Lukunga River
Encyclopedia
The Lukunga River is a river that flows through the capital city of Kinshasa
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a tributary of the Congo River
.
Kinshasa lies on a plain that is surrounded by hills, drained by many rivers. Of these, the Lukunga is one of the more important, and for this reason gives its name to the Lukunga District
of the city.
The river originates to the west at an elevation of 520 metres (1,706 ft) in the hills of Ngomba Kikusa, in the commune of Ngaliema
. It is no wider than 10 metres (32.8 ft) and is never deeper than 2 metres (6.6 ft) due to constant deposits of sediment. The river drains the Ngaliema commune, Mama Mobutu city and part of Mont-Ngafula, and forms the boundary between Ngaliema and Mont-Ngafule. On its right bank the Lukunga is fed first by the Ikusu River, which has its source at a height of 400 metres (1,312.3 ft) and then by the Mbinza River, which rises at a height of 480 metres (1,574.8 ft).
Before independence, one of the two water treatment plants for Leopoldville, now Kinshasa, was on the Likunga river at Kinsuka in the Ngaliema district. The station had been designed to last for 30 years with normal maintenance, but was in very poor shape by 1985.
The station was built in 1939, and supplies about 48000 cubic metres (12,680,257.8 US gal) of drinking water annually for a population of at least 500,0000.
The catchment area was protected by dense forest cover until the 1970s.
Since then, unplanned agriculture and building have exposed the steep and sandy soils to erosion by heavy rainfalls, raising levels of turbidity to the point where the station must halt operations.
Frequent dredging is needed to keep the channel open, as well as use of imported chemical coagulants and lime to make the water drinkable.
|title=Watershed degradation increases water treatment costs
|work=UNEP DR Congo
|year=2008
|accessdate=2011-11-30}}
Kinshasa
Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located on the Congo River....
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a tributary of the Congo River
Congo River
The Congo River is a river in Africa, and is the deepest river in the world, with measured depths in excess of . It is the second largest river in the world by volume of water discharged, though it has only one-fifth the volume of the world's largest river, the Amazon...
.
Kinshasa lies on a plain that is surrounded by hills, drained by many rivers. Of these, the Lukunga is one of the more important, and for this reason gives its name to the Lukunga District
Lukunga District
Lukunga is one of the four districts that make up the capital city of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo .It includes the communes of Barumbu, Gombe, Kinshasa, Kintambo, Lingwala, Mont Ngafula and Ngaliema....
of the city.
The river originates to the west at an elevation of 520 metres (1,706 ft) in the hills of Ngomba Kikusa, in the commune of Ngaliema
Ngaliema
Ngaliema is a municipality in the Lukunga district of Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.-Location:Ngaliema is situated in the west of Kinshasa...
. It is no wider than 10 metres (32.8 ft) and is never deeper than 2 metres (6.6 ft) due to constant deposits of sediment. The river drains the Ngaliema commune, Mama Mobutu city and part of Mont-Ngafula, and forms the boundary between Ngaliema and Mont-Ngafule. On its right bank the Lukunga is fed first by the Ikusu River, which has its source at a height of 400 metres (1,312.3 ft) and then by the Mbinza River, which rises at a height of 480 metres (1,574.8 ft).
Before independence, one of the two water treatment plants for Leopoldville, now Kinshasa, was on the Likunga river at Kinsuka in the Ngaliema district. The station had been designed to last for 30 years with normal maintenance, but was in very poor shape by 1985.
The station was built in 1939, and supplies about 48000 cubic metres (12,680,257.8 US gal) of drinking water annually for a population of at least 500,0000.
The catchment area was protected by dense forest cover until the 1970s.
Since then, unplanned agriculture and building have exposed the steep and sandy soils to erosion by heavy rainfalls, raising levels of turbidity to the point where the station must halt operations.
Frequent dredging is needed to keep the channel open, as well as use of imported chemical coagulants and lime to make the water drinkable.
Sources
|url=http://postconflict.unep.ch/congo/en/content/watershed-degradation-increases-water-treatment-costs|title=Watershed degradation increases water treatment costs
|work=UNEP DR Congo
|year=2008
|accessdate=2011-11-30}}