Consulting and engineering services provider Royal HaskoningDHV and Dutch water utility Vitens Evides International (VEI) will develop a €2.2-million water distribution system for the northern parts of Mozambique’s capital, Maputo.
The water distribution system would supply safe drinking water to 550 000 residents from 20 000 households, while covering an area of about 900 km2 that was rapidly becoming urbanised.
"The new system will improve drinking water quality and quantity and will reduce the costs per litre for the inhabitants that now depend on unreliable sources. As well as helping to improve existing living conditions, the system will be future-proofed to accommodate Maputo's rapidly growing population,” Royal HaskoningDHV project director Bob Bakker said.
The consortium had been commissioned by asset holding company Fundo de Investimento e Patrimonio do Asbestecimento de Agua of Mozambique (Fipag) to implement all services required for the development phase of the project, which would be financed by the Dutch government's ORIO donor funding programme.
Royal HaskoningDHV said the system would form part of the Corumana Water Supply System, a $130-million project funded through a World Bank loan to the Mozambique government to service Maputo.
The Corumana system would initially supply 60 000 m3/d of treated drinking water from the Corumana dam to the capital; however, this capacity would be extended to 120 000 m3/d during a second phase that would enable Fipag to cover all inhabitants of the city.
The coverage of potable water supply in Maputo was still below 50%.
Bakker explained that the Corumana system would be Maputo's second water supply system, as the existing supply system was no longer sufficient to deal with demand.
“Our main challenge will be to design a distribution system that will cope with a rapidly growing population and to construct it in an area where urban infrastructure facilities such as roads are still under development,” he said.
Royal HaskoningDHV and VEI would be responsible for the design of the new system, including new distribution centres, a main distribution ring and at least 192 km of primary and secondary distribution lines.
Services to be supplied by the joint venture would include, besides others, socioeconomic surveys, topographical and geotechnical surveys, operation and maintenance, organisational development, as well as finance.
The consortium would also put out a call for tenders to construct the water distribution system.
The design works were expected to be completed in April 2014, with construction to start at the end of that year.
Royal HaskoningDHV and VEI would continue to provide technical support to Fipag and the future water supply operator of the Corumana system following the completion of construction.