Mogadishu – Inside the UN compound’s water bottling plant, workers in protective gear operate machines that fill five-gallon reusable plastic bottles with purified drinking water.

The bulk water bottles thereafter roll off a conveyor belt before undergoing a thorough quality check to ensure compliance with World Health Organisation safety standards. Once certified safe, the containers are heat-sealed, date-coded and loaded onto a metallic rack for storage awaiting delivery.

Although not fully operational, the state-of-the-art water plant is already equipped with water storage tanks, bottle de-capping, washing and scrubbing machines and a testing laboratory.

This is an initiative of the United Nations Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS) to provide United Nations and African Union personnel in Mogadishu with reliable, safe drinking water.

Dinesan Cheerathu, the Chief of the General Supply Unit, said the water bottling plant will enhance UNSOS’s water management for personnel by minimising risks of deliberate contamination by hostile actors and supply disruptions due to over reliance on bottled water from Mogadishu town.

To meet the daily drinking water requirements of 1,500 UN and AU personnel in Mogadishu, UNSOS provides 1.5 litres of water per person during office hours, totalling approximately 2,250 litres.

However, distributing this water in single-use plastic bottles increased plastic waste.

This compelled UNSOS to install the bottled water plant to minimise plastic waste by transitioning from single-use bottles to 5-gallon (18.9 litres) refillable containers for water distribution. This initiative aligns with the UN’s environment sustainability objective to reduce, reuse and recycle plastics.

According to Cheerathu, the water bottling plant is contracted to a Somali company, demonstrating UNSOS’ commitment to supporting local businesses.

The plant has the capacity to produce 150 bulk water bottles per hour and provide the precious liquid to more than 1000 individuals within the UNSOS/ATMIS camp for personal use, accounting for 3.0 liters per day per person.

“We have a high capacity and if water consumption increases, we can easily meet those requirements,” said Cheerathu.

During his visit to Somalia last month, the UN Under-Secretary-General in the Department of Operational Support, Atul Khare, hailed the water bottling plant as an innovative solution that cuts costs and reduces plastic waste.

Babacar Diop, the UNSOS Chief of the Life Support Section, said the water bottling plant complements the public drinking water points within the UN compound.