Thika sewer firm braces for anticipated downpour

Thika residents have been assured that plans are in place to ensure the expected El Nino rains do not wreak havoc in their residential areas.

Thika Water and Sewerage Company (Thiwasco) management maintains that requisite measures have been taken in conjunction with the Kiambu County government to ensure there will be minimal flooding in residential areas.

Thiwasco managing director Moses Kinya says among the steps taken are unblocking all drainages, raising and replacing sewer manhole covers that are likely to get submerged by storm waters and protecting water intake areas from silting that comes with heavy rains via embankments.

“Jointly with the County government we have been unblocking drainages using our flushing system that clears all the accumulated silt in in the drainage system, replacing sewer manhole covers and additionally protecting water intake areas with bullworks,” said Kinya.

He was speaking to journalists during a tree planting exercise sponsored by the company at the Kang’oki dumpsite where over 5,000 tree seedlings were planted in anticipation of the heavy rains.

Rising population

At the same time, the water provider disclosed that some 57 million litres of water will be injected into the Thika supply system to meet a rapidly growing demand from the rising population up to the year 2042.

Besides this, the company will be constructing three new modern sewer plants at Pilot Estate, Gatuanyaga and Nanga water works which will be producing biogas, in addition to the existing conventional ones.

Thika town that has been touted to be a city and which has a population of 379,429 residents as per the 2019 national census has been short of key water and waste disposal infrastructure, a situation that calls for urgent interventions.

To stabilise water supply within the major town for the next 20 years, Thiwasco management has undertaken Sh11 billion projects that are expected to double the company’s water production.

Funded by the Danish International Development Agency (Danida) Sustainable Infrastructure Finance (DSIF) and the Kenyan government, the projects that are under detailed design stage will see new dams and water treatment sites constructed.

The projects are expected to generate 36,000 cubic metres of water daily similar to which the company produces every day against a demand of 60,000 cubic metres.

Thika District Business Association chairman Alfred Wanyoike expressed the need for the company to expedite completion of key infrastructural projects to adequately feed the to-be city with enough water and waste disposal amenities.