South Sudan: Cost of clean water increases in Juba

Countrywide, only 55 per cent of people have access to safe drinking water. Because of increased costs of production, water providers in Juba are producing less and charging more, squeezing people's access to safe water even further.

People living in urban areas, particularly in poorer neighbourhoods, have been hardest hit.

Many people can no longer afford to buy enough safe water.Those who still can afford it, now spend twice as much as they didjust a few months ago.

Most of Juba's residents rely on private sector suppliers such aswater trucks and bicycle vendors, or town boreholes. Although thegovernment caps the price of water, it remains out of reach formany.

For most of the urban poor, the only remaining option is untreated water sources, such as boreholes and the River Nile.

The report mentions that some are spending 15 per cent of theirincome to buy about 30 litres of water for one person's dailyuse. Others have cut their water consumption to only five litres perperson per day, far below international requirements and just a third of the minimum recommended even in emergencies.Only an estimated 13 per cent of Juba residents can access municipal water supply, mostly through a small piped network, boreholes (half of which are dysfunctional) and a single public water filling station on the river bank.

The public system is complemented by a patchwork of small private water suppliers, which end up delivering relatively expensive and low quality water. There are about 300 registered trucks supplying water throughout the city. However, delivery has decreased by 30 per cent as fuel has become expensive.

At least 11 private filling stations pump water from the Nile which is then distributed by water trucks and bicycle vendors. Water is also produced by bottling water factories. But as fuel costs have increased, operation overheads have also gone up by around 35 per cent. For some bottling companies, production has dropped to just 10 per cent of their total capacity. Others have closed shop altogether. As shelf prices increase, bottled water vendors are selling less than half the quantity they used to.

The limited water people get is used for drinking and cooking, with little left for their personal hygiene. In such conditions, humanitarian partners are deeply concerned that this water shortage could worsen and propel further the spread of disease, such as cholera, if the economic situation doesn't improve.SOURCE Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in South Sudan

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