Water and Sanitation Sector

The Water and Sanitation sector has an ambitious target to help the government of Rwanda improve water and sanitation services to achieve 100% access to safe drinking in 2024, which is being guided by National Strategy for Transformation (NST1), Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Vision 2050. Although the access to safe drinking water in Rwanda is 82.3%, the functionality of rural water supply infrastructure is only at the rate of 61%. In addition to that, there is a high rate of non-revenue water of 43%. JICA has been supporting the Government of Rwanda since 2005 to develop water supply by improving operation and maintenance framework(in rural and urban areas), strengthening institutional development and the management of water supply utilities, and building infrastructure to supply water in rural and urban areas.

The City of Kigali (CoK), the capital of Rwanda, is undergoing rapid economic development and urbanization. The city estimates an increase in population from the current 1.3 million to 3.8 million by 2050. In the light of the situation, JICA has implemented the Project to increase the quality and quantity of water supply in City of Kigali by improving the water supply facilities, the transmission pipeline, pump equipment at the water treatment plant, and installation of the new elevated tank. This project contributes to improving the living environment of approximately 440,000 people.

The project’s main activities are comprised of constructing a set of new buildings with 3 units of pump with total capacity of 22,000m3/day and laying of 9.357km long pipes of diameter 900mm from Nzove Water Treatment Plant to Ntora main reservoir, piping with pipe jacking for the 6 locations of river crossings. In addition to that, the project will build an elevated tank with 2 pumps (1 for stand-by) for a total capacity of 576m3/day at Ntora.

JICA has formulated the Kigali Water Supply Master Plan (M/P) in 2021 for efficient and effective facility development from a long-term perspective. The master plan pointed out that reducing the high non-revenue water rate is the highest priority issue to meet the city’s water demand as the potential of future water sources are limited. As a response to enhancement of water demand accompanying this situation, this project aims to provide a stable water supply by developing and updating water transmission and distribution facilities to optimize water pressure and reduce water leakage.

The project aims at strengthening the operation and maintenance framework of rural water supply infrastructure. It also raises the awareness on water resources protection and improve water access for safe drinking water. The Project will strengthen the capacity of all stakeholders involved in rural water management, not only private operators, local districts officers and WASAC support engineers but also water users’ committees, and other stakeholders in rural water supply sector. In addition, through project activities, the districts will be able to well plan and implement “Extension Plans” increasing access to water. This Project will also support water resources environment protection through community mobilization, which will help decrease waterborne diseases, and improving nutrition status by improving water quality.

In WASAC, the reduction of high non-revenue water (NRW) ratio (43%) and high energy consumption is the goal to be achieved by water supply program which will result in improving efficiency of water supply systems. WASAC, which oversees maintenance of the urban water and sewage system, has virtually all the roles up to the financing and implementation of water supply facility development. The Project aims at supporting enhancement of WASAC’s capacity for planning and implementation for the M/P (mentioned in above 2.) through “KAIZEN” approach. “KAIZEN” is a Japanese term meaning "change for the better" or "continuous improvement”. Through the “KAIZEN” spirit, this project is aiming at capacity building of WASAC to realize the above-mentioned M/P , which will guide WASAC to be able to provide reliable water services in a sustainable manner.