State of Water and Wastewater in Addis Ababa: Pre and Post IHDP Condominium Housing Development Program—A Review

For the majority of its existence, Addis Ababa has had predominantly low-quality housing with inadequate water and sanitation services. However, in 2004, the government-led condominium housing development project started changing the availability and quality of these services. Our team has performed a systematic review of articles dealing with this housing development project and related water and wastewater issues. The results of the review show that over 208,000 condominium housing units with modern water and sanitation infrastructure were built between 2005 and 2021. The condominium housing units have a significantly higher per capita water consumption of 60.5 L/d compared to 17 L/d for the city’s old low-quality Kebele houses. The city has had to more than double the pre-2005 water supply and expand its very limited wastewater treatment capacity from a mere 7500 m3/d to more than 185,000 m3/d in response to the new demand. Overall, both the IHDP and private housing development have increased the quality of life for over 30% of Addis Ababa’s residents by providing modern cooking, bathing, and toilet facilities. Despite this, water supply interruptions are persistent and require a sustainable solution.