Parliament approved a 150 million-dollar loan from the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA), 90 million of which is going to the Addis Abeba Water & Sewerage Authority (AAWSA).

The AAWSA will use the money, together with a 10 million-dollar fund from the city administration, to expand the capital's wastewater treatment plant and to increase access to water supply. The rest of the money will go towards water supply and sanitation projects in Gondar, Hawassa, Jimma, Mekele, and Dire Dawa.

The Addis Abeba project includes construction of sewer lines, provision of sewer connections and expansion of the Kality wastewater treatment plant, intended to increase the current capacity of the plant from 10,000 cubic metres to 100,000 cubic metres, according to Assegid Getachew, general manager of AAWSA.

"[The sewer lines] can cover 180,000 households in the city," Assegid said. "It will have major trunk lines that begin from Kality, Bole, Karamara, and Dama Hotel."

The sewage and wastewater will be treated for chemical and bacterial contamination and the water will be released into the Akaki River, Assegid said. The project also includes the rehabilitation of Dire Dam, upgrading of the Legedadi Dam, development of deep boreholes, and the extension of primary and secondary water distribution networks of the areas that do not have access to sewer lines.

The AAWSA will float a tender in September to hire contractors, according to Assegid.