Since the KMC handled some of the affairs of retailing and distribution of treated water and other responsibilities which were co-shared with 22 other separate agencies, there was a need to unify all of the functions under one body.
Hence, in 1981, the Karachi Water Management Board (KWMB) was created, which was given both distribution and cost recovery powers.
KMC was still responsible for its revenue and sewerage maintenance, hence KWMB was upgraded to KWSB in 1983 under the Mayor, Abdul Sattar Afghani, on the advice of World Bank.
[13] Furthermore, as of the 2000s, gangs have set up their own lines to tap into or siphon off an estimated 10 million gallons of water per day from pipes to hydrants and tankers for profit,[10] with unofficial tankers stealing around Rs57 billion worth of water per year.
[14][15][9][11][16] Aging parts of the system also cannot be renovated due to a lack of funds, and despite a growing population, as of 2016, no new pipeline had been installed in a quarter-century.