Abstract:
This study examined the current state of water demand and associated energy input for
water supply against a projected increase in water demand in sub-Saharan Africa. Three plausible scenarios,
namely, Current State Extends (CSE), Current State Improves (CSI) and Current State Deteriorates
(CSD) were developed and applied using nine quantifiable indicators for water demand projections
and the associated impact on energy input for water supply for five Water Service Providers (WSPs)
in Kenya to demonstrate the feasibility of the approach based on real data in sub-Saharan Africa.
Currently, the daily per capita water-use in the service area of four of the five WSPs was below
minimum daily requirement of 50 L/p/d. Further, non-revenue water losses were up to three times
higher than the regulated benchmark (range 26–63%). Calculations showed a leakage reduction
potential of up to 70% and energy savings of up to 12 MWh/a. The projected water demand is
expected to increase by at least twelve times the current demand to achieve universal coverage and an
average daily per capita consumption of 120 L/p/d for the urban population by 2030. Consequently,
the energy input could increase almost twelve-folds with the CSI scenario or up to fifty-folds with
the CSE scenario for WSPs where desalination or additional groundwater abstraction is proposed.
The approach used can be applied for other WSPs which are experiencing a similar evolution of their
water supply and demand drivers in sub-Saharan Africa. WSPs in the sub-region should explore
aggressive strategies to jointly address persistent water losses and associated energy input. This
would reduce the current water supply-demand gap and minimize the energy input that will be
associated with exploring additional water sources that are typically energy intensive.
