyemanzi Ndagijimana.
"Today, we still have more people who need access to clean water. But with this project, we have been moving towards universal access,” said Ndagijimana.
"Besides our collaboration with WASAC, we are mobilising more resources from our partners to make sure that we also fix the remaining 16-18 per cent.”
Nearly Rwf3 billion to be spent in 2024
WASAC Group plans to rehabilitate and expand 86 water supply systems in collaboration with Rwanda Biomedical Centre, according to Vincent de Paul Mugwaneza, the Director of Water Supply at WASAC Development, a subsidiary of WASAC Group.
The project will have a budget of more than Rwf20.8 billion, he said, adding that currently about 130 water supply systems need repair. The number dropped from over 400 in 2016.
"We are requesting people to take care of the water infrastructure put in place. Pipes, tanks, and valve chambers should be protected from any damage. We want all Rwandans to continue to get safe and clean water,” Mugwaneza said.
Mugwaneza noted that WASAC Group has branches in all the 30 districts across the country, to improve service delivery.
As of December 2022, up to 82 per cent of Rwandan households had access to clean water. The government targets to reach universal access to clean water by the end of 2024.