Water in Bamenda: what to ask before you sign anything

Ask people who regret a house in Bamenda what went wrong, and water comes up more than anything else. It is also the easiest thing to check properly and the thing most people check least.

The three sources, and what each means for you

Mains supply from the public network. Convenient when it runs, but pressure and availability vary by area and by season. Ask the neighbours how many hours a day it actually runs where they are.

Borehole, sunk on the compound. Generally the most reliable in Bamenda, which is why so many compounds have one. But the pump needs electricity, so ask what happens during a cut, and ask how many households share it.

Tank, filled from a truck or from mains when available. Workable, but you are dependent on somebody remembering to fill it, and on who pays for that. Establish clearly whether filling is included in the rent.

Questions to ask, in order

• Where does the water come from?
• How many households share it?
• What happens in dry season, roughly January to March?
• If it is a borehole, what happens when the power goes?
• Who pays when it needs repair?
• Is water included in the rent, or billed separately?

The test to run at the viewing

Open the tap and let it run for a full minute. Watch the pressure — does it hold, or fade? Then flush the toilet and run the tap again, to see how it behaves under two demands at once.

Ask the neighbours

The landlord will tell you the water is fine. The woman at the next gate will tell you the truth, and she has no reason not to.

Dry season, which is the real test

Between roughly December and March, Bamenda's water situation changes considerably. A house viewed in August tells you almost nothing about how it behaves in February.

If you are viewing in the wet season, this is the single most important question to ask the neighbours: what was water like here in February? Not the landlord — the neighbours.

• Mains supply reduces in hours and pressure across much of the city
• Shallow boreholes can drop; deeper ones generally hold
• Tank-supplied compounds depend on trucks, which cost more in dry season
• Compounds sharing one borehole feel it most, because demand concentrates

What good looks like

The cost of getting this wrong

A household buying water regularly can spend 5,000 to 15,000 francs a month, plus the time. Over a year that is more than the difference between most houses. A house 5,000 a month cheaper with unreliable water is not cheaper.

Questions for the neighbours, not the landlord

• How many hours a day does water run here?
• What happened in February?
• Does the pump fail often, and who fixes it?
• Do people here buy water, and how often?
• Has anyone left this compound because of water?

That last question is unusually revealing and people generally answer it honestly.