Provincia de Luanda Travel Forum

I'm currently working on a community development for Luanda to host some of the employees of our company. The question I have is I hear about the water quality, but does a water company exist? Someone who bottles water in large quantities? The community I'm planning would be self sufficient but I'm having trouble figuring out what type of water infrastructure is available if any? Do people use well water? Any information would be appreciated.

The piped water network in Luanda is run by the para-statal organisation EPAL (Empresa Publica de Aguas de Luanda). It doesn't reach all parts of the city but the areas of the city where your company's employees are likely to want to live will probably be served by EPAL's network. The water distributed by EPAL is taken from the Bengo river and some other river sources. It definitely has basic treatment (sedimentation and disinfection with chlorine) before being distributed but as far as I know there is no testing or treatment for other possible contaminants such as nitrates, heavy metals or organic contamination, which may possibly be present in the rivers.

Although the water is chlorinated and should therefore be biologically safe, the pipe distribution system has some breakages and so contamination can enter the water before it reaches the distribution point. It should therefore not be considered safe for drinking unless filtered or boiled. Even if filtered it generally doesn't taste too good so most expats drink bottled water. It's also possible to buy machines which extract water from the humidity in the air which may, in the long run, work out cheaper than continually buying bottled water. The water supplied by EPAL can be considered ok for washing, cooking, using for hot drinks after it's boiled, etc.

Those parts of Luanda which aren't reached by the EPAL pipe network are served by water tanker. Some of the tankers are operated by the para-statal company ELISAL (Epresa de Limpeza e Saneamento de Luanda) which also runs the city's rubbish disposal. Other tankers are operated by private companies. As with the EPAL network, the water comes from rivers and should be disinfected with chlorine before distribution but this doesn't always happen as it isn't properly regulated.