Access to clean potable water is set to improve in low-income areas as the Blantyre Water Board (BWB) upgrades its water kiosks.
With funding from the International Development Association of the World Bank, BWB is implementing the Malawi Water and Sanitation Project – Phase 1, which includes the construction of smart water kiosks.
Once operational, the smart water kiosks will enable users to purchase water at any time using prepaid tokens.
This innovation is expected to reduce waterborne diseases, such as cholera, particularly in densely populated low-income areas.
The project aims to construct 15 new smart water kiosks and upgrade 15 existing traditional kiosks to smart kiosks.
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Speaking on Thursday after touring construction sites in Chirimba and Mbayani Townships, BWB project engineer Fazil Abdul Latif said the Malawi Water and Sanitation Project seeks to expand access to improved water supply and sanitation services in the Blantyre Metropolitan Area.
“We will install a smart metre so that a customer will have to just tap with a card and draw the volume of water that they want. The difference with the traditional kiosks is that these smart kiosks will be accessible 24 hours every day,” he said.
He added that BWB is currently working on putting together a management model for managing the new kiosks. There are expectations that the model will give locals a chance to have ownership of the facilities.
“Once a management model is complete there will be a set of criteria in appointing the operators but the idea is to have people within the communities running these kiosks,” Latif said.
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Meanwhile, Diana Peter, a resident and potential beneficiary of the new kiosks, expressed optimism about the project.
She said she currently spends up to 2,000 kwacha daily to purchase tap water from private homes.
Once construction is completed in March 2025, BWB will follow in the footsteps of Lilongwe Water Board, which successfully implemented a similar initiative called the E-Madzi facility about two years ago.
This initiative allows customers to pay less than the standard fixed water prices at traditional kiosks.
