WaterAid boosts pre-paid metres installation
TANZANIA: AS the government targets to install pre-paid water metres to 50 per cent of clients in rural and urban areas come December 2025, a Non-Governmental Organisation, WaterAid Tanzania has installed the equipment to 25,000 people in Manyara and Arusha regions.
WaterAid Tanzania, Country Director Anna Mzinga said that her organisation is proud to have invented the pre-paid metres in Tanzania. She said in 2018, WaterAid, in partnership with EwaterPay Company, installed pre-paid water metres at Sangara Village in Manyara, reaching 2,000 people.
In 2021, through a five-village water project in Arumeru District, Arusha Region, the firm installed the water gauges to 23,000 citizens.
“Through these two projects, a client can top up money through their phone that activates a special token used in fetching water, where for 30/-, a person can get a bucket of 20 litres. The money collected goes straight to the Community-Based Water Supply Organisations (CBWSOs),” she said.
Ms Mzinga noted that WaterAid has continued to learn ways to improve the innovative service from one project implementation to the other where it continues to use the same innovation on other projects such as the Kwamaizi dam project in Itigi District, Singida Region.
“We commend the government for adopting this innovation and as an organisation, we believe in innovation since it is one of the approaches in delivering and implementing our projects. We will continue to complement the government in designing innovative technologies and later bring positive outcomes in accessing clean and safe water, especially in lifting off the bucket from a woman head in Tanzania,” said Ms Mzinga.
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She noted that one of the goals of WaterAid Tanzania is to focus strategically in Hanang District, Manyara Region, in its 5-year country programme strategy implementation.
“The implementation of projects in this district will showcase clear examples of innovation and partnerships that will assist in reaching every citizen with sustainable clean and safe water, sanitation and hygiene which can be adopted and implemented in other areas,” she said.
Tabling the 2024/2025 budget for the Ministry of Water in the National Assembly recently, minister in charge of the docket Jumaa Aweso said that he use of pre-paid water meters offers several significant advantages over traditional post-paid water meters, including improved debt collection and enhanced revenue collection, enhancing water use efficiency and controlling water leakages losses to customer.
“By recognising the importance of these meters, the ministry, through the water authorities and CBWSOs, has continued to install them to customers…as of April 2024, a total of 13,526 clients were already connected to pre-paid water metres out of 2,019,951 rural and urban clients,” the minister said.
He named the Water and Sanitation Authorities that have installed the pre-paid metres to clients as Iringa, which has installed 6,544 metres, Dodoma (1,085), Tanga (627) and for rural areas, RUWASA has installed a total of 1,986 metres in various regions.
He noted that in implementing President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s directives which required the ministry to speed up the process of installing the pre-paid water metres to reach all citizens in the country, the ministry has come up with a strategy to accelerate the installation of prepaid water metres.
Aweso said that, through the strategy, 50 per cent of water clients in both rural and urban areas will have been installed with the metres by December 2025.
Last month, President Samia directed the Ministry of Water to install prepaid water metres across the country to address the concerns raised by public regarding inconsistencies between water consumption and monthly charges.
