The Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company (LWSC) began operating in 1988 and it has since experienced challenges with managing water supply and sanitation services to the city.
The population of the city has increased significantly resulting in stress been put on the dilapidated and inadequate water and sanitation infrastructure. In addition, back in the late 1980s, the Zambian Government began the water sector reforms which led to the formulation the water sector policy and the legal frame work to guide the formation water utilities in the country. Shortly thereafter, LWSC was incorporated as a water utility under the Companies Act and the National Water Supply and Sanitation Act. This effectively meant that the responsibility of supplying water and sanitation services to Lusaka City was delinked from the Lusaka City Council and assigned to the new water company. To address several challenges faced LWSC implemented a number of projects and interventions. One such programme was its metering project which resulted in a successful move away from conventional brass meters to pre-paid meters in 2012.According to the Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Report 2012/13 by National Water Supply and Sanitation Council, LWSC has improved remarkably in the following areas:
- Water quality
- Metering ratio
- Collection efficiency
