Hotels put up water tanks as shortage bites

As the high tourist season sets in, hotels at the coast are working round the clock to ensure the erratic supply of water by the providers does not upset their patrons.

Hoteliers have been quoted as saying the water supply has been a major setback, and most are now investing huge amounts of money on water storage systems to supplement the water they receive from the Coast Water Services Board.

The general manager of Sarova Whitesands Resort and Spa Mohamed Hersi said they were now working on a desalination project that will cost the hotel Sh20 million.

“We have realised that we are wasting a lot of water and we need to maximise on the stocks we keep. The hotel will now be recycling the waste water and using it for cleaning and gardening.

Clean environment

“In doing this, we are trying to kill two birds with one stone; water that would go to waste is purified and reused, while at the same time ensuring a clean environment,” he said.

But Mr Hersi, who sits on the board of the water provider, said the biggest challenge in ensuring steady supply of water was dilapidated infrastructure. He said most of the system was not working efficiently due to old age, leading to leakages and a lot of waste.

He, however, has advice for the Government: Embark on a campaign to encourage companies to embrace the green revolution by recycling waste water and putting it to other use instead of just relying on the supply from the Mombasa Water and Sewerage Company.

Another hotelier, Mr David Langat, said despite their monthly water bill that ranges from Sh300,000 to 360,000 per month, they are forced to buy water from private water suppliers using water bowsers.

Mr Langat of Sai Rock Resort in North Coast said they had invested resources on underground water tanks, which help when there is a supply problem.

“This area has a lot of water resources mainly in Mzima, Marere and Baricho, but what is lacking is proper management, and that is why the Coast Water Services Board must put its act together,” he said.

The remarks by hoteliers come a few days after a notice by the Coast Water Services Board, of a 14-day interruption of water supply in Mombasa, Malindi, Kilifi, Ganze and Kaloleni due to what they described as planned maintenance at Baricho Water Works.

The interruption is expected to last two weeks, and has already sparked fears that the situation would be much worse as Baricho is the main supplier to Mombasa and its environment.

The Mombasa Water and Sewerage Company corporate affairs official Christine Pekeshe attributed the water problem to lack of capacity to supply the commodity to all consumers.

“We can only supply 35 per cent of the population within Mombasa and its environs, which is done on rotational basis,” she said in a telephone interview.

Due to water scarcity, Ms Pekeshe said they had been forced to supply the water on a three-some programme where every suburb and the island get their share on particular days.

“For example, North Coast gets its supplies on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday of every week,” she said.

To ensure enough supplies, Coast Provincial General Hospital chief administrator, Dr Heltan Maganga, said they had sunk a bore hole to supplement their supplies from the MWSC.

“We rely on our underground tank that has the capacity to store water that can be used for three weeks without additional supplies,” he said.

Mombasa District heavily depends on water sources from outside the area for its needs. Its main sources are the Mzima Springs and Baricho Water Works, while Tiwi bore holes and Marere springs supply Likoni area.

Generally, the whole district has a daily water demand of 200,000 cubic metres against the available 130,000 cubic metres. There is, therefore, a water shortfall of 70,000 cubic metres, which is met by tapping the ground water sources. In fact, 13,286 out of 183,540 households in the district are almost permanently dependent on ground water.

This has caused a problem in the main commercial centres within the island and its environs.

The Port of Mombasa and major industrial establishments, including the petroleum refinery, steel manufacturing and food processing firms in Changamwe and Bamburi Portland Cement Factory in Kisauni all grapple to get enough water supplies for their operations.

However, the growing population of labour force from other parts of the country has proved to be a serious challenge to the provision of housing and essential services such as water, sanitation and health care.

According to the Tsavo East and Tsavo West Kenya Wildlife Service assistant director Jonathan Kirui, the ongoing water crisis in the country has also hit hard the wildlife within the two national parks.

“The two parks are experiencing their worst drought in many years, and our dependable rivers such as Voi and Galana are not satisfying the wild animals’ needs,” he said during a telephone interview.

He warned that unless rains come to salvage the situation, the animals would continue facing imminent danger of death due to lack of adequate water.