100% Clean Rural Water Kiosks for Kenya
Heightening household water purity through simple, low-cost rural water entrepreneural systems leading to better health standards.
About You
Location
Project Street Address
Project City
Project Province/State
Project Postal/Zip Code
Project Country
Your idea
Field of Work
Water
Year the initative began (yyyy)
2007
YouTube Upload
Web site (url)
Positioning of your initiative on the mosaic diagram:
Which of these barriers is the primary focus of your work?
Public information alone doesn’t change behaviors
Which of the principles is the primary focus of your work?
Move people up the sanitation ladder
If you believe some other barrier or principle should be included in the mosaic, please describe it and how it would affect the positioning of your initiative in the mosaic
Even clean water can be a source of income for community entrepreneurs
Name Your Project
100% Clean Rural Water Kiosks for Kenya
Describe Your Idea
Heightening household water purity through simple, low-cost rural water entrepreneural systems leading to better health standards.
Innovation
What is your signature innovation, your new idea, in one sentence?
Heightening household water purity through simple, low-cost rural water entrepreneural systems leading to better health standards.
Describe your innovation. What makes your idea unique and different than others doing work in the field?
Innovation revolves around using solar energy to purify water, and power a series of water kiosks in Rural Kenya, and creation of community entrepreneurs who operate the kiosks. The model uses UV to treat the water stored in an overhead storage tank (approx 5000 Litres), which is then sold at manageable cost to communities in water cans. More consumers will have water distributed to their homes through pipes at a monthly fee. Another way is to establish a water bottling plant at one of the kiosks to be distributed commercially.
The source of water will be from swamps and rivers, driven by gravity to the tanks, where it undergoes the UV treatment, and then distributed or sold.
Delivery Model: How do you implement your innovation and apply it to the challenge/problem you are addressing?
It will involve purchasing or constructing water storage tanks in a place where water can be gravitally piped to. An intake is then constructed and pipes layed to the storage. A sales point is then costructed a few metres from the storage tank, while an outlet constructed to serve people inetrested in distribution. Once water flows to tank, it undergoes UV treatment, then sold. It will also involve training the operators on running the water kiosks profitably.
How do you plan to expand your innovation?
By creating many more water kiosks across the country, in partnership with NGO'. This will be by seeking support from foundations and charities. I will also approach banks to finance the water kiosks at friendly rates foir the entrepreneurs.
This will be by having phases of the project, whereby at first, 50 water kiosks are targeted, then 100 and then 200. Each of the water kiosks is capable of serving a village of 200-500 people with sufficient water for the household chores.
The innovation can be adopted in any pert of the world with no piped water
Do you have any existing partnerships, and if so, how do you create them?
We have a partnership with the NGO Volunteers For Africa to establish 5 water kiosks in Meru, Kenya. VFA are supporting the establishment of the kiosks, while the entrepreneurs are putting in some small capital for the tanks.
We require more partnerships from investors and organizations interested in supporting clean rural water, and the development of rural entrepreneurs through water and sanitation.
Impact
Provide one sentence describing your impact/intended impact.
We will have provided enough clean water in rural Kenya, by using minimal cost, hence heightened health standards for the rural populations.
What are the main barriers to creating or achieving your impact?
The water kiosks require some capital (to lay the water pipes to the tanks, and to construct the tanks for water storage). Our capacity as an organization may not be able to have the impact we desire over a short period. Funding for more water kiosks mean
How many people have you served or plan to serve?
So far we have served 200 families through one of the kiosks. We plan to serve over 1 million people in 2 years.
Directly
In one year, 100,000 family units (approximately 500,000 people) will have been served bu the innovation.
Indirectly
In one year, 1,000,000 people willhave been served indirectly.
Please list any other measures of the impact of your innovation?
There will be an improved prevalence for health in the community. There is widespread incidences of water borne diseases in Kenya, which will reduce once many people start using water from the costs. The water we supply (sell) also does not use chemical treatment, just natural light
Is there a policy intervention element to your innovation, if so please describe?
The Ministry of Water has guidelines for supply of water, which the innovation has subscribed to already. The kiosks also have to follow government set rules on trade in such commodities as water, which we are training them on.
Exactly who are the beneficiaries of your innovation?
Rural communities who cannot afford (or are not served by) government piped water, and who are willing to purchase the water we supply at a very low cost (lower than the government water rates). Most of these will (and are willing) to have the water installed in their homesteads at a small cost
This Entry is about (Issues)
Sustainability
How is your initiative financed (or how do you expect your initiative will be financed)?
Initially, through grants from organizations interested in supply of water and good sanitation. The rural entrepreneurs also supply part of the capital cost. VFA has contributed USD 1500 for the already established 5 kiosks, while the entrepreneurs have constributed USD 200 each.
We also hope welwishers can support other water kiosks, at only USD 500 per kiosk.
Provide information on your finances and organization:
For water alone, we plan to spend USD 20,000 (2007-2008 year). This is the first year of its innovation, hence there was no values for the 2006-2007 year. For the few months the innovation has operated, only USD 1000 has been raised.
This innovation is still young, while we are educating people on its applicability. It has a potential to generate millions of dollars in a year.
What is the potential demand for your innovation?
The innovation is not a high-profit one, but one aimed at helping community at a minute cost. Staff required are 1 per kiosk (fulltime), no part-time or volunteers are desired.
There is a very high demand for the innovation, since millions of people in rural areas live with no clean water. We hope that before the end of two years the innovation will be serving over 2 million people directly.
What are the main barriers to financial sustainability?
Financial sustainability of the innovation can be acquired if 100 such sites are established. Investment costs for the units can be funded by individuals, foundations, and through grants, or even social-related investement funds. Unfortunately very few of these operate in Kenya, and those that are here do not support water related enterprises.
The Story
What is the origin of this innovation? Tell us your story.
After seeing the many people going without clean water in Kenya, yet millions of litres of water flows in rivers from the mountains to the lakes and oceans, Creek-Kenya decided to invent a system where some of the water can be tapped, purified and supplied to rural communities at a very low cost. Through research, creek-kenya staff found that UV treatment for the water is possible, and that so many of the people who walk to rivers with jelicans to fetch water would be willing to pay little money for 100% clean water. We also found out that there are some members of the community willing to invest in water supply. It is then that we decided to approach partners to support five model water systems that could be used as examples. The result is that many more are willing to inest in the systems.
Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers marketing material
Creek-Kenya has been providing research solutions to environmental related problems in Kenya for 2 years. Creek-Kenya has also been supporting the creation of health and wealth through use of environment as a source of raw materials (sustainably). Its vision in the area of environmental bee keeping, solar energy, water and sanitation is un-matched in Kenya. Thousands of entrepreneurs have benefited from Creek-Kenyas research innovations.
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Comments
Using UV to purify water is a very clean way of ensuring water is clean and free from bacteria, which could be used to enhance supply of clean and pure water, and promote better sanitation standards for rural communities.
I am curious what you will do in areas where the water is not clear. Do you plan to filter the water somehow before UV treatment?
Hi Paul,
Before the water is channelled to the tanks where it will pass through UV treatment, it will be allowed to settle down in a sand pond. The silt will settle down, then the water can be channelled to the pipes. The settlement ponds will be constructed in such a way that from the entry point to the exit point, there is an allowance for a distance, where the silty, unclear water settles down, and becomes clear.
We support this project, which for sure will help control water borne disease in Kenya, and provide clean, pathogen-less water to the rural people in Kenya. This is a project that can be replicated in any village, anywhere in the world, more-so create wealth for the village enterepreneurs, many of whom languish in poverty in every corner of Africa and Asia. Count on us as partners to this initiative. We shall be in touch asap.
Seamus B.
Via extensive use of our primary purification solution in our experiences, especially in Flooded areas & other natural disaster situations, being a natural, non-toxic mineral to start with, we are naturally eager to keep it that way, and those somewhat unique features intact.
So we searched diligently for an agent that would quickly clarify turbid waters - we need to have it totally drinkable within 30/Minutes post-treatment - that would neither compromise our chemistry, nor cause any toxicity/negative health side-effects, to maintain consistency with the basic product.
We settled on the use of small amounts of Aluminum Sulfate. There isn't enough sulfur involved to cause any harm - in fact, a little sulfer in the right forms has proven actually helpful to the system; and aluminum in trace doses has also been fully proven/certified as harmless.
With these credentials, plus the fact that it works so fast and efficiently, plus is relatively cheap/plentiful & available, makes it a very good alternative. IF your system can afford the luxury of the extra time that use of "natural" settling procedures requires, so much the better for you.
But, if demand should outpace the timing demands of that process, you may want to keep this alternative in mind.
I am moved by this initiative, which am sure will provide solutions to the water problem in East Africa. As a water practitioner, i agree with Creek-Kenya that the water they propose to provide in houses will be clean. I also agree with Mr Seamus that using other water purifying agents will make the water even safer, however this will have to be at a cost, which the proponents want to do away with. Indeed for it to be 100% clean and free, how else can one go about it? I would love to get some answers from Creek- kenya, or from the other readers.
Creek-Kenya might be interested in contacting us on a manual on eliminating some of the water biological agents that may be present in the water from the swampy areas (if at all their plan involves such water). As a matter of principle, we agree with the initiative, which East African's should ambrace. This plan could work anywhere in the world. We support it...
UV treatment, we agree is one of the safest ways to have 100% clean water. Could Creek send us details on how it is done??
http://www.giveforward.org/100friends-africanwaterproject
water is channelled to the tanks where it will pass through UV treatment, it will be allowed to settle down in a sand pond. The silt will settle down, then the water can be channelled to the pipes. The settlement ponds will be constructed in such a way that from the entry point to the exit point, there is an allowance for a distance, where the silty parfume
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