Addis water treatment plant to be upgraded

ADDIS ABABA - The Addis Ababa City Administration Water and Sewerage Authority signed an agreement with two international companies to upgrade Addis Ababa's water treatment station by 1,333 percent within 18 months Monday. It was also noted that the total cost of the upgrading works of the plant is 100 million USD to be secured as soft loan from the World Bank.

Signing the agreement, Addis Ababa Water and Sewerage Authority General Manager Awoke Haile-Mariam said that there is a huge gap between the capacity of the current water treatment plant and potable water demands in the City. "To narrow the gap in the shortest possible time, the Authority has now signed such significant agreement to raise the capacity of the plant with two well experienced international companies," he added.

According to Awoke, the agreement would increase the current capacity of the plant from 7,500 to 100,000 meters cube per day. Upon completion, it would be one of the largest water treatment plants on the continent. The project is expected to benefit 64 per cent of the city residents. Greece Ambassador to Ethiopia Nicolas Protonotarios on his part said that the two sisterly countries have many things in common and age-long bi-lateral relations. The agreement to engage in such huge project by the Greece company would further strengthen the existing economic and social ties between the two countries, he added.

At the event, DENYS Belgium International Company and AKTOR Greece International Company's representatives called for the Authority and community to extend support for the success of the project to complete on schedule.

It was learnt that the 18 kilometers Water Treatment line expansion project would be built by DENYS Belgium International Company. The construction of the plant would be carried out by AKTOR Greece International Company as well. The government has also allocated over one billion Bin for sub line expansion and related activities.