The National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) has announced it will switch off the water supply in the East wing of Kampala City supply effective 8 am on April 25 to April 26, 2023” as they conduct a system upgrade to improve water supply in the city.
The 24-hour planned system upgrade will affect residents and business communities in the East wing of Kampala who are dependent on the Katosi water plant
NWSC informed all its customers and the general public that shutdown will allow project contractors and NWSC engineers to undertake general maintenance of water treatment units, electromechanical systems, and inspection of underwater systems.
Among the named areas to be affected are Mukono, Mbalala, Seeta Sonde, Ntinda Naguru Naalya, Bukooto and surrounding areas.
The other areas are Namuwongo, Kira, and parts of Butabika, Namanve, Najjera, Gayaza, Kasangati and surrounding environs.
NWSC Public Relations Officer John Fisher Sekabira reasoned that “24 hours is to allow us to work efficiently.”
He- added: “What we are trying to do is to finish the work within time so that we don’t inconvenience our customers. We request them to use water sparingly during this time and we will do our best to finish work within time.”
Kat Katosi Water Treatment Plant is located in the lakeside town of Katosi, in Ntenjeru sub county, Mukono District, in the Buganda Region of Uganda.
Katosi is approximately 23.5 kilometres (15 mi), by road, southeast of the town of Mukono, where the district headquarters are located.
As far back as 2011, the Uganda government, through the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC), began to make plans to construct a new water treatment facility at Katosi, to augment the facilities at Ggaba (Ggaba I, II & III), to meet the needs of the rapidly expanding population of Kampala and surrounding districts.
GKW Consult GmbH, in association with Alliance Consultants Limited, were contracted by the NWSC to provide consulting services for the preparation of designs for the new Drinking Water Treatment Plant near Katosi. Tendering and supervision of the construction works, are part of this consulting contract.
The design also includes the evacuation pipeline to a storage reservoir on Nsumba Hill, about 7 kilometres (4 mi), to the north-west.
When completed, the plant is expected to have initial capacity of 160,000 cubic meters (160,000,000 L) of water daily, expandable to 240,000 cubic meters (240,000,000 L) of water daily. The target population is the estimated 4.5 million people by the year 2025 and 7 million by the year 2040, expected to inhabit the city of Kampala, and its surrounding metropolis.
