HOW SENEGAL DRINKING WATER TREATMENT PLANT IS HELPING IMPROVING WATER SUPPLY

The Project relating to the construction of a third drinking water treatment plant in Keur Momar Sarr (KMS3), launched in 2017 in the Louga department, is a major drinking water facility supplied by Senegal’s Lac de Guiers.  The plant produces an additional 200,000 m³ of drinking water per day.  Water is distributed it over the newly-built 920 kilometre-long network and through a 216-km-long pipeline to 85 household connections. The plant, which was opened in 2021 by Senegalese President Macky Sall, supplies the capital, Dakar, Thiès and other nearb localities with a safe, sustainable and fair supply of water.

For President Sall this large-scale project is a considerable improvement to the water supply for Dakar. Mahécor Ndiaye, who oversaw the project for the African Development Bank, confirms the general satisfaction. “This action is greatly appreciated by the Senegalese authorities and the beneficiary communities,” said “The Bank’s contribution has really added a great deal of value, particularly in terms of raising awareness among local people, building their capacities and, above all, helping beneficiaries develop economic activities and support market garden production.”

A smiling Moussa Sène, the elected representative for the Poutou Bène Tally district on the outskirts of Dakar, is delighted to see the end of the difficult period without water. “The situation had become very difficult,” he said. “Women used to leave the neighbourhood to try to fetch water in remote areas. But since the construction of the plant and the water tower, our taps have been flowing.”

“The water shortages were tough for us, but today, we thank God that we have a constant supply,” said Marie Camara, a “Badianou Gokh” (local “aunties” are recruited by the state as marriage counsellors and healthcare assistants in villages and neighbourhoods to provide maternal and neonatal care) from the Dakar suburbs.

One million Dakar residents now have better service quality and a reliable flow of water. The project aims to make drinking water available from 6 a.m. to 12 a.m. in areas where there is a shortage, with a target of 8 p.m. to 12 a.m. on average in Dakar between 2020 and 2025, and especially to supply new business hubs such as Diamniadio.

“The Keur Momar Sarr plant will enable us to triple our drinking water production capacity, from 200,000 m³ to 600,000 m³ per day, for just under four million people in the Dakar metropolitan area and the localities through which the KMS3 pipeline has been laid,” said SONES Managing Director Charles Fall. “This far exceeds the drinking water needs of the people of Dakar and the surrounding area.”

The third drinking water treatment plant construction project in Keur Momar Sarr is a successful cooperation among technical and financial partners. In conjunction with the state-owned Société nationale des eaux du Sénégal (SONES), the African Development Bank, the French Development Agency, the European Investment Bank, the Islamic Development Bank and the World Bank raised a total of €433 million to fund the project.

The African Development Bank Group’s support of approximately €65 million financed part of the 20-km pipeline from Keur Momar Sarr to Dakar, three 2,500 m³ water towers for storage, and 920 km of distribution networks. It has also created 70,000 “social” connections linking low-income households to the network and supporting the implementation of an awareness-raising programme for the communities benefiting from and/or affected by the project.

The Bank’s contribution has also been used to develop socio-economic infrastructure, such as market gardens, to build warehouses to store farming produce, and to build fruit and vegetable stands so that people in the project area can engage in income-generating activities.

“This action is greatly appreciated by the Senegalese authorities and the beneficiary communities,” said Mahécor Ndiaye, who oversaw the project for the African Development Bank. “The Bank’s contribution has really added a great deal of value, particularly in terms of raising awareness among local people, building their capacities and, above all, helping beneficiaries develop economic activities and support market garden production.”

SOURCE: AfDB