Addis named among top cities with good quality drinking water

A new report reveals that Addis Ababa’s water is one of the best standards even when compared with some cities in the developed world.
The report that was conducted by the Economist Impact said that the capital city’s tap water is suitable for drink.
At the inception the report entitled: ‘The 2021 City Water Optimisation Index’ said that this report investigates the state of water optimisation at the city level and presents the findings of the new City Water Optimisation Index, which can help decision-makers assess their current performance across a range of operational, regulatory and policy domains.
The index assess the availability, reliability and sustainability of water and sanitation services in 51 cities around the word and it said that these cities each face unique water challenges influenced by geography, climate and socio political factors, among others.
The index, which is the first edition, put Los Angeles first as it received the highest overall score in the Index, followed closely by Melbourne, “although the highest overall scorers were largely high-income cities, several low-income and upper-middle-income cities performed well in the individual category scores, particularly in reliability (Dakar and Mombasa) and accessibility (Marrakech),” disclosed the report.
The index said that reliability and accessibility were the two categories in which cities performed best, scoring an average of 72 (out of 100) and 74 respectively. But for sustainability, the average score dropped to 58.
It said that cities measured in the index scored highly on water quality metrics across the board: in 42 out of 51 cities, over 80 percent of treated drinking water meets or exceeds WHO quality standards.
It elaborated that high-income cities score consistently highly on quality metrics; “however, some lower-income cities performed strongly as well, demonstrating that income is not a prerequisite for delivering good quality drinking water to end-users.”
It included Addis Ababa as one of the low incomes cites with good quality drink water for its users.
It read, “This includes Addis Ababa, Dushanbe and Mombasa, all of which have an annual GDP per head of less than USD 5,000, and all meet WHO standards for near-100 percent of their drinking water.”
About the survey, the index explained that in addition to conducting daily manual water quality tests throughout Addis Ababa’s distribution network, the city’s water utility, the Addis Ababa Water and Sewerage Authority, is working with researchers to pilot innovative portable water testing technology in the city, “the new technology is cheaper and more portable than conventional equipment, enabling rapid water quality testing in hard-to-reach areas.”
In addition to bolstering Addis Ababa’s monitoring capabilities, the project has proved the feasibility of near real-time water quality surveillance using this technology and demonstrated its potential applicability for other cities with limited resources.
The index was developed based on a targeted literature review of critical current concepts, best practices and policy themes of urban-level water management, as well as in consultation with water experts from across the globe.
The index framework consists of 47 quantitative and qualitative indicators that assess the extent to which urban water systems feature the necessary policies, infrastructure and systems to optimise their water supply, distribution and treatment networks.
Five cities have been included from Sub Saharan countries including Addis Ababa, Accra and Mombasa.