No less than 650 additional solar-powered water meters will be installed in Tanzania. This time, the cities concerned are Dodoma, the capital, and Singida, in the center of the country. The contract was awarded to RSKeWATERservices, a joint venture between RSK, an integrated environmental, engineering and technical services company, and eWATERservices, a developer of the prepaid water distribution system using mobile “eWaterPay” technology.
RSKeWATERservices will supply the “eWaterpay” water meters. These smart, Internet-connected devices will be used to modernize old faucets, connecting them to a digital portfolio. Thanks to pay-as-you-go (pay-per-use), residents will be able to “fetch water and pay in small amounts”. According to eWATERservices managers, for 1 cubic meter of water, people will pay just one dollar (2,319 Tanzanian shillings). They also indicate that the revenue collected will be used to cover the costs of access to drinking water (operation and maintenance of the systems).
The eWaterpay technology is well known in Tanzania. About 2 years ago, similar solar-powered water meters were installed in the north of this East African country. Other African countries are also benefiting from this technology, like Gambia and Ghana, totalling 110 beneficiary families on the continent, with more than 260,000 m³ of water distributed per day in rural areas.
Inès Magoum