The Northern Region Water Board successfully implemented the US$30.50 million Nkhata Bay Town Water Supply and Sanitation Project to contribute to the socio-economic growth of Malawi through the provision of sustainable potable water supply and sanitation services in Nkhata Bay Town and surrounding areas.

SCOPE

The project involved rehabilitating, upgrading and expanding the existing Nkhata Bay Town Water Supply System and provision of solid and liquid waste management facilities to provide reliable and sustainable potable water and sanitation services.

The new water supply system which has extended up to Kapingama to the north (6.2km), Chisu to the north-east (17.7km), Mpamba (through Pundu) to the west (19km), Chombe to the south-west (15.1km), Chizi Point (through Bwelero) to the south-east (11km) and Lweya (through Sanga) to south (39.9km): had three main components:

1. Water Supply Improvement

• Upgraded the water treatment plant capacity from 1,450 to 18,572 cubic metres per day.
• Installed 15.3 kilometre new water transmission pipelines
• installed 250 kilometre new water distribution pipelines
• Constructed 6 storage tanks with total capacity of 9.600 cubic metres
• Installation of 5000 new water connections is underway including 135 communal water points to extend water supply to low income areas and households
• Planted 515,000 seedlings for catchment re-afforestation.

2. Sanitation and Hygiene Improvement

• Constructed solid waste management facility
• Rehabilitated and upgraded liquid waste treatment plant
• Constructed 23 sanitation facilities in public schools and markets
• Provided 2 Skip Carriers and 10 Skip bins for solid waste collection and transportation
• Provided 1 Vacuum truck for liquid waste collection and transportation.
• Sensitized 20,000 people on improved sanitation and hygiene
• Prepared Sanitation and Hygiene Investment Plan for Nkhata Bay District Council

3. Capacity Building

• Carried out Tariff affordability Assessment
• Reviewed and updated Sanitation Policy

BENEFITS

The System is increasing access to potable water and improving health and sanitation to over 105,000 people at Nkhata Bay Town and surrounding areas. The infrastructure is designed for 2040 demand.

FINANCIERS

The project was financed by the African Development Bank - US$15.1 million (Grant), OPEC Fund for International Development - US$12 million (Loan) and the Malawi Government - US$3.45 million.

IMPLEMENTATION PERIOD

The Project was implemented from 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2024.

The Board implemented the EUR 24.6 million Malawi NRWB Water Efficiency Project to contribute to socio-economic growth of Malawi through the provision of reliable, sustainable and affordable water supply services in Mzuzu, Ekwendeni and surrounding areas. 

Project components:

1. Upgraded Ekwendeni Water Treatment plant and pumping mains. Under this component, the NRWB engaged SAWA Group Limited to carry out water supply construction works which involved:

• Upgrading and expanding the treatment capacity of Ekwendeni Treatment Plant from 1,000 m3/day to 6,600 m3/day.
• Upgrading of 12 km of pumping mains.
• Construction of storage tanks with a total capacity of 2,750 m3
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2. Upgraded and expanded the water supply system of Mzuzu and Ekwendeni. Under this component, the NRWB engaged Unik Construction Limited to carry out water supply construction works which involved:

• Rehabilitation, upgrading and expansion of 44 km of distribution network in Mzuzu.
• Rehabilitation, upgrading and expansion of 2 km of pumping mains and 13 km of distribution network in Ekwendeni.
• Construction of storage tanks with a total capacity of 1,000 m3.
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3. Demand management measures in Mzuzu. This component involved the following activities:

• Reduction of non-revenue water from 36% to 20%
• Replacement of at 6,600 malfunctioning post-paid meters
• Installation of solar backup power system
• House to house survey in Mzuzu and Ekwendeni
• Development and rolling out of an On-spot billing system
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4. Supply and installation of pre-paid water meters. This component  involved the procurement of 15,000 prepaid water meters.

The project was financed by the European Investment Bank and will increase access to water supply services for a population of 55,400 in Ekwendeni Town and 345,450 in Mzuzu City by year 2030.The project was implemented from July 2017 to July 2021.

The Government of Malawi through Northern Region Water Board implemented the US$22.85 million Mzimba Integrated Urban Water and Sanitation Project to contribute to socio-economic growth of Malawi through provision of sustainable potable water supply and improved sanitation in Mzimba and surrounding areas.

The Project financed by OPEC Fund for International Development - US$14.85 million, African Development Bank - US$5 million and the Government of Malawi -  US$3 million was implemented between 2015 to 2019

The project had three components: 

• Water Infrastructure Development
• Water Resource Management
• Sanitation and Hygiene

Under the Water Infrastructure Development, NRWB engaged SAWA Group Limited to carry out water supply works. The construction works commenced in May 2017 and were completed in October 2018.

The water supply works involved;

• upgrading and expanding the treatment capacity from 1,500m3/day to 12,000m3/day,
• Upgrading of the transmission pipelines
• upgrading and expansion of the distribution pipe network
• construction of storage tanks with the total capacity of 6500m3.

Under the water resource management, the works involved the establishment and rehabilitation of river gauging stations and catchment protection. The gauging stations were established and rehabilitated for monitoring changes in water levels of Mzimba River.

Under catchment protection, the main activities included tree planting and community support with bee-hives for alternative improved community livelihoods. Over 600 000 trees have been planted

The sanitation and Hygiene component involved promotion of sanitation and hygiene within the communities. Communities within the supply areas have been triggered to adopt improved sanitation and hygiene practices.

The Project has also rehabilitated the sludge ponds near Mzimba District hospital, constructed public latrines in schools and a solid waste disposal site.

The Project further procured a solid waste disposal vehicle (skip carrier) and handed over to M’mbelwa District Council for transporting of wastes to disposal site.

The Project also constructed some auxiliary structures. These included Mzimba Scheme Office complex, some staff houses and a laboratory.

The Northern Region Water Board implemented the Chitipa Water Supply Project between 2015 and 2017. The project has increased the water capacity of Chitipa Water Supply System from 570 cubic metres per day to 5300 cubic metres per day.

The project has developed a new water source 40 kilometres away on Kalenge River replacing motorized boreholes at Chitipa Boma.  A water treatment plant was constructed at Kalenge and 40.9 kilometre transmission pipelines were installed to convey water from Kalenge to Chitipa Boma.

In addition, pump stations, 6 water storage tanks as well as 48.8 kilometre distribution pipelines were constructed and upgraded under the project. 3000 metres were also procured for new water connections.

The new system under the project will supply adequate potable water to 47 000 people which is the project population for Chitipa Boma for year 2030.

The project whose contractor was PLEM Construction was funded to a tune of US$13 million with US$10 million provided by the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) and US$3 million by the Government of Malawi.