Innovations to tackle water crisis

Posted by: The People in Development Agenda July 31, 2013 0 32 Views

By MWANGI MUMERO

@kenyafarmer

New innovations in rain water harvesting are expected to boost availability of water in many households in urban and rural Kenya. Only 61 percent of the rural population of Kenya has access to an improved drinking water source. In some areas, women have to walk up to six kilometres and spend at least three hours daily seeking water.

To confront this problem, Edward Ndiritu has come up with three new water harvesting tanks to store water. Made with timber and canvas, the three tanks-employing unique techniques in water harvesting. The first tank harvests water independent of roof tops. It has flat metallic surfaces that open and close during the rainy season, trapping as much water as possible.

“The opening of the flat surfaces is controlled manually, electronically or through sensors. The size of the flat surfaces that open just like a carton above the tank determines the amount of water harvested and the cost,” observed Ndiritu. Cubic in shape, the tanks have wooden walls and a canvas interior to hold the water.

According Ndiritu, a 15,000 litre tank made of hardwood would cost Sh220,000 while a similar one of soft wooden walls goes for Sh110,000. The innovator, a Bachelor of Business Administration and Economics from the Emporia State University of Kansas, United States noted that the tanks are collapsible and easy to transport and set up in a new area – just like prefabricated houses.

The wood has to be treated with chemi- cals to reduce damage by insects and water, just like electricity posts, although it has no direct contact with water. The can- vas can last eight to10 years. The second innovation is the rain harvesting umbrella. Made of canvas, the umbrella – shaped surface is erected on a wooden frame and acts as a trap to rain drops.

It can be erected in open fields with the harvested water channeled through a funnel to an underground tank. “The size of the umbrella depends to the owner’s water needs and funds available. This method is very suitable in areas where there are few corrugated iron sheet houses like in Maasailand – where manyattas dominate.

The fact that it is constructed above the ground also reduces dusts and other wind-blown materials from contaminating the water improving cleanliness,” said the innovator, also the proprietor of Suspended Water Harvesting Systems, a Nairobi based-firm. He has previously showcased his innovations at local and international water conferences.

The third innovation is the low cost water storage tank. Made from locally available materials such as earth or clay, the tank has a canvas interior and is reinforced by iron rods to provide a rectangular shape. “It is quite cheap for rural households as locally available materials are used. It allows individuals and women groups to come together and construct such tanks for their members securing provision of clean water,” he asserted.

Prices of these innovations depend mostly on size of the tank and the members of households they are being constructed for. According to Ndiritu, the new innovations are a culmination of an eight year dream of wishing to come up with solutions where water could be harvested and distributed to household affordably and easily.