The National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC), has secured Ugx250 million to expand water supply capacity in Masaka District.
The project, which will start in July 2023, is part of a 120 million euro loan that the government obtained from the French Development Agency (AFD) to finance the South Western Cluster Water and Sanitation Development Project.
According to Jackson Nimusiima, the NWSC zonal manager for Masaka, the NWSC is implementing a project that will enable them to expand their network and address the water supply shortage in the area.
Nimusiima said that the new system will pump water at a distance of about 41 kilometers from the main source at the Bukakata landing site.
“The project is going to facilitate the construction of a new supply plant that will directly draw water from Lake Victoria at the Bukakata landing site and deliver it to the different pump stations and a new broad network covering the whole of Masaka City,” he said.
The project will increase the supply capacity to 24,000 cubic meters per day from 8,000 cubic meters per day at present, Nimusiima added.
However, according to Nimusiima, they are targeting to extend their services to at least 350,000 people who could not be served with the existing network that was laid down in the 1970s.
He also explained that the existing water supply system cannot keep up with the ever-growing demand, which in turn has caused the water to be rationed, affecting the supply’s reliability.
The project will also include the construction of a new sewerage treatment plant to accommodate the area’s growing population.
The project comes at a time when the current NWSC main water source for Masaka at Nabajuzi wetland is facing serious threats arising from encroachment, silting, pollution, and other human activities.
Florence Namayanja, the Masaka City Mayor, is optimistic that, upon completion, the new project will help to improve the general sanitation levels of the town.
