Ndjili River
Encyclopedia
The Ndjili River is a river that flows from the south through the capital city of Kinshasa
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
, where it joins the Congo River
. It separates the districts of Tshangu and Mont Amba.
The river gives its name to the Ndjili commune and to the Ndjili International Airport.
Kinshasa lies just downstream of the Malebo Pool, where the Congo river widens to 25 kilometres (15.5 mi) across for a length of about 35 kilometres (21.7 mi). The pool has an area of 50000 hectares (123,552.6 acre), with the Mbamu
island occupying the centre part. The pool is almost 300 metres (984.3 ft) above sea level, surrounded at some distance by hills that rise to 500 metres (1,640.4 ft) above sea level.
Along the southern shore of the pool the land is swampy between the mouths of the Nsele and Ndjili rivers, a distance of 30 kilometres (18.6 mi), with the swamps covering 10800 hectares (26,687.4 acre). The swamps extend 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) inland along the Ndjili.
During the colonial era, Jesuits who settled on the Ndjili River in June 1893 at Kimbangu, in what is now Masina, were the first Catholic missionaries in the area.
However, within a month they moved away from the unhealthy, swampy conditions that they found to Kimwenza
, near the Petites Chutes de la Lukaya
.
These are small falls on the Lukaya River
, a tributary of the Ndjili that enters from the west after running along the southern boundary of present-day Kinshasa.
Kinshasa had two water treatment stations before independence, one on the Lukunga River
and one at Ngaliema bay on the Congo River. By 1985 they were both extremely delapidated. A new station was built on the Ndikili at Kingbabwe in the Limete
commune in two phases, one funded by Belgium in 1971 and the second by Germany in 1982.
The French agreed to finance a second station on the Ndjili, but suspended aid to Mobutu in October 1991.
A third Ndjili station funded by the Japanese was also cancelled due to the September 1991 lootings. The result was a failure to meet even minimum water supply needs.
The river catchment has sandy soils and steep topography, as with other rivers that supply the city. With clearing of the forests, there has been growing soil erosion, leading to sediment pollution. When turbidity levels rise above the 1,000 NTU limit, which has often been reported in the N’Djili and Lukaya rivers during the rainy season, water purification plants have to stop their operations.
Imported chemical coagulants and imported lime are needed to keep the plants in operation.
On a positive note, after a four-year 51 million euro project financed by the World Bank
, in 2009 the N’Djili plant doubled its capacity to 330000 cubic metres (11,653,839.9 cu ft) daily, providing nearly 65% of Kinshasa's water supply.
The Union of Market Garden Cooperatives of Kinshasa was established on 27 November 1987. There were 32 member cooperatives in 2004, each supporting an agricultural center and managing all the market gardeners working on the site.
A 2005 survey showed that most market gardeners were skilled farmers growing crops to make a living. They used manual techniques, the hoe being the main tool. The gardeners had little education and were extremely poor, living in unsanitary conditions. Problems included difficulty in obtaining seeds, fertilizers, farm tools and irrigation water, theft of vegetables during the night, poor roads, infectious diseases, lack of electricty and flooding.
Human African trypanosomiasis, or sleeping sickness, is a disease that usually only occurs in rural locations, since it is spread by tsetse flies that need a combination of forest and water to thrive. Between 1970 and 1995, about 39 cases per year were reported in Kinshasa.
Numbers of documented cases (which may have been affected by improved screening) jumped to 254 cases in 1996, 226 in 1997, 433 in 1998 and 912 in 1999. Counts of tsetse flies from insect traps along the Ndjili River indicate that market gardening has recreated the conditions needed for active disease transmission.
|journal=Bull Soc Pathol Exot |year=2003 |volume=96 |issue=3 |pages=205-208
|title=Trypanosomose humaine africaine en milieu urbain : une problématique émergente ?
|language=French
|last1=Bilengue|first1=CM |last2=Meso |first2=VK |last3=Louis |first3=FJ |last4=Lucas |first4=P
|publisher=Bureau Central de la Trypanosomiase (BCT) |location=Kinshasa
|accessdate=2011-11-28}}
|url=http://postconflict.unep.ch/congo/en/content/watershed-degradation-increases-water-treatment-costs
|title=Watershed degradation increases water treatment costs
|publisher=UNEP
|accessdate=2011-11-28}}
|url=http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/AFRICAEXT/CONGODEMOCRATICEXTN/0,,contentMDK:22510874~pagePK:1497618~piPK:217854~theSitePK:349466,00.html
|title=World Bank Funding Helps Kinshasa Double its Drinking Water Distribution Capacity
|publisher=World bank
|date=February 25, 2010
|accessdate=2011-11-28}}
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
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
, where it joins 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...
. It separates the districts of Tshangu and Mont Amba.
The river gives its name to the Ndjili commune and to the Ndjili International Airport.
Location
Kinshasha lies in a plain surrounded by hills drained by numerous local rivers, of which the N'sele and N'djili are important tributaries of the Congo River. The climate is tropical, with a dry season and a rainy season.Kinshasa lies just downstream of the Malebo Pool, where the Congo river widens to 25 kilometres (15.5 mi) across for a length of about 35 kilometres (21.7 mi). The pool has an area of 50000 hectares (123,552.6 acre), with the Mbamu
Mbamu
Mbamu is an island in the Republic of the Congo . It is situated in the Pool Malebo, a lake formed by the River Congo. To the south lies Kinshasa, and the northwest lies Brazzaville....
island occupying the centre part. The pool is almost 300 metres (984.3 ft) above sea level, surrounded at some distance by hills that rise to 500 metres (1,640.4 ft) above sea level.
Along the southern shore of the pool the land is swampy between the mouths of the Nsele and Ndjili rivers, a distance of 30 kilometres (18.6 mi), with the swamps covering 10800 hectares (26,687.4 acre). The swamps extend 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) inland along the Ndjili.
During the colonial era, Jesuits who settled on the Ndjili River in June 1893 at Kimbangu, in what is now Masina, were the first Catholic missionaries in the area.
However, within a month they moved away from the unhealthy, swampy conditions that they found to Kimwenza
Kimwenza
Kimwenza is a community in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the Mont Ngafula commune in the south of the capital, Kinshasa.-Location:Kimwenza is on a plateau above the main city of Kinshasa.It is near to the Petites Chutes de la Lukaya....
, near the Petites Chutes de la Lukaya
Petites Chutes de la Lukaya
The Petites Chutes de la Lukaya is a set of small waterfalls on the Lukaya River. They are just south of Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
.
These are small falls on the Lukaya River
Lukaya River
The Lukaya is a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its source is located in the Crystal Mountains , from which it runs eastward through Bas-Congo, then runs into the banks of the Ndjili River. The rail line from Matadi to Kinshasa runs along the river valley for a time, passing to the...
, a tributary of the Ndjili that enters from the west after running along the southern boundary of present-day Kinshasa.
City water supply
The Ndjili provides the main supply of water to Kinshasa, but tends to be polluted with human waste.Kinshasa had two water treatment stations before independence, one on the Lukunga River
Lukunga River
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...
and one at Ngaliema bay on the Congo River. By 1985 they were both extremely delapidated. A new station was built on the Ndikili at Kingbabwe in the Limete
Limete
Limete is a municipality in the Mont Amba district of Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo....
commune in two phases, one funded by Belgium in 1971 and the second by Germany in 1982.
The French agreed to finance a second station on the Ndjili, but suspended aid to Mobutu in October 1991.
A third Ndjili station funded by the Japanese was also cancelled due to the September 1991 lootings. The result was a failure to meet even minimum water supply needs.
The river catchment has sandy soils and steep topography, as with other rivers that supply the city. With clearing of the forests, there has been growing soil erosion, leading to sediment pollution. When turbidity levels rise above the 1,000 NTU limit, which has often been reported in the N’Djili and Lukaya rivers during the rainy season, water purification plants have to stop their operations.
Imported chemical coagulants and imported lime are needed to keep the plants in operation.
On a positive note, after a four-year 51 million euro project financed by the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
, in 2009 the N’Djili plant doubled its capacity to 330000 cubic metres (11,653,839.9 cu ft) daily, providing nearly 65% of Kinshasa's water supply.
Market gardening
In 1954 the Belgian colonial adinistration distributed land to women and the unemployed in the marshy region of the Ndijili River in an effort to create a garden peasantry to provide fruit and vegetables to the capital. This practice was revived after independence, trying to meet demand as the city's population expanded from 400,000 in 1969 to an estimated 3.2 million by 1990.The Union of Market Garden Cooperatives of Kinshasa was established on 27 November 1987. There were 32 member cooperatives in 2004, each supporting an agricultural center and managing all the market gardeners working on the site.
A 2005 survey showed that most market gardeners were skilled farmers growing crops to make a living. They used manual techniques, the hoe being the main tool. The gardeners had little education and were extremely poor, living in unsanitary conditions. Problems included difficulty in obtaining seeds, fertilizers, farm tools and irrigation water, theft of vegetables during the night, poor roads, infectious diseases, lack of electricty and flooding.
Human African trypanosomiasis, or sleeping sickness, is a disease that usually only occurs in rural locations, since it is spread by tsetse flies that need a combination of forest and water to thrive. Between 1970 and 1995, about 39 cases per year were reported in Kinshasa.
Numbers of documented cases (which may have been affected by improved screening) jumped to 254 cases in 1996, 226 in 1997, 433 in 1998 and 912 in 1999. Counts of tsetse flies from insect traps along the Ndjili River indicate that market gardening has recreated the conditions needed for active disease transmission.
Sources
|url=http://www.pathexo.fr/documents/articles-bull/T96-3-DK52.pdf|journal=Bull Soc Pathol Exot |year=2003 |volume=96 |issue=3 |pages=205-208
|title=Trypanosomose humaine africaine en milieu urbain : une problématique émergente ?
|language=French
|last1=Bilengue|first1=CM |last2=Meso |first2=VK |last3=Louis |first3=FJ |last4=Lucas |first4=P
|publisher=Bureau Central de la Trypanosomiase (BCT) |location=Kinshasa
|accessdate=2011-11-28}}
|url=http://postconflict.unep.ch/congo/en/content/watershed-degradation-increases-water-treatment-costs
|title=Watershed degradation increases water treatment costs
|publisher=UNEP
|accessdate=2011-11-28}}
|url=http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/AFRICAEXT/CONGODEMOCRATICEXTN/0,,contentMDK:22510874~pagePK:1497618~piPK:217854~theSitePK:349466,00.html
|title=World Bank Funding Helps Kinshasa Double its Drinking Water Distribution Capacity
|publisher=World bank
|date=February 25, 2010
|accessdate=2011-11-28}}