Uganda access to safe water increases

Post date: Oct 08, 2020 1:37:23 PM

Without access to clean and safe water, it is almost impossible to have a good life, Dr Fred Muhumuza, a lecturer at Makerere University says.

"The brain and heart are 73% water, the lungs are about 83% water, the skin is 64% water, muscles and kidneys are 79%, while even the bones are 31%. We must have investments that enable people access quality water," Muhumuza adds.

Since independence, the country has been striving to ensure Ugandans access safe water. Currently, the world is battling the COVID-19 pandemic and without access to safe water, this complicates the task ahead. "Now more than ever, access to safe water is critical to the health of families in Uganda.

People need water to wash their hands to stop the spread of the coronavirus," Elsie Attafuah, the United Nations Development Programme Resident Representative for Uganda says. Today, Uganda's rural water coverage is estimated at 69%, while the urban water coverage stands at 79.1%.

That means an average of 74.05% Ugandans have access to safe drinking water.

The Ministry of Water and Environment seeks to increase access to clean and safe water from 69% to 79% in rural areas and from 77% to 100% in urban areas by 2021. Water and environment minister, Sam Cheptoris said the Government is working to increase piped water coverage in urban and rural areas.

"Efforts have been made to increase storage and invest in construction of multipurpose water resourvoirs to boost production and productivity, " said Cheptoris

The minister said 38,517 villages representing 66% out of the total 57,974 villages in the country have been served with clean water. So far, 35 districts have their water coverage above 80%.

The sector has constructed 132,341 domestic water points countrywide, comprising 41,112 (deep boreholes), 21,590 (shallow wells), 29,097 (protected spring), 20,306 (public stand posts/taps) and 20,236 (rainwater harvesting tanks) serving 27, 797,316 people.

Additional delivery of water to 23,910 wards within towns and municipal councils has been served by the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) under the Service Coverage Acceleration Programme and the water ministry projects. The first piped water systems were completed during the colonial period in the 1930s.

The construction of new facilities increased from 1950 to 1965 under the framework of large national development programmes. In the late 1980s, donors began to invest substantial financial resources to rehabilitate and renew the water network in Kampala. Later, the existing systems were only partly maintained and no new facilities were constructed until 1990.

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