BITA Water Project to Secure Over 1,000 Household Connections in Luanda

Luanda: A total of 1,572 household connections across Luanda neighborhoods will be completed by 2027 through the BITA potable water distribution project, according to Helder Cunha, the project specialist. According to Angola Press News Agency, the project aims to improve water supply infrastructure for the southern and southeastern areas of Luanda province, specifically targeting the municipalities of Kilamba, Belas, and Camama. The BITA project will source water from the Kwanza River via its Luê branch and comprises 13 contracts. It includes components such as the construction of a water treatment plant, the BITA Distribution Center (CD), and the raw water pipeline. The project will deliver water to the BITA, Cabo Longo, Ramiros, and Mundial distribution centers while boosting supply to the Benfica 2 and Camama areas. The intake facility is currently under construction and is designed for a future capacity of nine cubic meters per second, while the pumping system and the Water Treatment Plant (WTP) are siz ed for three cubic meters per second. By combining the storage capacities of the new distribution centers namely BITA, Cabo Longo, Ramiros, and Mundial, a total storage capacity of around 100,000 cubic meters will be achieved. According to the official in charge, the project package comprising the Water Treatment Plant (ETA), the Raw Water Pumping Station (EBAB), the BITA Distribution Center (CD/BITA), and the raw water pipeline valued at 320 million officially began on March 10, 2023, and is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2027. Helder Cunha stated that the BITA project has employed approximately 4,117 workers, both men and women. Work is already underway on the intake channel and the intake structure itself, which has been sized to accommodate a future expansion to a capacity of 9 cubic meters per second. Initially, the project will process 3 cubic meters per second; however, as it evolves or likely during a subsequent expansion phase, this capacity will increase to six and eventually rea ch 9 cubic meters per second. Regarding overall progress, the intake structure is 52% complete, with all work scheduled to finish by the end of December 2026. The BITA project also includes a raw water pipeline spanning approximately 5 kilometers designed to transport water from the Kwanza River intake point to the treatment plant. An access road is being built to facilitate movement between the treatment plant and the Raw Water Pumping Station (EBAB) area. The cast-iron pipeline (with a 1,400-millimeter diameter) is 66% complete, while the access road is 70% complete. The reservoir designed to receive all treated water from the treatment facilities has a capacity of 50,000 cubic meters; from there, pumps will transfer the water to the distribution tower, which stands 50 meters tall and has a capacity of 2,000 cubic meters. Another component of this project involves the process water treatment plant, which is tasked with treating all water from the treatment system; a portion will be discharged into the env ironment via the outfall-meeting all standard discharge requirements-while some of the excess water will be sent back to the treatment system for reuse. In terms of progress, 77% of the work on the integrated package has been completed.