Managing non-revenue water in Mwanza, Tanzania: A fast-growing sub-Saharan African city

High non-revenue water (NRW) and unreliable water supply services are major challenges in operations of the water infrastructure of most fast-growing cities in developing countries. In this study, an analysis of the existing distribution network was carried out to investigate its performance concerning water loss reduction and system improvement. A high percentage of NRW (50%) was found in a selected district metering area (DMA) compared to the city's entire network (37%). About 87% of the NRW was contributed by real losses in the DMA, while about 52% of the nodal junctions had pressure above the recommended thresholds. The high pressure was responsible for the observed leakages and pipe bursts in the DMA. Optimization of pressure by using pressure-reducing valves as well as changing the network topology minimized the potential leakages to 46%. Also, flow velocities in about 83% of the pipes were found inadequate leading to poor water quality due to water stagnation. Low velocities were due to oversized indicating incidence of unplanned spatial and temporal expansion of the distribution network. This study, therefore, revealed that a comprehensive zone by zone assessment of water distribution network can improve the management of non-revenue in unplanned urban areas which is in line with ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.