Mr Hassan, voluntary manager of the borehole at Ademasajida, Wajir, which has been equipped by SWIFT and WAJWASCO
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Collecting water from the ‘ATM’ at Griftu. The card reader is the small box protruding from the wall above the pipe
The solar pumping system installed by SWIFT at a borehole in Nabulon is is able to generate 46KW and is the biggest in northern Kenya
Oxfam’s public health engineering team leader in Turkana, Sepharinus Owino, with the water storage tank in Kataboi
SWIFT’s global programme manager Francesco Rigamonti was impressed by the collaborative achievements of SWIFT’s partners during a recent visit to Kenya’s northern Arid and Semi-Arid Lands region, as well as the learning emerging from the programme.
In the county of Wajir, Oxfam is working to improve the water infrastructure with local partners Arid Lands Development Focus Kenya (ALDEF) and the Wajir South Development Association (WASDA), along with local utility company the Wajir Water and Sewerage Company (WAJWASCO).
Oxfam’s WASH manager in Wajir, Abdirizak Abdi Kontoma, decided at the outset that staff from Oxfam, ALDEF and WASDA would work together as a team across the programme, regardless of each partner’s usual areas of competency. This system has been a great success, enabling the different partners to expand their skills and experience, and building a strong relationship between them.
Upgrading the Ademasajida water system
Francesco visited Ademasajida, site of one of the first boreholes to be drilled in northern Kenya, by the British back in 1942. SWIFT and WAJWASCO have been working to equip the current borehole with a solar pumping system, so that it better meets the community’s water needs.
The borehole has long been managed on a voluntary basis by respected community member Mr. Hassan, who paid for repairs to the borehole out of his own pocket and employed other residents to help manage it. Under the new system, residents will pay an agreed tariff for water to put the network on a sustainable footing, and WAJWASCO – which will receive 70% of the income – will be responsible for maintenance, additional piping and any other interventions deemed necessary.
The other 30% of the income from the water will go to Mr Hassan, who will use it to pay for staff to manage the borehole, though he will continue to give his time on a voluntary basis.
Piloting ‘water ATMs’
Francesco also visited Griftu, where a ‘water ATM’ has been installed which is similar to the system SWIFT is finalising in the nearby town of Arbajahan. Users are given ATM cards onto which they can put credit at a local shop. Once charged, they take their cards to the water kiosk, hold them up to the reader, and when the card registers, 20 litres of water is dispensed automatically at a cost of KSh2.
Feedback on the new system from the community has been positive, as the water kiosks are now open continuously, rather than at set times, resulting in less queuing for users. People prioritise water, and find it helpful to set money aside by topping up their cards, as it prevents them from spending it on other things.
When there is network coverage, the water ATMs automatically send SMS messages to a central server detailing how much water has been dispensed, while the card charger communicates how many credits have been sold to customers. This makes it possible to compare revenue collected with credit issued, and the amount of water produced with the amount dispensed, improving the transparency and accountability of a sector which is widely agreed to have been troubled by financial mismanagement in the past.
Impressive water infrastructure work
Francesco was equally impressed by what he saw in Turkana, where he inspected the solar pumping system installed by SWIFT at a high-yielding borehole in Nabulon. The system, which is able to generate 46KW, is the biggest in northern Kenya — possibly the country – and is pumping water through the pipes at a rate of 16 litres per second, or 60 cubic metres an hour.
He also witnessed the connection of another solar system in Nabulon to the electrical grid, thereby equipping the borehole with a hybrid system and increasing its reliability. The Lodwar Water and Sanitation Company (LOWASCO), which is partnering with Oxfam on the work, plans to install a back-up generator shortly which will further minimise the risk of any downtime.
In Chokchok, Francesco saw the SWIFT pipeline extension and water kiosks now providing water to over 1,800 people, and in Kataboi, he witnessed the work that has been done to connect a well to a new water storage tank over a kilometre away and on the top of a hill more than 100m higher than the source. The pipe was laid by Oxfam with members of the community.
Oxfam has also extended the water pipeline and constructed water kiosks in Nasechabuin, bringing water to nearly a thousand people. Crops are being grown near the kiosk with the help of the water overflow, and the community’s sense of ownership of the new system is apparent in the maintenance work carried out by the local water users’ association to repair a small leak.
