Kenya to tame illegal water sellers in city estates

Kenya is set to tame illegal water sellers in city estates. The Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) in collaboration with the Ministry of Water and Sanitation, announced that it is in the process of developing an application that will enable city residents to identify all registered water bowsers in Nairobi.

According to the NMS, the app will operate like a taxi-hailing service showing the number of water bowsers available in a specific area from which residents will be able to order water from bowsers near them. It will also show where the water bowsers collect their water and the amount they have paid for the water while also indicating to the user the amount a vendor is selling.

“NMS in collaboration with the Ministry of Water and Sanitation is in the process of developing an app that will enable customers to view all registered water bowsers and allow them to choose which one to buy from. This will eliminate the exorbitant prices charged by water vendors across the capital city as well as ensure the safety of the water you order,” said the NMS.

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Monitoring

As part of the plan, NMS in collaboration with Water Services Regulatory Board (Wasreb) in 2020 embarked on registration and monitoring of vendors and bowsers operations in the city in order to regulate the cost and quality of water.

All water vendors using bowsers within the metropolitan area were required to apply for registration and undergo strict vetting and licensing before being given the go-ahead to operate. The new development comes as a response to cries from residents of informal settlements in Nairobi who continue to purchase water at exorbitant prices due to lack of adequate water supply.

Despite the residents being low salary earners, they are forced to dig deeper into their pockets to buy water from the vendors who make a kill by charging as high as Sh50 for a 20-litre jerrican with the source and quality of water not known. The same amount of water goes for Sh2 or less when sourced from Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company.