THIWASCO 1 billion programme to quench the thirst of Thika residents.

Thika Water and Sewerage Company (THIWASCO) has laid a 2-year projection that when implemented, will be able to satisfy the demand for water under their water catchment area.

Through the various projects in the pipeline, the company targets to cancel the current deficit of about 8,000m³ (8 million litres) of water daily, easing pressure on the existing plant that supply fresh water to Thika and its environs.

Currently, the treatment plant pumps out about 37,000m³ of water daily against a demand of about 45,000 m³ daily.

This was revealed by the company’s Chairman Board of Directors Eng. Joseph Mukora Kimani during their End of Year Staff Party.

“For the last few years, Thika’s population has surpassed 200,000, thereby outstripping our existing capacity both in terms of water supply and sewer collection system. In this regard, we have laid down various projects to overcome this shortfall,” said Kimani.

Kariminu Water Project.

Among those projects include the Sh. 850 million Kariminu Water Project near Maryhill School that is expected to inject into the system, about 15, 000m³ of water/day. This project that is currently in procurement stage will benefit areas such as Kianjau, Kiandutu, Kiganjo, Muthara and Athena.

It is funded by the World Bank under performance based project through the Water Services Regulatory Board (WASREB).

The chairman also highlighted about 8 boreholes earmarked for drilling, equipping and upgrading with a view of injecting 6, 000m³ of water/day. They include the borehole at Kimathi Estate, Victory Plaza (CBD), Makongeni, Maryhill, Bendor, Maki and Section 9.

The Maguguni and Gatuanyaga borehole reticulation system will be upgraded with interconnection works done to the Kimuchu and Thika Primary School Boreholes.

THIWASCO, under DANIDA, is doing a feasibility study aimed at increasing water supply and construction of sewerage services along the Northern part of Thika town. This project will include the rehabilitation and upgrading of the existing systems.

This latter project will solve the water deficit in the low lying areas along the Chania River basin such as Ngoingwa, Riverside and Landless estates.

Water Bills.

The company has also started implementing the Mobile Field Assistance (MFA) in their metre reading that has greatly improved metering management that has ensured more transparency and accuracy in their billing system. This system is expected to improve accuracy and reliability of their metre reading and consequent customer satisfaction.

The issue of high water bills has been a big issue in the recent times with so many clients complaining of ‘inflated bills’.

“For decades, so many people have been paying bills calculated on estimates and not the actual metre readings. This had seen so many of them being undercharged. With the introduction of the new billing system, we have now been able to give them the actual readings which at times may mean them paying higher amount than they were doing previously,” explained Kimani.

(Related story: EXPLAINED: THIWASCO Responds to Concerns over High Water Bills.)

He says that they have also started replacing nonfunctional metres with the highly tamper-proof meters which has contributed to reduction of non-revenue water and increase in revenue base.

Call center.

To improve on customer care services, THIWASCO is in the process of introducing a toll-free customer care number and a USSD code that will enable customers to query their bills and make payments at ease.

Sewerage.

The implementation of the World Bank funded sh. 3 billion sewerage system in Thika South is in advanced stage. This project will be supplement with another one that is funded by DANIDA which will serve the low lying region along Chania River on the Northern parts of Thika Town.

Upon completion within the next two years, the two projects will service the entire Thika catchment area with a sewerage network.