There is no excuse for lack of running water

One of the most intriguing aspects of living in Beijing for the last one year was that I had to get used to was the fact that there was always running water in the taps and no power cuts. I never had to think twice about leaving my laptop unplugged until the battery came close to running out and never worried about not having enough water to flush the toilet. I know that it sounds silly, but for the first month or so I endeavored to keep my cellphone always charged to the maximum every morning. It was only after a while that I started to take those two basic services for granted. However, as soon as I return home I will have to fall into my ‘normal’ habits again it seems. I’ve been communicating with friends and family back in Kigali and they all complain of one thing, water shortages. People in the neighborhoods of Kabeza and Kibagabaga seem to have been starved of consistent running water for the last couple of months. And I’m sure that they are not the only ones. I find that not only shocking but also unwarranted. The water and electricity utilities body EWSA would have us believe that the cause of the water shortage is either the lack of rain in dry season or too much rain in the wet season. So in other words, no matter the time of the year, there is always a ‘good’ reason for the lack of piped water. However, I disagree. I find it hard to believe that a country like ours that enjoys an average of 800mm of rainfall a year should suffer water shortages. To put our yearly rainfall into perspective, Israel, a country where constant running water is taken for granted, receives only 300mm a year. So we cannot complain that there is not enough water. I believe that there are two main reasons for the prevailing situation. First of all, we waste water. I remember walking past the new City Council building and staring aghast as clean running water sprayed out of a pipe that had been broken during construction. Out of curiosity I waited to see how long it would take people to cut off the water and halt the wastage. After waiting close to thirty minutes I gave up and went along my way. I can estimate that in the minutes I stood, we lost the equivalent of a month’s supply of water for at least ten large homes. Mind you, this wasn’t the only time I’d seen such wastage. I am sure that everyone can mention a similar tale. We cannot lay all the blame on EWSA for the waste. Think about all the water we waste in our homes through faulty faucets, poor toilet installations and car washing. If we use the piped water we have more efficiently, we’ll have more to go around. Sadly though, even if we scrounge and skimp the fact of the matter is that we have to figure out how to get more clean water into the system. And before we turn our guns on EWSA, we need to look at things we can do at the individual household. Firstly, there is absolutely no reason each house shouldn’t have its two water tanks. One tank that connects to EWSA’s system and another that collects run-off from the roof. While the latter would become useless in the dry season, it would reduce the water bill in the rainy season while taking some pressure off the water grid. I understand that such tanks are rather expensive, but what is the point of having a lovely home when you cannot have a proper shower in it? All the above-mentioned steps however count for naught if EWSA doesn’t pull up its socks. The fact of the matter is, nothing we do at the individual level can solve the water conundrum. We need more water treatment plants, better piping and out of the box thinking from them. For example, why haven’t we found a way to collect and then channel the water that runs off our tarmacked roads? Can such a move be a solution to the water problem? The fact of the matter is that Rwanda’s population is growing and therefore so is its water needs. In the same way we’re using a multi-pronged approach to the electricity deficit, we need to approach the water deficit in the same way and with the same sense of urgency. Sunny Ntayombya is a New Times journalist and post-graduate student Twitter: @sannykigali

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There is no excuse for lack of running water