By Business Daily
High levels of piped water loss are hurting expansion to homes, a new industry report shows, shining the spotlight on a biting cash flow challenge facing utilities as demand increases.
A survey by Water Services Regulatory Board (Wasreb) established that 41 percent of the 428 million cubic metres (units) produced in the year under review did not generate any income.
This means 175.48 million units (175.48 billion litres) of water went to wastage from a business perspective, slightly reduced from 182.7 billion litres or 42 percent of total water production of 435 million units in the 2016-17 financial year.
As a result of 1.61 percent drop in water production in the 12 months through June 2018 compared with a year earlier, earnings by utilities fell Sh881 million or 4.28 percent to Sh19.7 billion from Sh20.6 billion previously.
The findings, based on feedback from 88 utilities (86 public and two private), suggests that more than half of water pumped by firms in 14 counties in the review year was not billed.
This is a rise from 12 counties which experienced more than 50 percent water loss a year earlier.
Water loss in Siaya was at 70 percent of production followed by Homabay, Kwale and Baringo with 67, 66 and 59 percent respectively of the water they pumped not being billed. Read more>>
