This archive report was first published on 8 July 2020.
Published on July 8, 2020, a report by Water Service Regulatory Board (Wasreb) has shed light on the alarming rate at which Kenya's water service providers are losing revenue.
According to the report, the country's water service providers could be losing up to Sh8.9 billion annually due to leakages, illegal connections, and poor management.
Unbilled water currently stands at 43 percent, far exceeding the acceptable benchmark of 20 percent.
Out of the 88 service providers assessed, only eight had their unbilled water within the acceptable range, said Robert Gakubia, Wasreb's chief executive officer.
He noted that the 115 million cubic meters of water lost every year is enough to serve Nairobi County with a daily demand of 750,000 cubic meters per day for five months.
"It is therefore evident that unbilled water starves the sector of the scarce resources which can be harnessed to significantly improve access levels," Gakubia said.
Wasreb is developing an online system for anonymous reporting, dubbed Operation Okoa Maji, to combat the issue.
The regulator is confident that the initiative will help close the current service provision gap without the need to build new infrastructure or exploit new water sources in the short to medium term.
The report also highlighted the worst-performing counties, including Nithi, Kwale, Homa Bay, Sibo, Gusii, Kitui, Kirinyaga, and Lamu.
Non-sewerage coverage has decreased to 17 percent from 19 percent over the past 10 years, attributed to population increase and rapid urbanization.
