Water supply and sanitation in Senegal is characterized by a relatively-high level of access compared to most of sub-Saharan Africa. A public–private partnership (PPP) has operated in Senegal since 1996, with Senegalaise des Eaux (SDE, a subsidiary of Saur International) the private partner. SDE does not own the water system, but manages it on a 10-year lease from the Senegalese government. Between 1996 and 2014, water sales doubled to 131 million cubic meters per year; the number of household connections increased by 165 percent, to over 638,000. According to the World Bank, "The Senegal case is regarded as a model of public-private partnership in sub-Saharan Africa". A national sanitation company is in charge of sewerage, wastewater treatment and stormwater drainage, which is modeled on the national sanitation company of Tunisia and is unique in sub-Saharan Africa.
Access In 2015, 75 percent of Senegal's population had access to at least one basic water source and 48 percent had access to basic sanitation. There is a significant difference between water supply in urban areas (91-percent access) and rural areas (63 percent). Sanitation access rates also differ significantly between urban and rural areas, with 66 percent of the urban population having sanitation access and 35 percent of the rural population having access. In urban areas, 75 percent of the population has access to water connections in their house or on their property and 17 percent rely on water kiosks and standpipes. Nineteen percent of the country's urban population are connected to sewers, and 60 percent are served by septic tanks or improved household-level latrines.
Source: Joint Monitoring Program for Water and Sanitation of the WHO and UNICEF A key source for these figures is the Senegalese survey, part of the WHO's 2003 World Health Survey. The figure for access to an improved source of water in urban areas (92 percent) is somewhat lower than the figure reported by the utility SDE and quoted, among others, by the World Bank (98 percent).
Service Water supply in Dakar and most other cities in Senegal is continuous. In 1994, service was provided for an average of 16 hours per day. Faced with increasing demand from newly-connected users and constraints on water resources, the private operator initially distributed supply interruptions equitably among Dakar's neighborhoods. The average hours of supply per day were increased to 19 in 2001, and a continuous water supply was achieved in 2006; this was facilitated by the 1999 expansion of a water pipeline from Lac de Guiers. In 2004, 97.7 percent of water samples were in conformity with microbiological water norms (up from 96 percent in 1996).
Water resources
Senegal's climate is tropical, with well-defined dry and humid seasons. Dakar's annual rainfall of about 600 millimetres (24 in) falls between June and October. The mean annual precipitation ranges from 270 millimetres (11 in) per year in the north to 1,793 millimetres (70.6 in) per year in the south. Interior temperatures are much higher than they are along the coast. The largest water resource in the country is the Senegal River in the north, which is shared with Mauritania, Mali and Guinea. Its average flow is 37 billion cubic meters per year. The Lac de Guiers is an important water reservoir in the upper delta of the Senegal River, with a storage volume of almost 500 million cubic meters. It is a chief source of fresh water for Dakar, hundreds of kilometers south-west, through underground pipes. Although Senegal River water is abundant, water in most of the rest of the country is scarce. Other major surface water bodies include the Casamance River, the Gambia River, the Saloum River, the Geba River, the Falémé River and the Tamna lagoon near Thiès. Senegal has about three billion cubic meters of renewable groundwater, excluding groundwater which overlaps surface water. Total water withdrawals in 1987 were 1.4 billion cubic meters, of which 92 percent was for agriculture, three percent for industry and five percent for domestic uses. Groundwater reserves include aquifers up to 20 metres (66 ft) deep in the Casamance and 40–60 metres (130–200 ft) deep in Kaolack and Tamba, and crop-outs near Dakar and Thiès. They also include aquifers at a depth of 200–400 metres (660–1,310 ft). Groundwater stocks are estimated at seven billion cubic meters. Groundwater overexploitation (overdrafting) is a serious problem in parts of Senegal. Mont Rolland, 70 kilometres (43 mi) from Dakar, was known for its mineral springs; villagers currently need to drill as deep as 80 metres (260 ft) to pump water. The village's groundwater was seriously depleted by over-extraction by the mineral-water company, which is presently closed. Almost 80 percent of Senegalese horticulturalists are located near Mont Rolland. Dakar is supplied primarily with water drawn from fossil aquifers which may be over-exploited and contaminated with salt water. Some water is being brought in from the Ngnith water-treatment plant on the Lac de Guiers through a pipeline whose capacity was increased in 1999. Because of growing demand and the need to close contaminated boreholes, surface water will have to be brought from the Senegal River, about 240 kilometres (150 mi) away, requiring high investment costs to expand the existing pipeline. The additional Senegal River water is expected to increase from 0.5 m3/s to about 6.0 m3/s in 2030. The requirements are well within Senegal's water rights under agreements with neighboring countries. However, such large quantities of water would have a significant environmental impact on the Lac de Guiers and the Senegal River delta. Future low flow on the Senegal River is difficult to predict due to climate change and uncertainties about the Manantali Dam. Most of Dakar's wastewater is discharged, without treatment, into the Atlantic Ocean. The Cambérène wastewater-treatment plant, Senegal's largest, treats about 15 percent of the wastewater generated in Dakar. Since 2007, the station has been operated and expanded by the French company SAUR. Some of the treated wastewater is being reused. By 2007, water was being reused for a golf course and was envisaged for the irrigation of trees, green space and vegetable gardens after tertiary treatment.
Infrastructure
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