The Ethiopia Water Technology Institute is constructing a specialised laboratory for water testing and research at the cost of 145 million Br. The lab, which reached 80pc completion, is fully funded by the government and will be the first of its kind in the country.

The lab will test the quality of water for drinking, irrigation, agro-processing, and tourism and recreation. The testing is conducted to measure the content of the water and determine safety and suitability for its intended utilisation in line with the standards set by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The specialised laboratory will have facilities for chemical, bacteriological, radioactive, and water construction materials testing, as well as training rooms for staff. The two-storey laboratory, which lies on 1,770Sqm of land in the Aqaki Qality District, is expected to be operational in February.

Bereket Endeshaw Building Contractor was hired in 2018 to construct the facility with the supervision of the Ethiopian Construction Design & Supervision Works Corporation.

The establishment of the lab aims to minimise all water quality-related risks by identifying the gaps of other laboratories, according to Wasihun Alemayehu, communications head at the Institute, which was first formed in 1997 as the Ethiopian Water Technology Education Centre with the technical assistance of the Japan International Cooperation Agency and re-established eight years ago.

The country lacks specialised water testing laboratories and has been forced to spend foreign currency sending water samples abroad for testing, according to Abebe Guluma, laboratory director at the Institute that conducts research and studies the adverse effects of industries, treated-sewage, bio-chemicals, pesticides, compost, climate change, and water-treatment on the quality of the country's water resources.

“This has necessitated embarking on the project,” Abebe said.

In addition to the foreign currency expenditure, results take a long time to arrive, according to Abebe.

The lab will enable public and private institutions to conduct testing at its facilities without payment if they can supply the chemicals and reagents needed to carry out the testing.

To confirm quality and certify the products of water bottlers, the Ethiopian Conformity Assessment Enterprise conducts chemical, micro-biological, and radiation evaluation that assesses the mineral content, microbial contamination, and the amount of radiation in the water, respectively.