[1] The river originates to the west at an elevation of 520 metres (1,710 ft) in the hills of Ngomba Kikusa, in the commune of Ngaliema.

[1] Before independence, one of the two water treatment plants for Leopoldville, now Kinshasa, was on the Lukunga river at Kinsuka in the Ngaliema district.

[2] The station was built in 1939, and supplies about 48,000 cubic metres (13,000,000 US gal) of drinking water annually for a population of at least 500,0000.

Since then, unplanned agriculture and building have exposed the steep and sandy soils to erosion by heavy rainfalls, raising levels of turbidity to the point where the station must halt operations.

Frequent dredging is needed to keep the channel open, as well as use of imported chemical coagulants and lime to make the water drinkable.